Jammu and Kashmir’s Monthly Magazine RNI : JKENG/2007/26070 ISSN 0974-5653

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Epilogue
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Telling
The J&K Stories
Jammu, June 1, 2009 / Vol 3 / Issue 6 || Price Rs. 30 || Postal Registration No. JK-350/2009-11 || www.epilogue.in

Meet J&K’s Men In New Delhi

FINANCE
MINISTER
ABDUL
RAHIM
RATHER

ELECTIONS - 2009
Reports and Analysis

Political Scientist
EXPLAINS Rekha Chowdhary
comments on
JAMMU & Regional perception of polls
KASHMIR’S Issues that shapes campaign
STATE OF Rise of NC-Congress, decline of PDP & BJP
The difference Sajjad Lne made
ECONOMY UPA and prospects of peace process

TRACING A special feature on

REVOLUTION Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University

Economic Reconstruction Agency under the financial assistance of Asian Development Bank has
launched several schemes to augment the water supply in Srinagar city. The various schemes with a
cumulative storage capacity of 39 MGD include Rangil water supply scheme, Nishat-Doodhganga
water supply scheme and Nishat-Dalbund water supply scheme which will cater to the drinking
water needs of the population of about 10,93,995 souls of Srinagar city.

Scope of Works Total Storage Capacity Population to be benefitted (souls)

Rangil water supply Scheme 10MGD 294000

Areas to be benefitted
Khulmulla, Zakura, Owantabavan, Bakshipora,Tengpora, Muj-Gund, Parimpora, Lawayopora, Shalteng,
Colonies on Right and Left side. National Highway, Left side of National highway Bypass (Bemina,
Muminabad, Firdousabad, Tengpora(left), Right side of National highway Bypass(Hamdania colony,
Khumani colony (partly), Nundreshi Colony, JVC)

Nishat Doodhganga water supply Scheme 21.5 MGD 614132

Areas to be benefitted
Jawahar Nagar, Kralpora, Natipora, Rambagh, Nowgam, Rajbagh, Gulshan Nagar, Gogji Bagh, Solina,
Chanapora Colony, Budshah Nagar, Allochi Bagh Part, Bagh-e-Mehtab, Tulsi Bagh, Wazir Bagh, Lal Mandi,
Hazuri Bagh, Amira Kadal, Shivpora, Rajbagh and Magarmal Bagh, Lal Chowk, Maisuma, Abiguzar, Kral
Sangri, Karapora, Brein, Patnta Chowk, Sonwar, Buchwara, Gupkar Road, Ram Munshi Bagh, Athwajan,
Mahraja Bazar, Sari Payeen, Lal Mandi, Jawaharnagar (partly), Basant Bagh, Bar Bar Shah.

Nishat Dalbund water supply Scheme 7.5MGD 185863

Areas to be benefitted
Saida Kadal Bridge, Zinsha Masjid, Rainawari Chowk, Soorateng Chowk, Shiraz Chowk, Nowhatta,
Naidyaar, Hasibhat, Chowdary Bagh.
B R I D G I N G T H E I N F O R M A T I O N D I V I D E

Taking J&K Closer to World

Bringing World Closer to J&K

Epilogue
because there is more to know

30
F O R T H E
Volume : 3, Number : 6
ISSN : 0974-5653
RNI : JKENG/2007/26070
www.epilogue.in

M O N T H O F J U N E 2 0 0 9

Every election in Jammu and Kashmir is

linked by establishment with resolution of
Kashmir issue, such attempt is resisted by
separatists; Lok Sabha elections offer an
interesting study as local issues are not
involved here. Present issue offers an
insight into the exercise that concluded in
middle of May

Epilogue Ø
1×
June 2009
 HUNG ASSEMBLY

I n the middle of elections our small team of staffers along with some 30 volunteers
traveled across the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir to gauge the public
mood. The conclusion was that there will be a hung assembly with NC as largest party,
PDP second and Congress third. Looking at the pages of our December issue one can
see all parties have come up with same number of seats as we had predicted except
the BJP.
Dec. 2008
MANDATE :

A collectors issue, the special number on our second anniversary came as fastest
possible, yet professionally correct work, on J&K elections. Result were declare
on December 28 and our issue carrying complete elections analysis and elections
trends at constituency level was out before the government was sworn I.

Jan. 2009
AGENDA FOR OMAR GOVERNMENT :

T he coalition government of National Conference and the Congress headed by

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah took over on January 5 but it did not declare a
shared agenda. Epilogue's February issue put together opinions of well meaning

A limited number of unbound back volumes is available in our stocks.

people from across the country setting out an agenda for Omar Abdullah government

Feb. 2009
A R E Y O U M I S S I N G O U R PA S T S T O R I E S

CONNECTING J&K

C onnectivity is a major issue in J&K and people in many areas taunt the
government saying that roads were laid in remote areas only because
they close to borders. Our March issue looked at the connectivity via roads,
rail and air to bring to the fore the missing links.

For booking your copies call us at 9797599365

Mar. 2009
TREADING FAILURE

A s world watches keenly the new unfolding developments in Pakistan, our

Consulting Editor D Suba Chandran travelled to the troubled country to
bring fresh perspectives for our readers in April Issue.

Apr. 2009

J&K MOVING FORWARD

M ay issue was one of the rare collections of ideas where 12 natives from
both sides of Jammu and Kashmir poured their ideas out of the heart on
how boundaries can be blurred and relations can be strengthened.

May 2009
 Epilogue
because there is more to know

www.epilogue.in FINANCE Meet J&K’s Men In New Delhi CONTENTS

MINISTER
ABDUL
Editor RAHIM Prologue 5
RATHER Letters 6
Zafar Iqbal Choudhary
Note Book
Consulting Editor ELECTIONS - 2009 11 Essential Entries 7
D. Suba Chandran Reports and Analysis
Interview
Associate Editors Political Scientist J&K Finance Minister 13
EXPLAINS Rekha Chowdhary Zafar Choudhary & Dipanker Sengupta
Irm Amin Baig JAMMU & comments on
Regional perception of polls
KASHMIR’S Issues that shapes campaign
Tsewang Rigzin STATE OF Rise of NC-Congress, decline of PDP & BJP
The difference Sajjad Lne made Review
ECONOMY UPA and prospects of peace process
Beyond Elections in 40
Art Editor India’s Democracy
Keshav Sharma IN FOCUS Bidyut Chakrabarty

Lok Sabha Elections Column

Research Officer
5000 years of Kashmir 43
Raman Sharma Balraj Puri
20 NC-Congress gain grounds, Under the stars and 46
Mailing Address PDP, BJP pushed to margins searchlights of Doda...
PO Box 50, HO Gandhi Nagar, Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Manisha Sobhrajani
Jammu Gulabname : A Persian 48
24 Answers to Essential Questions Window to J&K History
Prof. Rekha Chowdhary comments on Prof. Jigar Mohammad
Phones & email Build a Bigger, Rainy Day Fund 54
significant aspects of Lok Sabha
Office : +91 191 2493136 Balraj Puri
Elections 2009
Editorial: +91 94191 80762
Ladakh Special
Administration: +91 94190 00123 30 Why Congress Won and
Wildlife in Ladakh 50
editor@epilogue.in Why BJP Lost? Trans-Himalayas
editor.epilogue@gmail.com M Shamsur Rabb Khan Tahir Shawl
subscription@epilogue.in 33 Prominent Faces
Report
Edited, Printed, Published and J&K Registers Strong Presence 52
Owned by Zafar Iqbal Choudhary. at UPSC
Epilogue Desk
Published from : Ibadat House,
Madrasa Lane, Near Graveyard,
Study
Bathindi Top, Jammu, J&K -
Boosting hill economy 56
180012 and Printed at : DEE
Kalari can show the way
DEE Reprographix, 3 Aikta Sreya Sarkar
Ashram, New Rehari Jammu
(J&K)
SPECIAL FEATURE BGSB UNIVERSITY
Disputes, if any, subject to
jurisdiction of courts and 59 Ruminations
competitive tribunals in Jammu 63 Tracing a Revolution D Suba Chandran
only. 68 The War Against Illiteracy

RNI : JKENJ/2007/26070 28 Knowing is not the same as understanding him MY Taing

ISN : 00974-5653 73 Empowering Women in Neighbourhood Dr. Ashfaq Zarri

Price : Rs 30 82 What they said to us

Epilogue Ø
3×
June 2009
30
ISSUES OF
CHANGE

Time for Omar to Deliver
Zafar Choudhary
A
fter a protracted yet
exciting campaign trail
spanning over nearly
three months, a that those should be voted who are
government with new
mandate is in place in New Delhi. Now
is the time for Jammu and Kashmir
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to
withdraw himself from the politics of
maneuvering for party and coalition
and get back to work on his mandate.
The Chief Minister must sit down with
his cabinet colleagues to evolve a
comprehensive strategy for delivering
on the promises his party National
Conference and the alliance partner
Congress made with the people of
Jammu and Kashmir during Assembly
elections. Taking over as youngest
Chief Minister in January this year,
Omar had said that the single biggest
challenge before him meeting public
expectations which are too high.
Leave aside the high expectations,
even the modest one have not been
met as Omar completes five months in
office. People want results and not
mere promises. Omar and the Congress
leadership in the state need to
examine the implications of the recent
LoK Sabha election. People, rather
voters, discarded the mighty
politicians and voted for those in
whom they had faith. Voters thought
capable of doing something for the
people. Hence neither Omar Abdullah
nor those belonging to the Congress
can show complacency. Public interest
issues have to be tackled on a war
footing. So far the NC-Congress
Government has been able to take only
two major steps. One relates to the
amendment to the Jail manual for the
purpose of providing better treatment
to women prisoners and their kids.
Second important decision pertains to
curbs imposed on officers earning good
amount of money by inflating the TA
and DA bills. Beyond these two
decisions there is nothing visible on
the ground. While the Chief Minister's
development and work culture
promises are yet to show any results,
the incidents of the violations of
human rights in the Kashmir Valley are
on unusual rise. These issues need
immediate attention. Unfortunately
the hands of the Government have
remained tethered because of election
model code of conduct but now is the
time to deliver. Past five months, the
Epilogue Ø
5×
June 2009
P R O L O G U E
From the Editor
Chief Minister and his cabinet
colleagues were enjoying a grace
period –the government had to take
some time for settling down, then
there elections to the Rajya Sabha and
State Legislative Council and then the
General Elections. Nothing is now left
which should offer the government
an excuse for non-performance. It is
to the advantage of Omar that the
Congress led UPA government has
returned to power in New Delhi. The
Congress and the National
Conference are partners in the
ruling alliance both at State and the
Center. This has come as huge
advantage for the Chief Minister
who can use this power axis on two
fronts –ensuring smooth funds of flow
from Center to State and facilitating
dialogue between Kashmiri separatists
and New Delhi. Omar's government is
about to complete six months and
therefore by June 30, the Chief
Minister must come up with a
comprehensive and time-bound
programme to address the issue he
promised to in poll campaign.
Feedback :
zafarchoudhary@epilogue.in

Cabinet Expansion
Cabinet expansion is on the cards. The vacancy in the
council of ministers is 15 after 10-member cabinet was
sworn in January last. More important than filling the
vacant seats is who is going to get berth in the ministry
which is going to have a two-tier formation..Reports
indicate that Omar Abdullah plans to add five more
faces in the cabinet and the remaining ten may be
sworn in as ministers of state Since the constitutional
amendment of 2005 provides for restrictions on the
size of the ministry Omar's hands are tight as he cannot
afford to take more than 25 members in the council of
ministers. Under the constitutional provision the size
of ministry should be 20 per cent of the strength of the
state legislature. The constitutional amendment
received the Governor's assent in January 2006.As such
the NC-Congress leadership may not be able to please
majority of legislators. When Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
was the Chief Minister between 2002 and 2005 he had
no restrictions in inducting ministers in the cabinet. At
the time Mufti hung the boots the council of ministers
headed by him had 39 members. It was he who could
accommodate more faces from the PDP and the
Congress besides those from the Peoples' Democratic
Front and the Panthers Party. If one takes into account
the numerical strength of the PDP-Congress alliance
the two had 44 MLAs and this time the Congress-NC has
the same number of MLAs. In case the NC bagged the
Hazratbal seat, for which the election will be held on
June 3,the strength may go up to 45.During the time of
the Mufti's chief Ministership not more than eight MLAs,
belonging to the Congress and the PDP, could not be
accommodated in the council of ministers.If Omar
Abdullah decides to fill all the 15 vacant seats he may
have to keep more than 19 MLA's, belonging to the
Congress and the National Conference, out of the
cabinet. He may try to keep more legislators happy by
appointing them heads of Boards and corporations. Well,
Omar has six years tenure. He can have the council of
ministers on a rotational basis. In all he may have 25
faces in the council of ministers. Let him retain these
faces for three years and after that bring in another set of
legislators for another three years. He may retain about a
dozen senior legislators in the cabinet for full six years.
This can give a chance to others also to enjoy power. If it
is done it may leave no scope for dissensions and heart
burns. Let Omar test this experiment.
SUBASH MALIK, via email
Epilogue Ø
L E T T E R S
Readers Write
Attacks on Indians in Australia
The kind of recent attacks on Indian students studying
in Australia has left many in state of shock, where
visual shows how mercilessly they are beaten up in
public, left some battling their lives in hospital,
outraged everybody both at home and abroad.
This is not new, it happens earlier many times in other
parts of the globe where people from this community
are living for years, studying or earning their live
hoods. Only the difference is this time almost all
leading journalists both from electronic and print
media has joined hands to address the issue at the
highest level in diplomatic and political corridors of the
country.
Because of its size and ill political will the Indian
life does not carry much value to worth engage
other mighty nation where the governments as
well as the locals don't treat their guests at par,
reasons only well known to them. Recently an
Indian student was killed in a racial attack in St.
Petersburg in Russia. Earlier during my stay in that
country I came to know about such incidents quite
often, where on some occasion there were loss of
lives too. The matter reported to police but
results are the same even Embassy staff didn't pay
much attention to that treated it as routine job.
Our voice was either suppressed or went
unnoticed.
Now thanks to the media who at least keep an eye on
these sensitive issues of great public concern. Force
our diplomats accountable to do their job more
effectively rather enjoying cocktails parties there.
This is a very grave situation and the govt. of India as
well as concerned ministries must go tough to produce
some landmark results which make us proud as an
Indian. Doesn't matter our nation is a nuclear power or
one of the largest and fastest growing economy in the
world.
Sorry to say being an Indian is not a matter of
proud………until and unless we don't care for an Indian
pride and help restore dignity and safeguard the
interests of our countrymen who represent us in
millions at every corner of this mother earth.
DR. VIKAS JAMWAL, ASCOMS & Hospital, Jammu.
6×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

TERRORISM
Kashmir not in 26/11 final charges
T he capture of Kashmir, touted as one of the motives
behind the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, finds no
mention in the final charges framed in the case. A copy of
to wage a war with India and conquer Kashmir.” Ajmal later
retracted his statement in court. Dr. Shailesh Mohite, who
performed the post-mortem examination on the deceased
the charges, framed on May 6, was made available to the accused, Abu Ismail, was grilled for nearly two hours by
media. defence lawyer Shahid Azmi. When he asked whether
The charges proposed by the prosecution against Mohammad external injuries could have led to profuse bleeding, the
Ajmal Amir 'Kasab' and the other accused had listed the doctor replied in the negative. Mr. Azmi, who represents
motive of capturing Kashmir by attacking major cities in accused Fahim Ansari, tried to probe whether there were
India. bloodstains on the trousers.
In his opening address when the trial began, Special
Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam contended that the
capture of Kashmir was a definite object of the
criminal conspiracy.
While the final charges include motives such as
destabilising the government of India, an attempt to
create instability, terrorising people and weakening
India's economic might, there is no reference to
Kashmir.
Indian Penal Code sections 121A (conspiracy to wage
war, abet in or attempt to wage war against the
government of India) and 122 (collecting arms with the
intention of waging war) are part of the charges framed.
Kashmir figures prominently in Ajmal's confessional
statement. He said the Mujahideen were told to fight to
free Kashmir. In the statement, Lashkar leader Zaki-ur-
Rahman Lakhvi is reported to have said: “Now we have

TOURISM
Blessing in disguise : Recession
redirecting tourists to Kashmir
G lobal recession has failed to affect Kashmir's tourism industry as more and
more tourists continue to throng the valley.
According to the players in the tourism industry, many domestic tourists have
already cancelled their tours to European countries and are coming to Kashmir
valley. This has helped to increase the number of footfalls in Kashmir.
Even Farooq Shah, director of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir agrees that
recession has failed to affect tourism industry in the valley.
"Till now, we have received good response and recession doesn't have a major
impact on tourism. Recession has an affect throughout the world and high spending people naturally, they don't move out. But, we
are receiving a good response. This good response will continue in future too with no affect of recession on our state," said Farooq Shah.
In a situation when global recession has forced many tourists to cancel their trips, affordable hotels and transportation in Kashmir
compared to other destination have increased the number of tourists visiting the valley.
"There is a lot of global recession which is going in other countries. But Jammu and Kashmir as such is very economical. We have
been able to find out good economical hotels with good service in Jammu and Kashmir," said Shashank Kumar, a tourist.
Kashmir tourism had received a severe blow last year with the Amarnath land agitation bringing down the number of tourists.

Epilogue Ø
7×
June 2009

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
This bank for women only
Enterprising women
in Jammu and
Kashmir have
ventured to open a
women's only bank
to provide basic
banking facilities
and timely loans.
After witnessing
various cases where
major banks turned
down needy
women's loan
applications, the founding members of Kashmir Women's
Cooperative Bank were motivated to open their own venture.
The opening of Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank is expected to
supplement the empowerment of womenfolk in the valley.
"Firstly it's an exclusive bank for women. Secondly, we have
opened this bank to help women belonging to weaker sections and
who are working or want to start their own business. Since their
requirement is less, we have started providing loans starting from
rupees 20,000," said Ashiya Saleem, Manager of Kashmir Women's
Cooperative Bank.
Apart from enabling several women to become self-reliant, the
bank also counsels the account holders in managing their earnings
and other assets.
The hassle free format to open a savings account is attracting
many Kashmiri women. "I save all my savings in my account here.
And whenever there is requirement of loan we can easily consult
the bank and easily get loan from there," said Parveena Akhtar, a
customer of Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank.
This bank offers loans to the needy among the 'have-nots'. So far
the Kashmir Women's Cooperative Bank has provided loans to
nearly 30 women.
DEVELOPMENT
Gurez villagers yet to see electricity
E ven after more than six decades of independence and
introduction of central-sponsored Rural Electrification,
people of dozens of villages of this border town are still living
in stone age as they are using 'Mashal' (flame) for lighting up
their houses in the evening.
''Yes, it is true that people living in dozens of villages,
particularly on upper reaches, still use mashal (flame) to light
up their homes in the evening,'' the ruling National Conference
(NC) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Gurez
Epilogue Ø
8×
June 2009
NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories
CONFLICT - PERCEPTION
Guinness Book of
World Records
names Kashmir as
the largest dispute
in the world
T he Kashmir dispute has been registered in the
Guinness Book of World Records as the largest
militarized territorial dispute in the world.
The Guinness Book of World Records used the
Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) world fact book
to name the Kashmir issue, the longest dispute
between two countries.
In the latest edition of the Guinness Book of World
Records, page no. 137 of the 'wars' section reads
states : "According to the CIA fact book, the
dispute between China, India and Pakistan for
Kashmir region is the largest and most militarised
dispute."
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over
Kashmir: in 1947, 1965, and 1999. India and China
have clashed once, in 1962 over Aksai Chin
Since the 1990s, the Indian administered Jammu
and Kashmir has been hit by confrontation
between Kashmiri separatists, including militants
who India alleges are supported by Pakistan and
the Pakistan Armed Forces, and Indian Armed
Forces which has resulted in thousands of deaths
in the Valley.
constituency Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi says.
He said during electioneering in recent Lok Sahba polls, he
entered a house in a village late in the evening where the
inmates were sitting under mashal (flame) light. ''Though I feel
very bad, but there was no alternative I could suggest to
them,'' he said. When asked why he could not get electricity to
every village of his constituency, represented by him for the
second consecutive time in 2009, Mr Gurezi said it needed
huge funds.
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
'US wants India, Pakistan talk about Kashmir'
T he Barack Obama administration
would love to see India and
Pakistan re-engage in confidence-
building measures and talk about
Kashmir and other areas of difference,
according to a top defence
department official.
"There is a lot they can do to lower
tensions, and they had done a lot
before the Mumbai attacks," Michele
Flournoy, undersecretary of defence
for policy said in an interview with the
Defence Writers' Group posted on the
department website.
Part of the problem in Pakistan,
Flournoy said, is that the country still
is too focused on a perceived threat
from India. India and Pakistan have
fought three wars since the Pakistan
was born in the 1947 partition of
India, and the two countries still
maintain forces facing each other in
Kashmir. The Pakistani military is a
conventional force trained for
conventional warfare. “It's now being
used to conduct counterinsurgency
operations,” Flournoy said. “To their
credit, they have asked for help.”
"We would like to see that process
restarted. That could go a long way to
allowing the Pakistani military and the
Pakistani government to focus on the
most urgent existential threat they
face, and that's from within," she said.
Part of the problem in Pakistan,
Flournoy said, is that the
country still is too focused on a
perceived threat from India.
The Pakistani military is a
conventional force trained for
conventional warfare. "It's now
being used to conduct
counterinsurgency operations,"
Flournoy said. "To their credit,
they have asked for help."
The Pakistani military has
asked for help in
counterinsurgency training and
different equipment, but it is
going to take time to reorient
the military, she said. assistance in Pakistan is on the non-
The Pakistanis also realise the fight military side. "What we're trying to do
they are in against the Taliban in the is assist them where we are able to
northwestern provinces and the because the stakes are so great for
federally administered tribal areas us," Flournoy said.
doesn't have a "military only" solution. The new US strategy in Afghanistan
"The real issue is allowing the and Pakistan treats the area as an
Pakistani government to be able to integrated theatre of operations,
provide for the needs of the Flournoy said. "We have to regard
population in this area," the official Pakistan and Afghanistan together,
said. because each affects the other so
The people too understand the threat. profoundly."
The attacks against cricketers and "When I say an integrated strategy, I
others in Lahore "brought home the mean the enemy doesn't respect the
danger to the Pakistani people and border between the two nations," she
Pakistani government like nothing said. The Taliban and their allies travel
before," she said. "There is greater back and forth across the border
willingness to deal with this than ever constantly, she noted, and problems
before." on one side of the border affect the
The biggest growth in American other side.

The proper Gurez town
witnessed about 15 feet of
snowfall during this winter
while in the villages on upper
reaches it was more than 20
feet, he said.
Promising to take up the issue
with the government in and
outside the state assembly, he
said, the members from far-flung and remote areas,
irrespective of their party affiliation, should be given proper
time in the House to highlight the problems of their areas.
Mr Gurezi said, ''There are about 100 villages in the
constituency. Majority of them are on upper reaches, which
are deep in the forest.'' Local residents say that people in
several villages use mashal (flames) and Kerosene oil lumps for
light in the evening. These villages have not been connected
by electric wire so far even after 62 years of independence.

Epilogue Ø
9×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

SEPARATIST POLITICS
Mirwaiz vows to carry on struggle till Kashmir’s ‘freedom’

O
n occasion of 19th anniversary of Mirwaiz Maulvi wounded. Mirwaiz followers were heard shouting that the
Mohammad Farooq's assassination on May 21, Mirwaiz same men had been “planted” in the rally and, according to
Umar Farooq-led faction of the separatist Hurriyat them, they were the people striking on Police in downtown
Conference organized a mass congregation and called it Srinagar with continual stone pelting since the beginning of
“Election Rejection Rally”. Mirwaiz was keen to tell the world this year. Authorities are understood to have received a list of
that majority of the people in Jammu & Kashmir, according to 50 of such 'urchins' and raids were being planned to detain
him, had observed boycott to the lately concluded process of them all.
Lok Sabha elections. Even as all parts of Jammu, Ladakh and Immediately after
Kashmir valley had witnessed moderate turnout of 25% to 65%, performing his
Srinagar, Baramulla and Sopore towns in the Valley had largely afternoon prayers
rejected the Indian democratic exercise with few people in assembly at
exercising their right of franchise. Jamia Masjid,
In a significant development, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Mirwaiz led a rally
had directed the authorities to allow the separatist rally with of more than 5,000
whatever the speeches and slogans. Sources, however, of his followers to
insisted that the Government permitted the rally only after Iddgah. It took him
men of consequence in the Mirwaiz Hurriyat had conveyed to over two hours to
the authorities that there would be no law and order problem reach the venue.
and the separatists would not clash with Police or paramilitary There was thin

Senior separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, has threatened to revive

“2008-type mass movement” in case New Delhi failed to take substantive
measures in the direction of resolving the six-decade-long Kashmir dispute
in the next two months. Buoyed with Omar Abdullah government's
permission to Hurriyat's Iddgah rally on May 21, Mirwaiz issued a call for
“Lalchowk Chalo” on July 13th and his followers enjoyed a field day in the
capital city while shouting pro-Azadi slogans, patrolling with green flags on
motorcycles and, in the evening, burning gunny bags in front of CRPF
pillboxes in the downtown.

forces. Thus, it was for the first time since August 22 last year
that the government allowed such kind of a mass
demonstration in the Valley.
While Police maintained that it was a 15,000-strong rally,
independent estimates put the number of participants
between 16,000 and 20,000. Since yesterday itself, Mirwaiz
followers had begun patrolling of streets from downtown to
uptown, while carrying green colour Islamic flags on motorcycles
and vehicles and shouting pro-freedom slogans. There was a
pandemonium at Iddgah when a group of over 50 youth shouted
slogans in favour of Mirwaiz Umar's arch rival in the separatist
camp, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and yelled that nobody but the
Hurriyat (G) chief would represent the Kashmiris at any forum to
settle the Kashmir dispute.
The Awami Action Committee supporters shot back with pro-
Mirwaiz slogans and thrashed over a dozen of the Geelani
followers. Police reports and independent sources said that at
least eight persons were beaten up mercilessly and left
presence of Police and CRPF had been directed by the highest
authorities to remain invisible inside their bunkers. Mirwaiz
offered Fatiha at the tombs of his slain father, Mirwaiz Maulvi
Mohammad Farooq, late Abdul Gani Lone and scores of
militants and civilians killed by government forces and
suspected anti-terrorism cadres in Kashmir valley in the last 19
years of armed insurgency.
In his key address to the gathering, Mirwaiz asserted that the
people of Jammu & Kashmir had “rejected” the Indian
democratic exercise. He claimed that very few people had
participated in the elections and, as such, members of J&K
Legislative Assembly and those of the Indian Parliament had no
right to call themselves as representatives of the people. “I
challenge them to hold a rally at Iddgah and thereafter call
themselves as the peoples' representatives”, 38-year-old
cleric-politician said.
Mirwaiz vowed to carry on the struggle until the day of the
Kashmiris winning “freedom” from India. He asserted that the

Epilogue Ø
10 ×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

SEPARATIST POLITICS
blood of “thousands of our martyrs” would not go waste. He
stressed on reunification of all factions of the separatist amalgam
Shah out of jail after
and declared that he would work hard to recreate “1994-type
unity” among the separatist outfits in Kashmir. He said it was high
nine months
time for the Government of India to take necessary steps in the
direction of resolving the Kashmir dispute by way of holding
“meaningful negotiations” with the state's separatist leadership
S enior Separatist leader and president of
Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad
Shah was on May 23 released after being detained
and Islamabad. for nine months in connection with the mass
Mirwaiz asserted that assuming power or become members of agitation for the Amarnath land row. Shah,
Assembly or Parliament was not Hurriyat's agenda. He sought to executive member of Moderate faction of Hurriyat
make it clear that Hurriyat's goal was “complete freedom” from Conference headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq,
India and the elections for legislative bodies could be contested was released from Srinagar Central Jail. Shah was
only after settlement of the Kashmir dispute. “Should India fail to
arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on August
take substantive measures in the next two months, we would be
22 last year during mass agitation triggered by the
left with no option but to create a “2008-type mass movement”.
Amarnath land row.
Buoyed with the controlled success of today's rally, Mirwaiz issued a
Soon after his release Mr. Shah was received by
call of mass march to Lalchowk on the Martyrs Day of July 13 next.
dozens of party activists who straightway drove to
Proponent of boycott to elections, Mirwaiz said that Hurriyat
would not allow anybody to make a bargaining of “our martyrs' Martyrs' graveyard at Eidgah to pay homage to those
blood” with New Delhi. He wished the upcoming UPA Government who lost their lives since the eruption of militancy
to restore the process of dialogue with the Kashmiris and also take in the state over two decades back.
Islamabad on board as a primary party to the dispute. "I will not be cowed down by the detention. I will
Even as the rally continued to be peaceful till late in the continue to work for the unity of the separatist
afternoon, flocks of Mirwaiz Umar's spiritual and political camp and freedom of Kashmir," Mr. Shah told his
followers amplified their anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans while supporters. Among various charges, Mr. Shah was
passing through the CRPF bunkers on Nallah Maar Road on their slapped with PSA.
return to home. Eyewitnesses and official sources said that groups "Martyrdom and detention are part of the ongoing
of the participants set on fire empty gunny bags at CRPF pillboxes freedom struggle. Till the achievement of our goal,
at Kawdara. Thereafter, there were intermittent clashes between we will continue the struggle," he said.
the Mirwaiz supporters and Police. He appealed to Chairman of the hardline faction of
It was after months that groups of youth were seen yelling “Ragda the Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and
Ragda NC to Ragda, PDP Ko Ragda”. They were also heard shouting Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)
anti-India and pro-Azadi slogans. Some of their slogans were chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik to support his
explicitly directed on senior NC leader and Minister in Omar efforts.
Abdullah's government, Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is now
representing people of Khanyar constituency for the 5th
consecutive term in the Assembly.
While the Hurriyat supporters were beating the retreat with anti-
NC, anti-PDP and anti-Government slogans in downtown Srinagar
in the evening, groups of NC supporters took to the streets at
district headquarters of Budgam. Led by NC's Budgam MLA, Aga
Syed Ruhullah, they shouted anti-PDP slogans and yelled that they
would not allow the PDP leaders to enter Budgam township on
Friday. Reports said that senior PDP leaders, including Shia cleric-
politicians, Malvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari and Aga Syed Mehmood,
were scheduled to hold a public meeting at Budgam tomorrow.
Sources said that the NC supporters burnt rubber-tyres and
conveyed to the authorities that they would strike on the PDP
leaders should they enter the township on Friday.

Epilogue Ø
11 ×
June 2009
 NO T E BOOK
11 Essential Stories

COST OF CONFLICT
Three-year-old girl killed while fiddling with bomb
A three-year old girl was killed and her 10 year old brother were critically injured in a powerful explosion in Kashmir on
May 22. A top police official said that sister-brother duo were playing in a field at Hamla Pati, Rajwar in North Kashmir..
"During playing they found an abandoned explosive shell and started fiddling with it. During this process, the explosive device
went off, critically injuring the two," he said.
The police officer said that the duo were taken to the hospital, where the 3-year old girl identified as Rashida Bano expired
while her brother Mohammad Saleem is stated to be in critical condition. Police have launched investigations. Scores of such
incidents have taken place in Kashmir after the eruption of militancy in 1989.

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Power Center Experts: Dig J&K fields for
shifts to oil, hydrocarbons
Srinagar
E xperts have strongly advocated undertaking petroleum exploration in Jammu
and Kashmir, and asked the Oil And Natural Gas Corporation to resume its

T he civil secretariat, seat of

Jammu and Kashmir
Government, reopened in Srinagar
on May 4 amid tight security
arrangements today as part of the
bi-annual "Durbar move", under
which Government functions for
six months each in two capital
cities of Jammu and Srinagar. All
offices, including that of the
Chief Minister and his ministerial
colleagues, were closed in winter
capital Jammu on April 24. Around
7,000 employees and truckloads
of office records were shifted as
part of the more than a century
old bi-annual exercise.
The practice of shifting state
secretariat from one city to
another has been going on since
1872, the era of Maharaja Gulab
Singh and devours crores of
rupees from state exchequer.
Elaborate security arrangements
were made for reopening of the
offices as police deployed quick
reaction teams, increased number
of flying squads and covered high-
rise buildings in the vicinity of the
vital installations, including the
secretariat.
operations in the state which it had suspended twenty two years ago due to
insurgency.
The state is considered to have potentially rich rocks of two petroleum systems
and geo-thermal energy which needed to be tapped, but were subject to focused
research, they said. Dr. Bindra Thusu, professor, Maghreb Petroleum Group at the
University College London, and Professor G. M. Bhat, Geology Department,
University of Jammu, conceded security concerns in the state, but pointed out that
exploration activities and drilling were on in other violence-hit areas like Assam
and other regions of the north-east.
Delivering a presentation on “Hydrocarbon Exploration Activity in Jammu and
Kashmir State: Current Status” at a three-day international workshop on "Energy
Challenges in Jammu and Kashmir State: A case study for the Energy Research
Institute" being organized jointly by University of Kashmir, University of Jammu and
Maghreb Petroleum Research Group, University College London at University of
Kashmir, the two geo-scientists said that it was also a high time to formulate an oil
exploration policy for the J&K state.
Strongly recommending the ONGC to resume its activity in J&K, Prof Thusu and
Prof Bhat backed by the other geoscientists attending the conference suggested
that the Directorate of Geology and Mining be re-organized as the Directorate of
Energy, Geo-science and Mining and the proposed Directorate should initiate
research for hydrocarbons on the model of Gujarat Sate Oil Corporation and ONGC
should provide the data on the exploration activity done by them.
Regarding hydrocarbon prospectivity in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the geo-
scientists said that to prove an area to be potentially prospective a period of 3-5
years of research was required. J&K, they said, was already on the hydrocarbon
prospective map of India, and to find leads and prospects would take another 5-8
years of research.
Given these time constrains, they said, it was high time to formulate an oil
exploration policy for the J&K state. In this regard a modest beginning has been
made in the Geology Department of Jammu University in collaboration with
University College London and University of Lille, they said.

Epilogue Ø
12 ×
June 2009

Enhancing own resources, controlling
non-productive expenditure are our
top priorities : Rather
In the political discourse Jammu and
J&K’s annual budget Kashmir is always described as a poor
state. But if we look at the overall
for financial year 2009- profile, our state is one of the richest
10 was deferred earlier in resources. How to you explain the
economic strengths and weaknesses
this year for July for a of the state.
range of reasons - the
Our State may not be one of the. richest
new government had in natural resources. Yet it is endowed
with rich forests, good deposits of
taken over in January minerals and some unique agricultural,
and there was hardly horticulture and forest products.
Commercial exploitation of these
anytime available for resources is hampered by our State's
long distance from the main markets
exercise and most and absence of railway link with the rest
importantly there was of the country. The biggest economic
weakness of our State is its near total
no idea of the plan dependence, for most of its consumer
goods/capital goods requirements, on
size. In this exclusive
markets from outside. Thus a very large
interview to ZAFAR chunk of our States GSDP annually flows
out side for meeting these
CHOUDHARY and requirements.
DIPANKAR
Between 1996 and 2002 your party
SENGUPTA, the leader and then Chief Minister Dr
Farooq Abdullah would often say that
Finance Minister any government in Jammu and Kashmir
Abdul Rahim Rather always needs to have cordial relations
with the Central government for free
offers an insight into flow of funds. Even NC's brief alliance
with the NDA was also justified on this
the prevailing state of
pretext. How much the Jammu and
the state’s economy. Kashmir state has actually to depend
on the Center for timely and proper
Epilogue Ø
13 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
flow of funds?
The financial relations of the Centre
and the States are defined in the Indian
Constitution. The share of the States in
the income of the Centre is determined
by the successive Finance Commissions
appointed by the President of India at
intervals of five years. Their Award
determines how much share would be
received by each state during the next
five years period. The successive
Finance Commissions have been guided
by the considerations to provide the
bare minimum to the States for
maintenance, larger chunks should be
kept at the disposal of the Centre.
From out of this chunk, the Centre
meets its own requirements and also
allocates sums to the individual states
for meeting their development needs
through the mechanism of Planning
Commission. Though the plan
assistance flows to the States from the
Planning Commission on the basis of
pre-determined formulae, some
political discretion is occasionally
exercised by the Centre while
supplementing these allocations
outside the prescribed formulae. For
smaller States like that of ours,
tapping of such discretionary
assistance from the Centre assumes lot
of importance and some times
becomes crucial. Hence the need of
good working relations with the Centre
cannot be under estimated.

Please compare and contrast the
backgrounds faced by you today and
Mr Muzaffar Hussian Beig in 2002
when he assumed the finance ministry
after the PDP-Congress Coalition
assumed office. What is the state of
the government finances today as
compared to 2002 when NC left
office? What was the state of J&K's
economy in 2002 as compared to
today?
It may not be of any use to dig out the
past. It may suffice to say that the
financial position inherited by us is
precarious. The last year's (2008-09)
plan was largely funded out of the
discretionary support from the Centre
and the adverse impact of the
financial policies followed earlier
cannot be braked all of a sudden.
All the currently available
resources, including the Central
devolutions-both plan and non
plan- are fully committed to
meet only the maintenance
expenditure. Practically nil
resources are available for plan
efforts. In other words, we
have become fully dependant
on the out of way discretionary
support from the Centre for
funding our Plan. Obviously, we
cannot continue like this. The
non productive expenditure
which has been allowed to grow
uncontrolled during the last few
years will have to be controlled,
our own resources will have to be
enhanced and the Thirteenth
Finance Commission will have to
be impressed by us to take stock of
these realities and give a special
deal to our state for their Award
period. .
J&K is naturally bestowed with rich
hydel resources. But this is one such
area (electricity generation and
distribution) which is responsible for
putting state's finances in complete
disarray. Does the government the
government have any well drawn out
policy on harnessing the hydro-
electric potential? What does your
government intend to do on using the
hydro-electric potential to push the
economic growth of the state.
Epilogue Ø
14 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
Exploitation of the available hydel
resources involves massive
investments. For tapping the identified
hydel potential we require about
1,50,000 to 2,00,000 crores of
investment at current costs. We have to
also keep in view that due to the
restrictions imposed on construction of
dams on our rivers imposed under the
Indus Waters Treaty (1960) signed by
the Government of India with the
G o v e r n m e n t o f Pa k i s t a n , o u r
hydelpower generation goes down as
low as 25% of the installed capacity. This
not only causes massive loss of energy
but also increases per unit cost of
generation. We have to grapple
with this ground reality. We
have planned for tapping the
hydel potential in the
following manner:
Keeping a chunk of our
plan money for
installation of hydel
stations by our own
Po w e r D e v e l o p m e n t
Corporation.
Going in partnership
with the NHPC as also
with private players for
taking up identified
hydro electrical
project under Private
Public Participation
(PPP) mode.
Allowing the private
players to take up
execution of some of the
identified projects under IPP
(Independent Power Producer) mode.
Impressing upon the NHPC and
Government of India to expedite
execution of the projects already
transferred to them by the State.

Is there any way in which the
government can raise resources
(other than the current manner put in
place by the previous government)?
The government generally does not
intend to burden the people with taxes.
However, I feel that the rates should be
rationalized periodically to take care of
the inflation. New taxes may be added
in the areas where a common man is not
hit. None the less, we would like to
educate the people to put the right
value on the services which they avail of
from various government departments
as efficient maintenance of these
services is dependant upon the revenue
realized by way of fee or service
charges.
The state expenditure can be classified
broadly into the following six
categories:
Repayment of loans and internal
borrowings/debts
Payment of interest on such borrowings.
Expenditure incurred on salaries of the
establishment.
Expenditure on pensions
Cost of electricity purchased
Where are the areas in the budget
where expenditures (non-plan
expenditure) can be reduced?
Other over heads of the Government
each of the aforementioned items have
to be continuously kept under watch.
Unfortunately, in the last few years
borrowings have been resorted to for
funding the non plan expenditure.
Expenditure on purchase of electricity
has been over stretched. Swelling of
establishment in the non productivity
sectors has also added to the wasteful
expenditure. I see my roll in all these
areas as a perpetual regulator ready to
take correcting and balancing
measures. This is also necessary to
create a more disciplined financial
order in governance.
The Central Government has several
flagship schemes like NREGA to tackle
rural unemployment? Is there any
need in J & K to have similar schemes?
If so do you have any plans for such
schemes?
NREGA is a. central scheme which can
be utilized to generate employment
amongst the rural poor in a much better
manner. I intend to initiate immediate
corrective measures to take full
advantage of this scheme. A parallel
State scheme may not be~ necessary.
Do you think it is possible to turn
around the massive losses suffered by
the power sector in this State? If so,
How?
It is possible to make a turn around in
the revenue administration of the
p o w e r s e c t o r. S o m e t e c h n i c a l
improvements in T&D sector are
necessary and we have already initiated
action in this direction. This includes
installation of some major receiving
stations. Energy accounting is being
introduced right from the point of
generation/receiving station to the
distributors and the points of
consumption. Theft of electrical energy
will have to be curbed. These measures,
combined with a user friendly
mechanism of revenue collection, I am
sure, will make vast improvements.
One of the biggest public
expectations from your government
is job creation. But the situation
prevailing in the state is unique. The
proportion of government employees
to total population in Jammu and
Epilogue Ø
15 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
Kashmir is one of the highest in the
country but still from political class
to the common man the
unemployment is being described by
all as 'alarming'. Do you have any
plans to tackle this problem of over-
staffing and creating a public
awareness that the government
should not be seen as a sole employer
in the state? If so elaborate
We are conscious of the expectations of
our youth, particularly the educated
unemployed seeking opportunities
within the government as a career.
Additionally, we have initiated
measures for opening job opportunities
in the private sector. We are going to
create right environment and
infrastructure and take other
facilitating measures to expand
industrial base of the state at a faster
rate. We also intend to give thrust to the
areas in which unexploited potential for
self employment exists. Hoping that the
global recessionary trends shall subside
soon, we are also initiating measures to
facilitate the movement of our youth
into the national and global economic
scenario.
The concessions given to industry in
J&K have not brought in significant
investment. Is it because these
concessions are insufficient or
because they are unnecessary? Does
the actual solution lie elsewhere?
Apart from the concessions which we
may extend, the industry also takes into
account the relative advantages of a
particular location for taking
investment decisions. In a globally
competitive environment, the location
of any industry is guided by availability
of raw materials and cheap skilled man-
power as also distance from the main
markets. Another important relevant
 Toward Cleaner
Greener Future
Nodal Agency for
clean Development
SFRI
Putting Jammu & Kashmir on National
Mechanism in J&K carbon map for tapping CDM potential

Carbon Cell being

t
established at Janipur
Campus in Jammu.

Two brainstorming
t
sessions held on CDM,
carbon mapping.

Two state level

t
workshops held under
National Bamboo Mission.

MOU with SMVD University

t
and BGSB University for Joint
Collaboration in Research

J&K State Forest Research Institute

Janipura, Jammu (J&K) - 180007
Epilogue Classified Mart
because there is more to know REACH OUT TO DECISION MAKERS

factor is sufficiency of the
infrastructure such as
telecommunication net work, air and
railway connections and also to some
extent health and educational
facilities. Therefore, apart from the
concessions which we may decide to
give in future, our strategy shall be
based on the available raw materials
and skills and improvement of
infrastructure.
Prime Minister's Task Force on
Economic Recovery of Jammu and
Kashmir headed by former Reserve
Bank of India Governor C Rangarajan
had said in its report that Article 370
is one of the several impediments in
attracting investments from other
parts of country in Jammu and
Kashmir. How do you look at this
scenario?
The Rangarajan Committee made a
reference to Article 370 in the context
of the non permanent residents not
being in a position to purchase land and
immoveable properties within the
state. The impediment referred to by
you flows not from article 370, as you
know, but from the special provisions in
the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir
based on the old orders from the rulers
of Jammu and Kashmir State meant for
protecting the rights and interests of
the Permanent Residents of the state.
Such protection is available to many
other states in the country including the
states in the north east region. Our
government, during the time of the
great visionary Late Jenab Sheikh
Mohammed Abdullah had already
removed such impediment in a major
way, by amending the relevant laws to
provide for long term lease of land to
non permanent residents of the state
for setting of the industry. I do not think
that ever since then any such
impediment has come in the way of
setting up of any industrial venture
within Jammu and Kashmir.
Are there concrete plans raise
profitability in agriculture in the
State?
Agriculture is going to be our prime
focus for-the economic development of
Jammu and Kashmir. The pressure on
our agriculture land is already very
heavy. In fact the agricultural area has
been shrinking faster than it should
have. We intend to put a curb on such
tendency. The irrigated area shall have
to be increased by taking recourse to
construction of new canals and tube
wells and remodeling and renovating of
the old canals. Multiple cropping shall
be encouraged and increase in the
productivity measured in terms of yield
per hectare of land shall be the ultimate
focus of our agriculture policy.
It is reported that Democratic
Decentralization is on the cards (vide
the 73rd Amendment). How do you plan
to devolve finances to these grass
root bodies given the precarious
financial condition of the state?
The local bodies are very important in
the scheme of local self governance.
They may not frame laws but have
equal rights to participate in the
development, and to some extent
regulatory measures within their
territories. Our government is fully
committed to empower the
panchayati raj institutions and the
urban local bodies. We are seriously
examining the ways to devolve
financial support to these bodies
under a formal mechanism and allow
them to take their own decisions in the
manner of spending their provisions as
also to generate local resources which
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18 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
they can own and utilize for
community welfare.
The previous government was often
unable to spend large amounts of
allocated funds in time (which led to
the lapsing of grants). How do you
plan to tackle this problem?
Plan spending is a function of timely
sanctions, communication of out lays,
preparing the departments in advance
for execution of schemes, timely
preparation of estimates and their
technical, administrative and financial
approval; and top of all, regular
monitoring of expenditure for removing
bottlenecks, if any. All these activities
have to go on continuously in a cycle.
The movement this cycle is broken; it
creates a serious un-settling effect in
the entire process. We intend to restore
this cycle and accelerate its speed. All
the concerned officers shall be made
accountable towards their assigned
responsibilities for this purpose.
Do you have any plans to attract
service economy firms like tourism,
BPO firms to this state with
budgetary concessions? Are such
concessions required?
Each type of industry or business
requires a proper environment. Many of
the modern, vibrant business do not
seek budgetary concessions from the
local governments. As such, our
emphasis shall be mainly on providing
right environment and proper
infrastructural support to them.
Does cross-LOC trade have any
potential to beneficially impact the
economy of the state?
Cross LOC trade is in its infancy. It is
difficult to draw any conclusions at such

an early stage. However, we shall
continue to make all possible efforts for
development of cross LOC trade as it is
also very important from psychological
and emotional considerations. The
parties to the trade are operating from
the two sides of an artificial line which
has been now dismantled, at least for
purpose of cross LOC trade.
Questions are often raised on
regional disparities. Besides
'political participation' and 'decision
making', some people in Jammu have
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always complained of lopsided
funding of the region as compared to
Kashmir. As Finance Minister what
would you like to do to end the
disparities, if any, and put the finding
patterns in a transparent manner so
that nobody shoots the
discrimination arrows in the dark?
Without naming any regions or sub
regions of the state at this stage,
concerning their comparative
backwardness, I would like to clarify
that the present government is fully
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19 ×
June 2009
I N T E R V I EW
J&K Finance Minister
committed to do everything possible
to remove regional and sub regional
imbalances as early as possible. While
a lot of action is dependant on the
report of the State Finance
Commission which is being awaited by
our government, we intend to initiate
corrective measures through the
budgetary mechanism in the
meanwhile. The exercise for
identifying such measures and the
manner in which they should be
introduced into the budget is
presently on.
 IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections

NC-Congress gain grounds,

PDP, BJP pushed to margins

Though Kashmir's grand old party, the National Conference, returned to power earlier this year after a gap of six
years, but the parties which made real gains in the assembly elections of November-December 2008 were the
Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir and Bhartiya Janta Party in Jammu region. Five months after their
resounding performance, the PDP and BJP now stand marginalized after their humiliating defeat in the recent
Lok Sabha elections. The bonhomie between National Conference and the Congress –the two ruling coalition
partners in the state has paid off. Congress secured two of three seats its contested and the National
Conference three all. Sixth seats went to a National Conference rebel in Ladakh who returned to the party a day
after results were announced on May 16. Next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are more than five
years away and it clearly appears difficult for the PDP to survive the challenges of keeping their flock together.

I n total decimation of Mufti an intensely contested election. The

AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
Author is a senior journalist. He works
with Jammu based English Daily, Early
Times.
Moha mma d Sayeed's Pe oples defeat of BJP candidate Leela Karan
Democratic Party (PDP) and Sajjad Sharma –who spearheaded the two-
Gani Lone's Peoples Conference (PC) in month long Amarnath land agitation –by
Kashmir and the BJP in Jammu, the a margin over 1.2 lakh votes was a
ruling National Conference (NC) made a significant aspect of results in the
clean sweep on all the three Lok Sabha region.
seats in Kashmir valley and the Congress
won two seats in Jammu region. While SRINAGAR-BADGAM
NC's Dr Farooq Abdullah, Dr Mehboob In the Central Kashmir Lok Sabha
Beg and Sharief-ud-din Shariq turned constituency of Srinagar-Budgam, NC's
out to be the winners in Valley, NC's Dr Farooq Abdullah defeated PDP's
clandestinely supported independent Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari with a
candidate, Ghulam Hassan Khan, substantial margin of 30,242 votes. Of
registered his victory over the senior the 2,82,761 votes polled in 15 Assembly
Congress leader and the ruling
coalition's official candidate, P
Namgyal, in Ladakh. Losers in Valley
include PDP's Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, same party's former Ministers Pir
Mohammad Hussain and Mohammad
Dilawar Mir, PC Chairman Sajjad Lone as
also the Awami National Conference
(ANC) chief and Dr Abdullah's sister,
Khalida Shah. In Jammu, the sitting
Members of Parliament of the Congress
–Madan Lal Sharma and Choudhary Lal
Singh –defeated the BJP candidates in

Epilogue Ø
20×
June 2009

segments of Srinagar, Budgam and
Ganderbal districts, Dr Abdullah bagged
1,47,035 and his nearest rival Mr Ansari
secured 1,16,793. An independent,
Mohammad Illyas Kumhar, got third
position with his 4,540 votes and the
ANC President, Khalida Shah, stood 4th
with just 2,855 votes.
There were 15 candidates in the fray
and 11.06 Lakh citizens were entitled to
exercise their franchise in the polling
that was conducted in 15 Assembly
segments of Central Kashmir with
modest turnout of 25.5% on May 7th.
The coalition-sponsored, Dr Abdullah,
and PDP's high-profile cleric-politician,
Ansari, were the key contestants
ANANTNAG-PULWAMA
In the South
Kashmir Lok
S a b h a
constituency of
Anantnag-
Pulwama, NC's
Dr Mehboob Beg
defeated PDP's
Pir Mohammad
Hussain with a
margin of 5,224
votes. Of the
3,18,697 votes polled in 16 Assembly
segments of Anantnag, Pulwama,
Shopian and Kulgam districts, Dr Beg got
1,48,317. He was followed by PDP's Pir
Hussain, who secured 1,43,093 votes.
The third position went to an
independent, Nazir Ahmed Bhat, who
polled 5,981 votes.
With total electorate of 11.66 Lakh in 16
Assembly segments of South Kashmir,
there were 13 candidates in the fray in
South Kashmir where polling was held
on April 30th with modest turnout of
27.3%. The ruling coalition-sponsored,
Dr Beg, was in a neck-and-neck fight
with PDP's Pir Hussain.
BARAMULLA-KUPWARA
In the North Kashmir Lok Sabha
constituency of Baramulla-Kupwara,
NC's Sharief-ud-din Shariq defeated his
nearest rival, PDP's Mohammad Dilawar
Mir, with a massive margin of 64,814
votes. Of the 4,41,234 votes polled in 15
Assembly segments of Baramulla,
Kupwara and Bandipore districts, the
coalition-sponsored Shariq bagged
2,03,022. PDP's Dilawar Mir stood
second with 1,38,208 votes in his favour.
Separatist-turned-mainstream political
leader, Sajjad Lone of PC, had to be
content with the third position while
getting 65,403 votes.
There were 13 candidates in the fray in
North Kashmir which recorded turnout
of 41.9% in the polling conducted on May
13th in 15 segments of Baramulla,
Kupwara and Bandipore districts. Nearly
10.53 Lakh voters were entitled to
exercise their right of franchise. NC's
Shariq, PDP's Dilawar and PC's Sajjad
Lone were the key contestants.
While making a total sweep on all the
three Parliamentary seats in Valley, NC
did not spare even the Assembly
segment of Sonwar in Srinagar for which
by-election took place alongside the
polling for Lok Sabha seat of Srinagar-
Budgam on May 7th. Election
authorities said that NC's Mohammad
Epilogue Ø
21 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
Yasin Shah defeated PDP's Mohammad
Ashraf Mir with a thin margin of 50
votes. While Shah polled 9,306 votes,
Mir followed him closely with 9,256.
ANC's Muzaffar Shah got just 1,115
votes. In fact, the day's most dramatic
result came from Sonwar where the PDP
candidate maintained minor lead until
the penultimate 10th round. It was in
the final round that the NC candidate
got decisive 48 out of the migrant votes
polled which took his final lead to 50.
In the main Assembly elections too,
Sonwar had proved to be a high drama
battleground between the NC and PDP
in December 2008. NC's Dr Abdullah had
won this seat with a tiny margin of 94
votes. Beneficiary of about a hundred
migrant votes, Dr Abdullah had polled
7,018 against then PDP candidate,
Sheikh Ghulam Qadir Pardesi's 6,924
votes. Given the fact that Pardesi had
thereafter defected to NC and the
Congress candidate, Khem Latta
Wakhloo, who polled 6,301 votes, was
also today on the coalition candidate's
side, PDP has put up a tough fight in
Sonwar. PDP's debutante, Ashraf Mir,
who has been twice NC's MLA from
Hazratbal (1987) and Sonwar (2002) was
pipped at the post, falling just 51 votes
short of the magic figure.
LEH-KARGIL
In the Lok Sabha constituency of Leh-
Kargil, in Ladakh regions, an
independent candidate, Ghulam Hassan
Khan, defeated the ruling coalition's
official candidate and senior Congress
leader, P Namgyal, with a margin of
3,684 votes. While Khan polled 32,701
votes and Namgyal stumbled on 29,017
votes. Both the potential contestants
were closely followed by former chief of
Hill Development Council, Kargil, Asgar
Ali Karbalayi and another independent
Ms Thinley Angmo. Official said that
Karbalayi got 24,498 and Ango 22,717.

Another independent, Ghulam Murtaza,
polled just 642 votes.
With total electorate of 1,52,391, four
segments of the Lok Sabha constituency
of Ladakh---comprising two each
segments in Leh and Kargil districts---
went for the polling with huge turnout
of 71.9% on May 13th. There were five
candidates in the fray. While Khan and
Namgyal were considered to be the top
candidates, Karbalyi and Angmo had
jumped into the fray and disturbed all
calculations of the major political
parties.
With result going in Mr Khan's favour,
initially the ruling coalition's safest seat
of Ladakh has ultimately proved to be a
paradox for Congress party. In the seat
sharing between NC and Congress, the
former had claimed Leh-Kargil for it had
won three of the four segments in the
Assembly elections of 2008. Even as
Congress had bagged one-odd segment
of Leh proper, Congress had forced NC
to surrender Ladakh and left all three of
the Valley's seats---including the PDP's
stronghold of Anantnag-Pulwama, for Dr
Abdullah's party. With the combination
of hard work, strategy and luck, NC
today captured the coalition's weakest
seat in South Kashmir seat but Congress
lost the coalition's safest seat in Ladakh.
THE LADAKH CONSPIRACY
After NC failed to get the coalition's
ticket for the influential Islamia School
and Khomeni Trust-supported Ghulam
Hassan Khan, he jumped into the fray as
an independent against the Congress
leader and the coalition candidate, P
Namgyal. While Khan had joined NC
after his retirement as DIG in J&K Police
and successfully contested Lok Sabha
election from Leh-Kargil in 1999,
Namgyal has been a member of
Parliament, Union Minister of State for
Tourism as also a member of the J&K
Legislative Council.
History has repeated itself in Ladakh. In
1989, during the seat sharing for Lok
Sabha elections, NC had got Leh-Kargil
and given its ticket to Hassan
Commander. However, the power
partner, Congress had clandestinely
fielded and supported Namgyal.
Namgyal defeated the NC candidate and
formally joined Congress in a few days.
In 2009 elections, Khan too deserted his
party (NC) and contested as an
independent while reportedly enjoying
NC's clandestine support. Consequently,
he succeeded in defeating the senior
Congress leader. Like, Namgyal's act in
1989, Khan too is expected to join back
NC but much would depend on the
coalition partner's reaction.
Epilogue Ø
22 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
Considering Khan as an NC proxy, the
ruling coalition has won all the six Lok
Sabha seats in the results declared
today.
In Valley, PDP's Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, who is believed to have got a
major chunk of the Shia vote, had posed
a considerable threat to Dr Farooq
Abdullah in the NC's impregnable
bastion of Srinagar-Budgam. However,
thanks to less impact of the Hurriyat-
sponsored boycott in the rural districts
of Budgam and Ganderbal, NC
maintained an impressive lead and
finally won this seat with a margin of
over 30,000 votes. NC's main vote came
from Kangan, Ganderbal, Chrar-e-
Sharief, Beerwah and few other
segments.
However, NC's most remarkable
achievements came from the PDP
stronghold of Anantnag-Pulwama in
South Kashmir as also from North
Kashmir where, PC's Sajjad Lone, was
believed to be enjoying superiority over
both NC and PDP in Kupwara district.
The PC chief was in for a shock for he
failed to establish lead even in his twin
home segments of Handwara and
Kupwara, where NC maintained margin
of two to three thousand votes each.
Again, it was neither PC nor NC but the
incumbent PDP that maintained lead in
Lolab segment. With the support of
independent MLA, Sheikh Abdul Rashid
alias Engineer, NC scored lead of over
4,000 in Kupwara's Langet segment.
Still, Sajjad Lone, who made his debut
in contesting the elections, got 65,000
votes. NC, however, has been
perceptibly disappointed over turnout
as well as its share of the vote polled in
Uri where its candidate, Shafi Uri, and
the winner Congress nominee, Taj
Mohiuddin, had polled over 46,000
votes in the Assembly elections of 2008.
Vi c t o r y i n t h e S o u t h K a s h m i r
constituency of Anantnag-Pulwama has

indisputably come as NC's biggest
achievement as the party, now in power,
had won only Noorabad segment out of
16 in the Assembly elections. PDP had
bagged 12 segments. Besides, NC had
failed to get number two position in as
many as seven segments. Previously, in
Assembly elections of 2002, NC had won
just two seats against PDP's 10. Earlier,
in Lok Sabha elections of 2004, PDP's
Mehbooba Mufti had defeated NC's Dr
Mehboob Beg with a good margin,
though in very poor turnout polling.
In Lok Sabha elections of 1999, NC's Ali
Mohammad Naik had defeated PDP's
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who contested
as an Independent but in 1998 Lok Sabha
elections, then Congress party's
candidate, Mufti Sayeed, had defeated
NC's Mohammad Yousuf Taing in South
Kashmir. Thus, it is after seven years
that NC has managed to uproot PDP on
its home turf in Valley, though with the
advantage of support from Congress and
CPI (M) coupled with largely successful
Hurriyat-sponsored boycott.
UDHAMPUR-DODA
In Udhampur-Doda constituency, four
Singhs were in a close contest among
the 14 candidates for the but it was
Choudhary Lal Singh who retained the
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
seat by beating his close rival by
a margin of over 13,000 votes.
Lal Singh and Dr Nirmal Singh of
Bhartiya Jhanta Party, Professor
Bhim Singh president of
National Panther Party and
Balbir Singh from the People's
Democratic Party were vied
against each other. With this
victory, Choudhary Lal Singh
has completed victory for
second term as he won in 2004
by defeating Professor Chaman
Lal Gupta of BJP. The other
candidates in fray included
Adrees Ahmad of CPI, Rakesh
Wazir of BSP, Rajesh Manchanda
of Rashtriya Krantikari Samajwadi old stalwart and sitting Member
Party, Master William Gill of All India Parliament Madan Lal Sharma. Sharma
Forward Bloc and the remaining Atul beat his close rival and Bhartiya Janta
Sharma, Dr Bodh Raj, Kanchan Sharma, Party's Leela Karan Sharma, former
Dev Raj, Mohammad Yousuf and Naresh convener of the Amarnath Sangharsh
Dogra were contesting as independents. Samiti that spearheaded the land row in
summer last year, by a huge margin of
nearly 120,000 votes. Congress won it in
In 1967 elections, Udhampur
1967, 1971, 1984, 1989, 1996 and 2004
constituency was represented by
while BJP, candidate Vaid Visho Dutt
Congress candidate Brg. Ghansara Singh
won the seat in 1998, and 1999.
while as in 1971 midterm polls, the
Congress leader Inderjeet Malhotra had
constituency was represented by Dr.
won the election for two successive
Karan Singh again on a Congress ticket,
terms in 1967 and 1971 while Janata
In 1977 Lok Sabha elections, the seat
Party leader Thakur Baldev Singh was
was again won by Dr. Karan Singh as INC
elected from the seat in 1977 as an
candidate. In the midterm 1980
Independent candidate. In 1980,
Parliamentary elections, the seat was
Congress again wrested the seat with
yet again won by Dr. Karan Singh,
Girdhari Lal Dogra getting elected. In
however, this time on INC (U) ticket. In
1984 and 1989, Congress candidate
1984, the seat was won by G. L. Dogra as
Janak Raj Gupta represented the seat
INC candidate while as in 1989 General
while Lok Sabha election was not held in
Election, Udhampur seat was won by
the State in 1990 due to security
Dharam Chand of INC, in 1996 the seat
reasons. In 1996, Congress leader
was won by Janak Raj Gupta on a BJP
Mangat Ram Sharma was elected from
ticket. In 1998 and 1999 elections,
the Jammu-Poonch segment. In 2002
Professor Chaman Lal Gupta of BJP
by-election held after the death of BJP's
represented the constituency.
Dutt, National Conference had won the
seat for the first time with Choudhary
JAMMU-POONCH Talib Hussain emerging victorious.
Even though there were 21 candidates During the last elections in 2004, Madan
in fray for the Jammu-Poonch Lal Sharma wrested the seat against
parliamentary segment, the contest defeating 25 candidates including his
was eventually won by ruling congress's nearest rival Dr. Nirmal Singh of BJP.
Epilogue Ø
23 ×
June 2009
 IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections

ANSWERS TO ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Prof. Rekha Chowdhary comments
on significant aspects of
Lok Sabha Elections 2009
REGIONAL PERCEPTIONS
Elections come with a different
ground perception in three regions of
J a m m u a n d K a s h m i r. P l e a s e
comment, separately, on regional
response to Lok Sabha elections in
Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh.

E
lections, like any other political
activity in Jammu and Kashmir
reflects the internal divergence
in the state. This is how the divergence
was reflected during the time of Lok
Sabha elections:

In Jammu, the Lok Sabha elections were

seen almost in the similar manner as
anywhere else in India. The stakes here
were between the BJP and the
Congress, although the National
Conference was also an important
player. Since these elections followed
the J&K Assembly elections in which BJP
had been able to win as many as 11
seats, its expectations were
heightened. The Congress had taken lot
of beating during the Assembly
elections, but having formed the
government in alliance with the
National Conference, it wanted to
retrieve the ground that it had lost to
the BJP during the State elections.
In Jammu region, the question which
provided the major context of the Lok
Sabha elections was related to the
impact of the Amarnath agitation. The
BJP expected that it could translate the
mobilization of the Hindu/Jammu
sentiments raised during the agitation
in terms of its victory in both the seats
of Jammu-Poonch and Doda-Udhampur
constituencies. However, there were
other factors which were operating at
the same time. Firstly, people in
Jammu were making their own
assessment about the agitation and
the communal and divisive direction
that it had taken at certain points.
They were also making assessment
about their personal material gains
and losses, The decision of the BJP to
nominate Leela Karan for the Jammu-
Poonch constituency had made people
rethink both about the role of the
Sangharsh Samiti as well as the of BJP
during the agitation.
Mood in Kashmir was altogether
different. After the massive
participation of people during the
Assembly elections, the separatists had
started mobilizing people for the
boycott politics. Boycott politics had a
better chance this time since people in
Kashmir were not similarly positioned
towards the Parliamentary elections as
they were towards the Assembly
elections. The stake of the separatists

Epilogue Ø
24 ×
June 2009

in the boycott politics had increased
after Sajad Gani Lone, a prominent
separatist, decided to contest the
elections. There was therefore greater
intensity of the boycott politics as well
as greater response.
Ladakh was more located in its local
issues. Generally, the Parliamentary
elections in Ladakh bring to the focus
the Leh-Kargil divide on the one hand
and the Buddhist-Muslim divide on the
other. However, the inner difference
within the Muslim politics of Ladakh is
also assuming importance. The
competition is therefore between the
Islamia School and Imam Khomeini
Memorial Trust. Knowing its strength in
Ladakh, the NC was keen on contesting
this seat while conceding the Anantnag
seat to Congress. But Congress insisted
on contesting from Ladakh. Though
officially the NC agreed for P Namgiyal
as the joint candidate of alliance,
however it did not work for his victory.
Hasan Khan, the candidate of the party
filled in the nomination paper as an
independent candidate and won the
election with the implicit support of
NC. The fact that Hasan Khan was
supported by Islamia School made all
the difference.
IN COMPARISON WITH LAST YEAR’S
ASSEMBLY POLLS
Assembly elections in November-
December 2008 saw a huge public
enthusiasm in all parts of state. In Lok
Sabha elections not only was there a
sharp decline in voter percentage but
also an absence of enthusiasm. Why
this change in scenario in a short span
of time.
T
he enthusiasm that was shown in
the Assembly elections in Jammu
and Kashmir was missing during
the Parliamentary elections. A number
of reasons can be attributed for this.
Firstly, people had a sense of proximity
with Assembly elections as these were
seen to be closely related to their day-
to-day lives. This sense of proximity was
missing during the Lok Sabha elections.
The votes cast during the Assembly
elections are directly related to the
formation of government and the voters
have a direct stake in the government
that is formed after the elections – more
so since 2002 Assembly elections. The
2002 Assembly elections not only ended
the era of one party dominance and
ushered in coalition politics but also
brought about the factor of
unpredictability of the outcome. There
are a number of possibilities as to which
party will form the government, or
which alliance will be formed after the
elections. Hence the competition level
has increased and therefore the
intensity of electoral process has also
increased. All the political parties
mobilize voters to the maximum level
and the voters also respond by coming
out in large numbers to vote. It matters
Epilogue Ø
25 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
to voters a lot as to who is going to be
elected from his/her constituency and
also who is going to form the
government. However, there is no
similar response of voters during the
Pa r l i a m e n t a r y e l e c t i o n s . T h e
constituencies are large and the MP may
not be accessible to the voter, the way
the MLA can be. Moreover, there is not
that much stake for the voters in the
formation of national government.
Secondly, the Assembly election took
place immediately after the Amarnath
agitation which had mobilized people
politically within the state. That
mobilization was reflected to some
extent during the Assembly elections. In
Jammu specifically there was
unprecedented mobilization of men
and women during the agitation. People
had been highly politicized and this
seems to have a definite effect in their
level of electoral participation during
the Assembly elections. The
Parliamentary election in contrast took
place in a situation when there was a
sense of political withdrawal. With the

emotions raised during the agitations
getting subsided, there is a general
mood of introspection and rethinking
about the nature and the outcome of
the agitation and the gains that people
had and the losses that they had to
suffer. There is also a rethinking about
the role of political parties during the
agitation. This has led to a sense of
political withdrawal which has been
reflected during the Parliamentary
elections.
The enthusiasm that the people in
Kashmir had during the Assembly
elections was not reflected during the
Parliamentary. Governance is becoming
important to people and therefore their
choice as to Which party forms the
government and which MLA is elected -
is important irrespective of the fact
that he/she supports separatists.
People therefore showed their
determination to come out and vote
during the Assembly elections, even
ignoring the separatists' call for
boycott. The Parliamentary elections
do not matter that much and hence
people are not that enthusiastic to
vote. The boycott call of the separatists
therefore could become quite
effective.
Not voting in Parliamentary elections
was also a message that many Kashmiri
voters might have wanted to give to the
Centre - that their participation in
Assembly elections in huge numbers
should not be construed as their complete
rejection of the separatist politics.
A CAMPAIGN REVOLVING AROUND BJP
Even a cursory scan of the statements
and speeches made by the Peoples
Democratic Party and the National
Conference leaders across Kashmir
Valley reveals that both parties used
alleged linkages with BJP and Sangh
Parivar to prove each other's
communal character. Was BJP a major
poll agenda in Kashmir?
M
o r e t h a n B J P, i t w a s
communalism which seemed to
be the major issue of the
Parliamentary elections. This is the
logical consequence of the Amarnath
agitation which brought the state to the
brink of inter-regional and inter-
community tension. Throughout the
period of agitation, there was a
communal basis of political
mobilization both in Kashmir as well
as in Jammu. Interestingly though
the leaders of agitation both in
Kashmir as well as Jammu denied
communal orientation on their part
and blamed the leadership of the
other side for being communal.
However, in the end the agitation did
leave the bad taste of communalism
and generated an anxiety among the
people about the future inter-
community and inter-regional
relations. Being a mixed society,
communal response cannot be openly
owned by the political actors here and
the politically correct position remains
in favour of secular politics. It is in this
context that one can see the response
of the political parties seeking to assert
their secular credentials by blaming the
other of having linkages with the
communal parties and politics.
FALL OF PDP & BJP
Seen in comparison to the 2002
assembly elections, the Peoples
Democratic Party (in Kashmir) and the
BJP (in Jammu) emerged as major
gainers of the 2008 assembly
elections. PDP improved from 16 to 21
assembly seats and BJP from 1 to 11
seats. Four months later both parties
have suffered humiliating defeats, in
Lok Sabha elections, even in their
Epilogue Ø
26 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
traditional strongholds. Please
comment on rout of these parties.
F
irstly, it was the strategy of the
coalition partners – NC and
Congress to contest in alliance
that benefited them. This helped them
to gain in the Valley vis-à-vis the PDP
and in Jammu region vis-à-vis the BJP.
During the Assembly elections the
Congress and the NC had contested
against each other and hence the vote
was split. The nature of competition
was certainly different in the
Parliamentary elections. It was almost a
straight fight of the NC-Congress
combine with PDP in the Valley and with
BJP in Jammu. During the Assembly
elections, it was a more in the nature of
a multi-cornered contest with not only
NC, Congress, PDP and BJP fighting
against each other but with others also
joining the fray.
However, the way the NC could sweep
the three seats in the Valley and the
Congress could take both the seats in
Jammu – reflects a definite change of
mood since the Assembly elections. The
buoyancy of the BJP, which could
register its victory in 11 Assembly seats,
had raised the hopes of this party for
the Parliamentary elections. Though
both the seats of Jammu have remained
the traditional strongholds of the
Congress, the BJP could gain from the
communal polarization during the peak
of militancy and win both the seats
during the 1998 and 1999 Parliamentary
elections. However during the 2004
elections it lost both the seats, its
expectations in the post-Amarnath
agitation were quite high and it
assumed its victory this time as well –
given the intensified mobilization by
this party in the Hindu dominated areas
of the region and the consequent
polarization between the communities

that was reflected during the period of
agitation. However, the effect of the
mobilization by the BJP does not seem
to be lasting. Though the it could get a
large number of votes from Hindus
(exceeding its hold from 11 Assembly
segments to 13), yet it failed to get the
advantage of winning the seats like it
did in 1998 and 1999. It could not get all
the Hindu votes of the region. The
Congress could get a substantial
number of Hindu votes. (The NC-
Congress combine also gained in the
region – with lead in 21 Assembly
segments as compared to victory in 19
seats during 2008 Assembly elections).
The PDP faced similar situation in
Kashmir. Unlike its earlier performance
during the 2008 Assembly elections, it
could not make a mark in the Valley. It
had not only to face defeat in all the
three seats of the Valley, but what is
worse – it lost in its stronghold of South
Kashmir. Interestingly, during the 2008
elections the NC could register its
victory only in one Assembly seat in this
Parliamentary constituency and it was
not even in second position in many of
the Assembly constituencies.
Since the PDP was very sure about its
victory in the Anantnag Parliamentary
constituency, its defeat on the contrary
has been very embarrassing for the
party. More embarrassing is the fact
that in the two Assembly segments
represented by Mehbooba Mufti and
Mufti Syed, the NC has performed very
well.
WHAT HAPPENED TO AGITATION ICON
At one point of time, Leela Karan
Sharma, the convener of Shri
Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti
(that spearheaded two-month long
aggressive agitation in Jammu in
summer 2008) claimed to represent
entire Jammu region. “His samiti
described that agitation as agitation
of aspirations of the people of
Jammu”. The BJP as a whole and
many leaders in Congress, at that
moment, behaved as followers of
Leela Karan, apparently to protect
their electoral constituencies under
his patronage. Such results were
evident in the Assembly elections. But
the same man contesting elections on
BJP ticket suffered an embarrassing
defeat with a margin of 1.2 lakh votes.
How do you look at the Jammu
agitation of 2008 a year later?
O
ne definite message that is given
by the voters during the
Parliamentary elections in
Jammu region is that politics here
cannot be controlled by the rightist
forces for a long time. People might
have been temporarily swayed by the
emotions raised during the Amarnath
agitation, but that is not the normal
political mood of the region. In
defeating Leela Karan Sharma by such a
big margin of votes, the people have
distanced themselves not only from the
politics of Amarnath agitation but from
the communal politics per se. in very
certain terms people have shown their
antipathy towards the forces that aim
Epilogue Ø
27 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
at mobilizing them on religious basis,
polarizing them on communal grounds
and generating tensions within the
region.
Seeing Jammu agitation a year later,
one can make four broad conclusions:
firstly, there is a standing regional
discontent which not finding a secular
basis of political articulation can easily
be used by the Rightist parties and
politics. Though manifested in religious
terms, the major reason for the mass
mobilization was regional rather than
religious. The communal elements
which generally remain at
the margins of Jammu's
politics, seek to appropriate
the regional discontent at
any time they can and
change the very direction of
popular responses.
S e c o n d l y, t h e n a t u r a l
direction of politics of
Jammu is quite secular and is
manifested in secular
manner in a variety of ways.
The plurality of Jammu as
well as its multi-layered
social and political dynamics
compels the regional politics
to take a secular shape. Thirdly,
however, in the absence of a secular
regional politics that takes into
consideration not only the sensitivities
of the Hindu-heartland of Jammu region
but also carries within itself the
political concerns of the backward sub-
regions at the periphery, the politics has
all the possibilities of becoming
communally divisive. Fourthly, the
communally divisive politics is not only
dangerous for the Jammu region but for
the whole state. As the agitation
showed, this has implications of shifting
the ethnic and regional identity politics
to a religion-based politics and
redefining it on the communal basis.

THE DIFFERENCE SAJJAD LONE MADE
Sajjad Lone is certainly not the first
separatist to have contested elections
in Kashmir. While Imran Rahi was also
fighting in same constituency and
Engineer Rashid, Bilal Lodhi, Kukka
Parray and Usman Majid etc are some
of the earlier examples. He has not
performed so well in the
constituency, hitherto believed as his
pocket-borough. There is an
important question here. In the battle
between separatists and mainstream
leaders/parties for appropriation of
role in Kashmir, what is significance of
Sajjad's participation in elections?
T
here is a significant difference
between those separatists and
ex-militants who participated in
mainstream politics and Sajjad Lone's
participation in the recent elections.
Lone has been a prominent separatist
whose People's Conference (PC) has
been one of the constituent of the
Hurriyat. A G Lone, the father of Sajad
Lone and the founder of the People's
Conference was one of the key member
of the Hurriyat. As a high-profile
separatist, Sajad Lone, even after being
expelled from the Hurriyat Conference
(after the participation of a few proxy
candidates of PC in 2002 assembly
elections) continued to be operating
within the separatist fold and not only
presented his own vision of 'Achievable
Nation' for the resolution of Kashmir but
also had a meeting with PM Manmohan
Singh in 2005 (when he was meeting
other leading separatists including the
Mirwaiz led Hurriyat leaders and Yasin
Malik). So unlike other militants and
separatists, Lone was a much more high
profile separatist leader in whose
decision to contest election, one can
see a crack within the separatist politics
per se. The crack may be very small –
not seeming to affect the separatists
overtly but in reality it has had a great
psychological effect on them. More so
since Lone's decision to contest election
came in the wake of the massive
participation of Kashmiris in the
Assembly elections.
The idea of electoral participation is
not new to the PC. During the life time
of A G Lone, the idea was associated
with A G Lone. Much before the 2002
Assembly elections, there was
speculation that he was considering
participation in elections. However, he
was assassinated before the elections.
During the 2002 Assembly elections a
few proxy candidates of the People's
Conference had contested elections.
Similarly during the 2008 Assembly
elections also a few members earlier
associated with the PC had jumped the
fray, even when Sajad Lone had
disassociated himself from these
contestants. Sajad Lone's sister had also
contested the 2008 elections.
In understanding the impact of
Sajad Lone's participation in the Lok
Sabha elections, it is important to
Epilogue Ø
28 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
understand the fact that Sajad is
leading a political party which has
its organizational base, cadre and a
support structure. Even when he
has lost the election, the role of the
PC remains important. With Sajad
choosing to join the electoral fray,
the PC has once again undergone a
transformation – from a separatist
to a mainstream party which has the
major purpose of expanding its base
and sphere of influence so as to
determine the nature of power
politics. This makes the regional
politics of Kashmir more
competitive – with PC entering the
electoral arena which is already
quite competitive between the NC
and PDP.
Percentage of J&K
Congress 24.67%
JKPDP 20.05%
JKNC 19.11%
BJP 18.61%
BSP 3.10%
JKNPP 2.81%
CPI 0.64%
LJP 0.32%
AIFB 0.27%
SP 0.08%
Other/Ind. 10.34%
UPA & PEACE PROCESS
What significance does UPA's return to
power at Center holds for the peace
process in Jammu and Kashmir and
dialogue with Islamabad?
N
ow that UPA has returned to
power at the Centre, it is
expected that it will accelerate
the peace process which has been
stalled for past few years. As regards
the dialogue with Pakistan, the UPA
would be in a position to continue the
process without much pressure from

Percentage of All India
Congress 28.52%
BJP 18.83%
BSP 6.18%
CPM 5.34%
NCP 2.04%
CPI 1.43%
RJD 1.27%
Other 36.40%
the opposition. Though the impact of
Mumbai is still felt on the peace
process, yet UPA would be interested
in continuing the process. Already
the UPA has shown its inclination to
deal sternly with Pakistan around the
issue of militants responsible for
Mumbai attacks and at the same time
appreciate the ground level situation
in Pakistan and the internal security
crisis that it is facing. What it needs
to do now is to resume the peace
process that was stalled in the wake
of Mumbai attack.
Internally, the UPA has to build upon the
success that it had in holding a
participatory and legitimized Assembly
election during 2008. The fact that the
Congress is sharing power with the NC in
the state makes it all the more
imperative for the Central government to
take some visible measures in re-starting
the internal peace process. Already
there is lot of impatience in Kashmir
about the stalled peace process. One of
the reason as to why there was so much
of mass mobilization during the first
phase of Amarnath agitation in Kashmir
– was due to the accumulated feeling
among people that in the context of
heightened electoral activities (much
before the elections, the political
parties had started organizing huge
electoral rallies), Kashmir issue is being
sidelined and there is no movement
forward in the peace process. The feeling
continues to be manifested in numerous
ways in the Valley.
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
The UPA however has to define the this it is expected that the UPA would
direction of its policy vis-à-vis be initiating steps which will not only
internal dialogue. During the last send positive signals to the people of
phase of its governance, it shifted this state but will also take interest in
the direction of dialogue from restoring the internal dialogue.
direct talk with the separatists to
the Round Table Conferences. For the NC to get a positive feed back
Though Round Table Conferences from the people, it is important that the
succeeded in bringing to the table ground level situation be changed.
divergent political groups across the There are two important things where
ideological lines, and later in the the State government would be
constitution of the Working Groups interested that Centre should pay
most of which have given very attention – firstly engaging the
valuable suggestions in their separatists in dialogue ( both CM and
Re p o r t s , h o w e v e r s i n c e the Farooq Abdullah have been showing
separatists opted out of the Round hope that it would take place now) and
Table Conferences, the process secondly, improving the Human Rights
remained ineffective. In order to situation in Kashmir.
address the separatist
sentiment in Kashmir (which
despite the massive
participation of people in
Assembly Elections, remain
alive and kicking) the
separatist leadership needs
to be engaged in a dialogue.
There are enough
indications that UPA would
be paying attention to
Kashmir.
The existing relationship
between the Central and the
State government also makes
it imperative for the Centre
government to pay special
attention to Kashmir. Since
NC has a post-poll alliance
with the Congress in the
State and it is a part of the
UPA government – there is a
smooth relationship between
the two governments. Omar
Abdullah has a very cordial
relationship with the Central
leadership and now Farooq
Abdullah has taken the
charge of Minister with a
cabinet rank, In the light of
Epilogue Ø
29 ×
June 2009

Why Congress Won and
Why BJP Lost?
F irst the winner. The unexpected
victory for the Congress party led
UPA in the Lok Sabha elections
might be a baffling experience for many
political analysts and commentators, it
has certainly given stability to the
country. But why did the people give
mandate to the Congress party? There is
no doubt about the policies and
programmes that the UPA followed prior
to the elections that people endorsed,
and in spite of all the hard hitting
criticism by the BJP, Manmohan Singh's
initiatives have been accepted. Among
the core issues on which the UPA
M SHAMSUR RABB KHAN government was tested and tried were
Author is Editor with the Indian Institute
of Dalit Studies focus on development, Indo-US nuclear
Epilogue Ø
30 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
deal, stand on terrorism and diplomatic
victory over Pakistan.
As I travelled more than a dozen cities
and villages across Bihar just after the
elections and asked people why they
preferred Congress led UPA, the
common reply from the villagers was:
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS) that benefitted the
poor. Well, in Bihar, along with UPA, the
credit also goes to Nitish Kumar. In
Manmohan, people saw serious business
and development of the country, rather
than hollow shouts and cries that the
BJP was indulged in all through the
election campaign. Programmes like

NREGS have really helped the poor.
Whatever be the expert opinion on Indo-
US nuclear deal, people viewed it as no
less than a landmark event. They
believed Manmohan Singh is very
genuine a person in making this country
strong, prosperous and peaceful.
Mumbai attack could have proved
waterloo for the UPA. It did not. Since
the way Manmohan Singh acted made it
possible for the first time that Pakistan
had to accede its role, and that was a
big diplomatic victory. So, without going
in for military intervention, Manmohan
Singh scored points in India's fight
against terror. His reticent style, his
gentleman image and his scholarship
have had the appealing effect on
voters. Above all, the constructive
politics of Manmohan Singh, rather than
destructive politics of Advani proved
decisive. While UPA kept itself busy in
highlighting its work, BJP had no agenda
but to find fault in everything the
Congress did. Rahul and Sonia added
valuable contribution in reaching out to
the people and conveying the right
message.
Now, the loser. A few core issues proved
disastrous for the BJP: election
campaign strategy, one-man brand for
PM post, double standard on terrorism
and internal dissent. And in spite of
gargantuan and aggressive media
campaigns, BJP's performance in the
election 2009 falls surprisingly short of
expectations. The party will, as is the
wont, surely evaluate the possible
reasons, but perhaps not those that are
discussed here.
First, take up election campaign
strategy. Not many people notices when
I pointed out faults in the BJP's election
campaign before the voting started,
especially the advertisements that the
party put up and the speeches the top
leaders delivered throughout the length
and breadth of constituencies. 'Strong
Leader, Decisive Government' was the
most hyperbolic deception and highly
uncalled for advertisement: neither
Advai has been strong-willed leader
albeit he has been falsely labelled as
iron man nor the BJP has been a decisive
government ever – at least on issues like
Babri Masjid/Ramjanabhoomi dispute,
or prosecution to the culprits of Gujarat
riots. Via this widely publicised
advertisement, the BJP tried to give a
macho image of 81-yearl Advani, not
knowing that people have enough proof
of the weaknesses of this veteran BJP
Prime Ministerial candidate – from his
failure to fulfill the promise of
constructing a grand Ram Temple at
Ayodhya when he was at the helm of
affairs, or his inaction to stop the
pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat or his
consent during the Kandhar hijack
issue, or his stand on terrorism. If
Advani's physical health (in comparison
to Singh's ailments and operations) what
the advertisement means, then the BJP
has so many younger and stronger
leaders.
Another populist promise, in order to
woo young voters, the BJP via Advani
made was to provide loan to student
community at 4 per cent that seemed as
if the strong leader of the BJP was
asking favour in a sophisticated style in
lieu of a favour. The desperate sense of
urgency mixed with far-fetched
promises got exposed to the people, as
Advani tried to do impossible possible.
When I saw a few youth at Lajpat Nagar
bus stop laughing at the advertisement
with a picture of Vijay Goel 'Soch Hai
Nai, Kaam Kiye Kai (We have a new idea
this time, we have done some great
works), I was surprised as well as
Epilogue Ø
31 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
saddened; surprised at the minds who
produced and directed such
advertisements for the BJP and sad
because how BJP leaders were to trying
to befool the nation, especially the
citizens of Delhi. Behind the poetic
rhyme of Goel, there was no content
except false sense of achievement and
far-fetched imagery that could hardly
impress anyone. As a result, the party is
whitewashed 7-0 in Delhi.
Next strategy of the election campaign
was the tricks and tactics based on
which countless speeches were fired by
the BJP leaders with a single focus:
post-mortem of the UPA (read Congress
party), personal attacks on its leaders
including the Prime Minister and
baseless criticism of developmental
works under the UPA regime. Rather
than going positive by counting its own
accomplishments, the BJP harped on ad
hominem (attacking the person than the
subject) or finding faults on the
opposition from every dais and forum.
And while along with educated Indians,
illiterates like to love positive aspects,
the BJP showed the electorates the
darker picture of the UPA regime in
order to justify their claims that BJP is
good because Congress is bad. That is a
defeatist strategy. Or raking issues like
dynasty rule of Nehru family, foreign
origin of Sonia Gandhi and Muslim
appeasement, the BJP sounded very
lowly while trying to convince the
people that everything was wrong with
the Congress.
Interestingly, voter studied the
contributions of Advani and Singh after
the latter inquired about the former's
role in national development, in
response to the former's accusation that
the latter was the weakest Prime
Minister, and the rivalry between the

two got momentum when the former
challenged the latter to have a man-to-
man TV talk. But the aggressive posture
of Advani to outwit the reticent Singh
proved fatal as the idea boomeranged
badly. Silence of Singh prevailed over
loud oratory of Advani. Even some
political analysts favoured such a live
talk between the two, as in the US and
elsewhere.
Advani as Prime Ministerial candidate
was the biggest mistake that the BJP
made at the outset since a great
majority of the people in this country
didn't approve him to assume the PMO.
The verdict is very much in this line.
Even in his party open dissent and
disapproval were heard loudly,
sometime from Arun Shourie,
sometimes from others, as Adavni was
pitched against Modi in the midst of
Advani versus Singh campaign.
Like what it did to Sirajudollah in the
battle of Plassey, internal clash and
conspiracy worked as the last nail in the
BJP's coffin. And for those Shouries and
Jaitleys, it is time to learn and think the
role of Modi as well. He may be
succeeding in Gujarat, and that is
because he has to show some good work
to get rid of the stigma on his person
that he been carrying since 2002 post-
Godhara riots, people on all India level
will surely not going accept a diehard
Hindu Modi but a secular Indian Modi.
Like Lalu Yadav used to crack jokes in his
unique rustic style and the spectators
burst into bouts of laughter, Modi, with
a sense of pride for his oratorial skill,
did the same thing while finding faults
with Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka. And as
Lalu failed to translate all the laughs
into votes this time, Modi is also going to
witness this the next time.
No less culprit has been the BJP's stand
on terrorism: not only it exposed its
intention to prosecute Muslims via
tougher laws but also it revealed its
double standard when the party
openly supported Malegaon accused,
who happened to be Hindus. More
precisely, the BJP came strongly
against any sort of probe into the Batla
House encounter, and came down
heavily on the Vice Chancellor of
Jamia Millia University for announcing
legal help for those who were
arrested, while it asked for CBI enquiry
into the Malegaon accused case and
Like what it did to
Sirajudollah in the battle of
Plassey, internal clash and
conspiracy worked as the last
nail in the BJP's coffin. And
for those Shouries and Jaitleys,
it is time to learn and think
the role of Modi as well.
demanded immediate sacking of
Hemant Karkare (even called him
deshdrohi) for a job well done. It
conveyed to the citizens that it does
not have a definite stand on a serious
issue like terrorism. Educated voters
and concerned citizens watched and
weighed all this and taught the party a
big lesson that constructive, not
destructive, politics will only work in
this country. The BJP's performance
might well have been more disastrous
had there been no pre-poll rift
between the Congress and the RJD and
the SP.
And lastly, the very tone and tenacity
of the BJP leaders gave the impression
Epilogue Ø
32 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Lok Sabha Elections
that only this party, along with its
leaders, is true nationalist and saviour
of the nation. Even worse has been
linking nationalism with aggressive
Hindutva, which leaves no room for other
parties and groups to display such a
claim. Moreover, this is a strategy to
garner Hindu votes via cornering
disgruntled groups like Muslims and
Christians. For example, the threatening
speech of Modi about teaching a lesson to
those who killed Swami Luxmanand in
Orissa and keeping mum over those killed
in Kandhamal riots showed the
exclusive focus of the BJP while
handling conflicts though he never
visited the state during the elections
and apologized to the audience for
this. Had Modi been a just person and
an able administrator, as some claim,
he would have pointed out both the
issues in the same vein. He did not.
Like the Congress, as the BJP
accuses, the party had been busy in
appeasing Hindus throughout the
campaign. Meanwhile, Kalyan factor
came as an embarrassing setback.
Work alone, the political must wins
hearts that bestow power upon leaders
to rule. Sheila Dixit, Nitish Kumar, Shiv
Raj Singh Chauhan and Y Reddy are the
examples for the moment. They have
done some good work and the people
rewarded them to rule. They don't
indulge in false rhetoric and divisive
politics, and therefore, people put faith
on them. In contrast, no one should
think that Lalu Yadav will have Muslim
votes forever. Modi will not have Hindu
votes forever either. People have
greater sense to pick parties and
candidates for voting.
Will the BJP leaders talk sense next
time?
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

SONIA GANDHI, Rae Bareli

The lady who lived upto the hype

C
ongress president Sonia Gandhi got elected from Rae Bareli seat defeating
her nearest rival R S Kushwaha of BSP by a margin of 3.72 lakh votes. In 2004,
Sonia Gandhi, was third most powerful women in the world and in 2006 she
was sixth, according to respected Forbes magazine. While congress-led UPA
government was ruling, Sonia was named by Time magazine as one among 100 most
influential people in the world in 2007 and 2008. She was first elected as MP from
Gandhi fiefdom Amethi in UP in 1999 which is now seen over by her Rahul Gandhi.
Sonia is also sitting MP from nearby Rae Bareily Constituency.
A widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated by Tamil
Tigers in 1991, Sonia is Italian born but since her marriage to Rajiv in 1968, she
lived in India and became the fifth person from Gandhi family to be the president
of Congress party in 1999. Under her leadership, the party turned in its worst
performance since independence in the 1999 general elections. Sonia was
reported to have an aversion to politics for long and even opposed Rajiv entering it
by threatening to divorce him. She now holds the record of having served as
Congress chief for 10 straight years!. Sonia's foreign birth has also sparked intense
debate in 2004.Sonia famously turned down the Prime Minister's post in 2004 and
earned a name Saint Sonia.
National Rural Employment Generation scheme, a food-for-work scheme is widely considered as Sonia's idea as also the Right to
Information Act. Sonia and her children Rahul and Priyanka, are also estranged from Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv's younger
brother Sanjay Gandhi, and her son Varun Gandhi, who are with opposition BJP.

LK ADVANI, Gandhi Nagar

Last pilgrimage of the yatri

L K Advani is the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and

BJP's prime ministerial candidate for 2009 General
Elections. One of the most controversial, yet the most
enduring figures in Indian polity, Advani has been in the
limelight for his public advocacy of Hindutva. Born in Karachi
(before Partition), he joined the RSS in 1942.From a two-MP
party in 1984, Advani, as president, took BJP to power in less
than 15 years! He was the Home Minister in the Vajpayee
government and served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India
from 2002 to 2004
In 1990 he undertook a nation-wide rath yatra which led to the
fall of Babri Majid in 1992 even though rivals still accuse
Advani for dividing the country on communal lines which is
against India's principled stand of a secular nation.
Advani's rath yatra campaign roused a whole new generation
and drew crores of middle class supporters to the BJP.
Controversies aside, Advani is perhaps the only Indian
politician to have leveraged the Obama-style of new media campaigning. He has his website and runs a blog that's
regularly updated.

Epilogue Ø
33 ×
June 2009

MAMATA BANERJEE,
Kolkata South
Fiery, firebrand Bengali
T
rinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee defeated
CPI(M) candidate Robin Deb by a margin of 2,12,362
votes in Kolkata (south) Lok Sabha constituency.
Mamata Banerjee is a firebrand leader from West Bengal.
She is a harsh opponent of the CPM in West Bengal. She
started her political career with Congress(I), and as a young
woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local
Congress group. In 1984, she became one of India's youngest
parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist
politician Somnath Chatterjee. In the Rao government
formed in 1991, Mamata Banerjee was made the Union
Minister of State for Human Resources Development. In
1997, Mamata parted ways with the Congress, alleging that
Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPI-M in West
Bengal and established the All India Trinamool Congress. It
quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing
Communist government in the state. She became the
Railway Minster in the NDA government in 1999. In early
2001, after making allegations against the BJP, she walked
out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for
West Bengal's 2001 elections, amidst speculation that the
move could unseat the Communist government. She
returned to the cabinet in January 2004, holding the Coal
and Mines ministry until the 2004 Elections. In the 2009
elections, she forged an alliance with the Congress to take
on the CPM.
Epilogue Ø
34 ×
June 2009
IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces
M.SINGH YADAV, Manipuri
King of caste politics
T
hree time Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi
Party founder president Mulayam Singh Yadav wield the
image of a `king maker' in Indian politics. Like most
other regional party leaders, Mulayam always chased power, be
it in Centre or his home turf, UP.
Born in 1939, Yadav excel in caste politics and often labeled as a
political opportunist by his friends and foes alike. He became
UP chief minister for the first time in 1989 and continued till
1991 and then founded the Samajwadi Party in 1992. He got a
second chance as UP chief minister from 1993-95 and also held
the post from 2003 to 2007. He won his first Lok Sabha elections
in 1996 and became the Union Defence Minister. He was re-
elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 but did not
resign as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.
In 1980, he became the president of the Lok Dal. Later the Lok
Dal became a part of the Janata Dal. He then joined Chandra
Shekhar's Janata Dal (Socialist) party. On October 7, 1992, he
founded Samajwadi Party. During the course, he changed his
allies from BJP. Congress and BSP. His stand on movement for
demanding separate statehood for Uttarakhand was as much
controversial as his stand on Ayodhya movement in 1990 was.
A staunch supporter of Hindi, Mulayam is also known for his
anti-English stance. Mulayan is facing CBI inquiry on charges of
amassing wealth disproportionate to his known income. This
includes misuse of government funds for personal use.
MURALI M. JOSHI, Varanasi
Physicist of RSS ilk
M
urali Manohar Joshi, a hardliner in BJP, is more in
sync with the RSS objectives than most other leaders
in the party. Murli too had prime ministerial
ambitions which the present BJP's official Prime Minsiterial
candidate L.K. Advani effectively negated through shrewd
moves. BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was in two
minds about Murli who was the Human Resources minister in
Vajpayee cabinet as he was seen supporting the RSS agenda
and others found him as an embarrassment.
A PhD holder, Murali, was a Physics teacher in Allahabad
University and while in Delhi came in close contact with RSS.
During Emergency period in 1975-77, Murali was jailed and
took a plunge into politics soon after by joining Janata Party.
In 1980, Janata Party split and BJP was formed and Murali is
a tall leader ever since.
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

DEVA GOWDA, Hassan

Silicon valley’s rural face

J
anata Dal (S) leader Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda, better known as
H D Deve Gowda began his political career as a Congress worker in Karnataka
in early 50's. With the pro-farmer plank, Deve Gowda was intrumental in
forming the third front alliance in 1996 and served as the country's Prime Minister
for barely 10 months.
He is the president of the
Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S)
political party in India and
currently a member of
Parliament (MP) representing
his home town Hassan district
in Karnataka. The JD-S had
formed a coalition with the
Congress party government
led by Dharam Singh. There
are allegations of nepotism
owing to his two children H.D.
Revanna and H.D.
Kumaraswamy being powerful
in this government. Revanna had served as a minister in that government. A Civil
Engineering Diploma holder, Shri Deve Gowda plunged into active politics at the
early age of 20 when, after completing his education, he joined the Congress Party
in 1953 and remained a member till 1962. Coming from a middle class agrarian
background and exposed to the hardships of farmer's life, young Gowda vowed to
become a fighter who would take up the cause of poor farmers, under privileged
and oppressed sections of society.

VARUN GANDHI, Pilibhit

Icon of hate politics

V
arun Gandhi is the son of late Sanjay Gandhi and executive. BJP
Maneka Gandhi, the son and daughter-in-law of decided to field
the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. In Varun Gandhi from
August 1999, at the age of 19, Varun Gandhi was the Pilibhit Lok sabha
introduced to the political arena by his mother, seat for general
Maneka, when she was campaigning in her constituency, election 2009. He
Pilibhit. In February 2004, he joined the Bharatiya hogged limelight
Janata Party along with his mother after being after Uttar Pradesh
convinced to do so by BJP general secretary late Chief Minister
Pramod Mahajan. His joining the BJP was hyped by Mayawati detained
Mahajan claiming that "With Varun joining BJP, half the him under National
Congress will be with us..." Varun was used as a star Security Act, which
campaigner by the BJP in the 2004 elections. In was later revoked by
November 2004, he was inducted into the BJP national the Supreme Court.

Epilogue Ø
35 ×
June 2009

RAHUL GANDHI, Amethi
Heir apparent
emerges hero
T
he heir apparent of Gandhi family, Rahul is
considered as prime minister in waiting not
in 2009 but in near future. Since 2007 Rahul is
the general secretary of Congress and looks after
youth wing of the party - the Youth Congress. He is
studiously building up an image and working hard to
come of his famous parents - late Rajiv Gandhi and
present Congress president Sonia Gandhi. He
became an MP for the first time from Gandhi
family's pocket burrow Amethi in 2004, a decision
which surprised many. A shy, Rahul too was
considered as a reluctant entrant to politics who
loves to watch cricket. But the party elders thought
he can win over new and young voters. His sister
Priyanka was touted to enter politics earlier. He is
also known as party's backroom operator. It was
through Rahul's efforts that Congress could forge an
alliance with Jammu and Kashmir's National
Conference and the Abdullahs.
Epilogue Ø
IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces
RAJNATH SINGH, Ghaziabad
Driver of hindutva ideologies
R
ajnath Singh is a prominent Indian politician and the current
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the largest
Opposition party in India. He was initially a Physics lecturer,
but soon used his long-term connections with the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh to get involved with the Bhartiya Janata Party,
which led him to numerous positions within Uttar Pradesh. Rajnath
Singh has entered the BJP while it was in a crisis of sorts, after Atal
Bihari Vajpayee lost power in the 2004 general elections, forcing the
BJP to sit in the Opposition. On December 24, 2005, following the
resignation of Lal Krishna Advani, the BJP and the RSS made him the
party president. After the resignation of Advani and the murder of
party strategist Pramod Mahajan, he sought to rebuild the party by
focusing on the most basic Hindutva ideologies. He has announced
his position of "no compromise" in relation to the building of a Ram
Temple in Ayodhya.
YASHWANT SINHA, Hazaribagh
The man who presented
budget at 5 PM
A
former IAS officer and a
lecturer in Political Science
at Patna University,
Yashwant joined Janata Party in
1984. He was the Finance Minister
in Chandra Sekhar cabinet for a
few months and in Vajpayee's
cabinet he also served as Foreign
Minister later. While as IAS officer,
Yashwant served as Sub-Divisional
Magistrate and District
Magistrate; Under Secretary and
Deputy Secretary in the Finance
Department of the Bihar state
government; Deputy Secretary,
Ministry of Commerce in New Delhi and was also First Secretary
(Commercial) in the Indian Embassy in Germany and also was
Consul General in Frankfurt. He held various other important
positions in both Bihar and Union governments before quitting
civil service in 1984. After a brief stint with Janata Dal, he joined
BJP in mid 1990s. Sinha is better known for being the first Finance
Minister to break the 53 year tradition of presenting the national
budget at 5pm.
36 ×
June 2009
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

SHARAD PAWAR, Madha

Maratha who transcends barriers

S
harad Pawar is more than just the head of the Nationalist Congress Party. He is
one of the few politicians to enjoy support from parties across regions and
ideologies. A powerful farm minister in the Manmohan Singh government, he
derives much power from his post as India's cricket chief, and his sugar-exporting
constituency in Maharashtra.
He has held the posts of Defence Minister of India and Chief Minister of Maharashtra
and served as Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution, Government of India in the Manmohan Singh government. Known
to cherish burning prime ministerial ambitions, Pawar made a serious bid to become
the prime minister after the 1991 polls following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi,
but Narasimha Rao outsmarted Pawar by taking the top post for himself, while
accommodating Pawar as a defence minister. For the past few months, Pawar has
been making deft moves to become a consensus choice for the top post. As political
parties negotiated ahead of the elections, Pawar's supporters floated his name as a
prime ministerial candidate. Pawar also has been hobnobing with the Left to push his
prime ministerial dreams.

JAYA PRADA, Rampur

Star ‘spoiler’ of
(Samajwadi) Party

B
orn as Lalita Rani in a middle class family in Rajahmudry
in Andra Pradesh, actress Jaya Pradha was initiated into
politics by Telegu Desam Party (TDP) former supremo N T
Rama Rao in 1994.
She later broke away from him and joined the
Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party. She was
nominated to the Rajya Sabha representing Andhra
Pradesh in 1996.
Following differences with party Supremo N. Chandrababu
Naidu, she left TDP to join Samajwadi Party and contested from
Rampur parliamentary Constituency in UP during the last
General election in 2004 and got elected. In 2009 her
candidature became a serious point of contention within the
Samajwadi Party and brought Amar Singh and Azam Khan out in
open conflict.
Jaya Prada was subjected to a vicious public campaign,
morphed naked pictures and CDs of her were distributed. She
broke down on national television and admitted having
contemplated suicide. Followers of Azam Khan had even filed
a complaint with the police accusing Amar Sigh for prompting
the politician turned actress to commit suicide, incase she
loose the election.

Epilogue Ø
37 ×
June 2009
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

SUSHMA SWARAJ, JASWANT SINGH, Darjeeling

Vidisha The flyer of Kandahar plane
Hardline strategist
J
aswant Singh is one of the towering leaders of the BJP. Hailig
from Rajasthan, he was an officer in the Indian Army in the

S
ushma 1960s and is an alumnus of Mayo College and the National
Swaraj Defence Academy (India), Khadakwasla. He served as Finance
is one of minister in the short-lived government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
the most which lasted just from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996. After Vajpayee
prominent became Prime Minister again two years later, he became Minister for
female External Affairs of India, serving from December 5, 1998 until July 1,
politicians 2002. Jaswant was in the centre of a controversy after he
within the accompanied terrorists released from Indian jail to Khandahar
Bharatiya airport in exchange for the Indian passengers held hostage by
Janata Party, ultras. Responsible for foreign policy, he dealt with high tensions
currently the between India and Pakistan. In July 2002 he became Finance
chairperson Minister again, switching posts with Yashwant Sinha. He served as
of the party's Finance Minister until the defeat of the Vajpayee government in
19 member May 2004 and was instrumental in defining and pushing through
campaign the market-friendly reforms of the government. He was conferred
committee the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2001.
for the 2009 Currently he is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
General
Elections.
Sushma
Swaraj is a
former union
cabinet
minister of
India. She is
also a former
chief
minister of
Delhi. In
1999, she took on a high profile as she contested
against the Congress party's President, Sonia
Gandhi, from the Bellary constituency in
Karnataka, which had returned Congress winners
since India's independence. The fervent, high-
pitched campaign came to an end with the
expected loss of Sushma. Gandhi polled 51.7
percent of the vote, Swaraj coming not too far
behind with 44.7 percent. In a heavily publicized
and emotionally charged episode following the
2004 elections, Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave
her head, don a white saree and eat groundnuts
(symbollically mourning) if Sonia Gandhi, the
Italian-born Congress leader, became Prime
Minister.

Epilogue Ø
38 ×
June 2009
 IN FOCUS
Prominent Faces

P CHIDAMBARAM, Sivaganga
The maker of dream budget

C
hidambaram's defeat in Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu in the first round of polling shocked
the UPA circles. But the UPA leadership heaved a sigh of relief after he was declared
elected in the recounting. Chidambaram is a senior member of the Manmohan
Cabinet.
A lawyer by profession, P Chidambaram began his political career as a member of the
Congress Party. PC first got elected to Parliament from the Sivaganga constituency in Tamil
Nadu in 1984 and became a Deputy Minister under the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Later, he held the Commerce & Finance portfolios in various governments.
In the elections held in 2004, United Progressive Alliance formed the Government and P
Chidambaram once again became the Finance Minister.
Economists acclaim his "dream-budget" for 1996-97, in which he brought discipline in
government spending and launched an ambitious tax reform programme to tackle an
unwieldy fiscal deficit. His daring scheme to halt tax evasion, or Voluntary Income Disclosure
Scheme, invited accolades.
In the Budget of 2008, his move to waive off farmers' debt has played a role in boosting
aggregate demand in the Indian economy, thereby effectively insulating India from the
impact of recession. In 2008 he moved to the Home portfolio. As the home minister he has
initiated steps to bring various agencies that are responsible for law and order together and work in a cohesive manner.

MANEKA GANDHI, Aonla

The environmentalist and separated Gandhi

B
haratiya Janata Party leader and five-time MP Maneka considered as India's political first family. Against
Gandhi was declared elected from Aonla heavy odds, she worked her way launching a
constituency in Uttar Pradesh, defeating her political party named after her husband,
nearest rival Dharmenda Kashyap of the Samajwadi Rashtriya Sanjay Manch emphasising on youth
Party (SP). The gamble to vacate her long-time seat but later joined Janata Dal in 1988 and served
of Pilibhit for son and BJP candidate Varun Gandhi as the general secretary of Janata Dal and
and shift to Aonla paid off for Maneka Gandhi. served as Minister of the Environment
In Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi had created from 1989 to 1991 in the V.P. Singh
controversy with his purported hate cabinet. Both in 1996 and 1998, Maneka
speeches against Muslims for which he was reelected to the Lok Sabha as an
was put behind bars by UP Chief independent member from Pilibhit in
Minister Mayawati under National Uttar Pradesh and served in the BJP led
Security Act which was later revoked governments as Minister of State for
by the Supreme Court. Social Justice and Empowerment, and
Maneka is higly regarded as animal Minister for Culture. While as minister
rights activist and environmentalist. She she created the Department for Animal
is also a former editor of Surya, a widely Welfare and played an important role in
respected magazine, authored several the pension reforms through Old Age
books one on Indian names and above all, Social and Income Security (OASIS)
she is the widow of Sanjay Gandhi and now which went on to become the
estranged from the Gandhis, who are celebrated New Pension System (NPS) .

Epilogue Ø
39 ×
June 2009
 BOOK
Review

Beyond Elections in
India’s Democracy

THE STATE OF INDIA'S DEMOCRACY
Edited by Sumit Ganguly, Larry Diamond
and Marc F.Plattner
Oxford University Press,
New Delhi,2009, .
pp. 231, Rs. 675.00
BIDYUT CHAKRABARTY
Author is Professor of Political Science,
University of Delhi, Delhi.
I
ndian democracy is perhaps the
most-discussed academic theme in
contemporary scholarship.
Reasons for this are many. There is
undoubtedly the growing
consolidation of values in support of
socio-political processes endorsing
vox populi or the voice of the
people. This is also a puzzle, for
democracy to strike roots the society
needs to be fairly homogenized that
is simply not possible given India's
well-entrenched multi-ethnic
texture. Although economic
democracy is far from realized simply
by holding democratic elections at
regular intervals, India is perhaps the
only postcolonial country with a
fairly unblemished record of political
democracy. While India held regular
general elections other newly-
emerged decolonized countries were
busy, metaphorically speaking, in
electing generals. The process that
was rooted, among others, in the
long-drawn nationalist struggle,
seems to have unfolded, quite
strongly, in post-independent India
presumably due to circumstances in
which democratic values evolve
organically. It is true that Indian
democracy is largely a participatory
device though one cannot deny its
importance in articulating a distinct,
if not powerful, voice that remained
neglected in the past for a variety of
historical reasons. In this sense,
democracy is about values that are
'woven firmly into the warp and woof
of India's political culture' (p. xiii)
which nobody can afford to ignore.
This is what makes India's democracy
not only a politically meaningful
empowering device, but also strong
enough to carry forward the tradition
by creating organically-rooted socio-
political institutions. In other words,
democracy in India is no longer mere
'political democracy'; it has also
unleashed equally powerful processes
for 'economic democracy' by
articulating the voice of the
peripherals against 'the politics of
exclusion'.
The primary object of the book is to
unravel the dynamics of India's
democracy by focusing on the four
interrelated themes of 'politics',
'state', 'society' and 'economy'. This is
a political biography of India's
democracy underlining both its
success and failure: while elections
are regularly held, Indian experiment
in democracy shows signs of
weaknesses especially in regard to
the socio-economically peripheral
sections that, despite being a

Epilogue Ø
40 ×
June 2009

majority, have hardly succeeded in
altering the prevalent socio-
economic imbalances. The situation
seems to have been worse following
the acceptance, by the
Indian state, of the
1991 economic reforms
package that, besides
creating stark 'regional
imbalances', has
contributed and also
consolidated inequalities
of various kinds among
various strata of society.
Interstate inequalities
correspond with urban-
rural inequalities because
'the states with most rapidly
growing economies are
urban and industrialized,
while those with sluggish
growth remain primarily rural'
(p.211). Nonetheless, most of
the protest movements are
articulated in liberal
democratic terms, except
perhaps the ultra-left wing
extremism of the Naxalites,
suggesting presumably the
extent to which democratic
India's dem
norms are well-entrenched in
India. As it has been argued, 'those
on the losing end of India's still-
unfolding economic reforms seek
not to challenge their country's
democratic institutions, but rather to system
obtain redress by means of these
very institutions' (p. 205). Hence
elections have not lost their
significance though there are well-
organized forces preferring 'coercion
to democratic processes' (p. 132).
India's democracy provides a unique
BOOK
Review
structure of political accommodation 'the fragmentation of the party
without a parallel in history. For system. . . has not undermined the
instance, the party system basic power-sharing character of the
system and has thus helped to
consolidate democracy' (p. 21). In
such circumstances, ideology is
seldom a cementing factor and
what bring parties together to form
a coalition are undoubtedly
considerations other than
ideological compatibility. The
recognition of political coalition
as the most appropriate
institutional form of politics is
also the outcome of the
fragmentation of social bases of
political parties. Regional
parties have become critical to
the entire processes of
coalition-formation at the
national level. Given the
growing importance of the
regions, the pan-Indian
political parties are more or
less reconciled to accepting
the regional and local leaders
as partners while staking
claim to form the
s a unique
government. In this changed
c y p r o v id e
ocra environment, 'the new
political
breed of ambitious,
structure of it h o u t a parallel upwardly mobile leaders
tio n w
accommoda sta n ce, the party
[of the regions] . . . have
F o r in developed for themselves
in history. post-
th a t h a s emerged in a new federal space in
ia h a r d ly corresponds which the nation and the
colonial In d region can coexist' (p.
n ti o n a l th eoretical 101). By seeking to
nv e
with the co accommodate diverse
models. political views and
sentiments, India's democratic
that
experiment has also redefined
has emerged in postcolonial
politics as 'not merely an anomie
India hardly corresponds with the
battle for power and short term gain
conventional theoretical models. Yet,
Epilogue Ø
41 ×
June 2009

but the release of pent-up creativity
and visions that provide a fertile and
cohesive backdrop of the realignment
of social forces'. (p. 103). A
complementary process seems to
have begun which is euphemistically
defined as 'a silent revolution'
whereby the demographically
preponderant and yet politically
peripheral Other Backward Classes
have become crucial players in
politics. 'The democratization of
Indian democracy' may however
appear to be insignificant since 'the
state apparatus is shrinking, whereas
the private sector is flourishing-so
much so that the lower castes may
well have quota [of representation]
in bodies which are becoming empty
shells' (p. 82). Despite the obvious
consequences of 'privatization', the
rise of 'the subalterns' in politics is a
remarkable achievement due largely
to the consolidation of supportive
institutions and institutional
mechanism drawn on the lofty ideals
of constitutional democracy. Of
various democratic institutions,
judiciary in India seems to have
played a critical role in defending
popular democratic aspirations. The
growing mass disenchantment with
executive authority perhaps explains
the ascendancy of the judiciary.
Hence 'from waste management,
clean air and education policy to
property rights and religious liberty
as well as many administrative
matters-it is hard to think of a single
issue relevant to politics and doubt
that this is likely to cause an
imbalance in the constitutional
structure of power that has emerged
since the promulgation of the
Constitution in India in 1950.
India's democratic experiment is
therefore unique that cannot be
captured within the theoretical
format of 'received wisdom'. While
political institutions are constantly
redefined to address new issues of
relevance similar processes are at
work to redraw the contour of
politics at the grassroots. The scene
is cenainly fluid contributing to the
articulation of 'multiple voices'
testifying the ascendancy of the
hitherto peripheral sections of
society. This is how India's democracy
fulfils a historical role not only in
evolving a democratic structure of
governance, but also in creating a
powerful mechanism of empower-
ment for those remaining in the
margins of society. There are, of
course, aberrations because the
constant recurrence of ethnic and
communal conflicts severely damage
India's, multicultural social fabric
which are reflective of the failure of
our democratic processes to mitigate
genuine ethnic and communal
grievances though India has 'a
relatively decent track record of
accepting ethnic diversity and
broadening political participation' (p.
63) in comparison with her South
Asian neighbours. Similarly, the role
of civil society is not without
blemish. Despite its critical
significance in strengthening India's
democracy, civil society organizations
are severely constrained due to
'limiting its ability to secure desired
political outcomes' (p. 158).
Nonetheless, the widespread
dissatisfaction with political
Epilogue Ø
42 ×
June 2009
BOOK
Review
institutions has created circum-
stances in which the civil society
organizations seem to have emerged
as the only available platform for
redressal of public grievances.
Illustrative here is the role of the
Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
(MKSS) that initiated 'a paradigmatic
grassroots movement' (p. 165) against
corruption. The most significant
outcome of this movement was the
articulation of the 2005 Right to
Information Act in India, which is
undoubtedly the most effective step
towards transparency, and fair play
in public governance. The Act may
not be adequate to combat the well-
entrenched corruption effectively
though it has set in motion a process
subjecting those in political authority
to constant public scrutiny. That is
not a mean achievement in socio-
culturally divided India since
democracy was, as the most profound
and also respected theorist of
democracy, J.S. Mill warned, 'next to
impossible in a country made of
different nationalities'.
KNOWLEDGE
Drass sector of Ladakh region of
Ø
J&K state is the 2nd coldest place in
the world.
Ahrabal waterfall in district Kulgam
Ø
of J&K state is one of the highest
waterfalls in Asia.
Royal springs
Ø Golf course in
Srinagar is the most picturesque
sporting venue of the country. This
gold course has been declared as
the best Gold Course in India and
among the top ten in Asia.

5000 Years of Kashmir
BALRAJ PURI
Author is veteran jouranlist and author.
He is recipient of Padma Bhushan, one
of the highest civilian awards in India
K
ashmir is a unique civilizationed
experiment which can claim, as
observed by Sir Aurel Stein, the
distinction of being the only region of
India (undivided) which possesses an
uninterrupted series of written records
of its history. The archaeological
excavations in Bourzahama, 15
kilometers from Sringar, establish its
antiquity to before 3000 BC ( ie over
5000 years). It was contemporaneous to
the Mohenjudaro civilization. Moreover,
the excavations further provide
evidence to the fact that some of the
practices and rituals prevalent 5000
years are still prevalent in Kashmir
society today. In other words, this is a
unique experiment of continuity of a
tradition for such a long period.
According to James Ferguson, the
Nagas, the earliest inpatients of
Kashmir, were an aboriginal race of
Turanian stock before the Aryans
conquered the North India. Again, Sir
George Grierson, the pioneering
authority on Indian languages,
maintains that Kashmiri to is not of
Saskrit origin but of Dardic origin that
means Kashmiri does not belong to Indo-
Aryan family of languages, spoken from
Dhaka (Bangladesh) to Pershawar
(Pakistan).
The original Naga tribes resisted
absorption in the Vedic civilization by
the Aryans. According to legends, some
Nagas attended the religious seminars
Epilogue Ø
43 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
Eye Witness
of Nagarjuna at Nalanda and impressed
by the way he contradicted the Vedic
doctrines, invited him to Kashmir.
According to GMD Sufi, on account of his
connections with the Nagas, he
received the name of Nagarjuna. (Some
scholars claim that he was a Kashmiri as
Naga in his name suggests ). He was
elevated to the status of Bodhistava. It
was under his leadership that the fourth
council of Buddhism was held at Harvan
near Srinagar in Kashmir in 100 AD
where Mahayana school of Buddhism
was founded. Influenced by Naga-
Tantric thought of Kashmir, Buddhism
got transformed into its Kashmiri
version. Buddhism was, in a way,
Kashmirised before it was adopted by
Kashmiris.
Shivas supremacy over Vedic gods
With the decline of Buddhism in India
and its eventual absorption in the
mainstream religious thought, the
process started in Kashmir also. But in
Kashmir this, was done with
reservation. Kashmir adopted shaivism.
Shiva is not a Vedic god but of pre-Aryan
tribes. Abhinav Gupta, the eminent
Kashmiri philosopher, claims the
primacy of agamas religious texts of
ancient Kashmir dating between first
and fifth century AD over the Vedas both
in point of time and performance of
rituals. The interaction between Vedic
and Kashmiri traditions did develop in
course of time. But in Kashmirs religious
literature the supremacy of Shiva over

the Vedic supreme god Indira has often
been asserted. Margendre Tantra, for
instance, refers to a legend in which
Shiva is regarded as the supreme deity
from whom Indira brings the sacred
knowledge of Tantra to the world,
thereby reducing him to a mere
communicator of Shivas knowledge.
According to VN Darbu, the pre-Vedic
people of Kashmir were admitted to
Ve d i c s o c i e t y w i t h d i s t i n c t i v e
characteristics of their own life at
different periods. Eventually
indigenous religious beliefs, and
Buddhism were synthesized by great
Kashmiri philosophers Vasugupta (ninth
century AD) and Abinava Gupta (tenth
century AD) into Kashmiri version of
Shaivism called Trika philosophy.
Influence of Buddhism is discernible in
many rituals and customs of Kashmiri
Hindus even today.
Islam as Consolidator of Traditions
According to GMD Sufi, Monastic theism
of Kashmir Shaivism is very near to
Islam. He particularly compares it with
the tenet of celebrated Muslim mystic
Mansur al Hallaj (858 to 922 AD) who
proclaimed Anl Haq (I am creative
truth). Kashmir thus accepted Islam not
as a negation but as a culmination of a
proud spiritual heritage. It did not
surrender to Islam as a spiritually
exhausted personality but greeted it in
a friendly embrace. Islam did not come
to Kashmir as a faith of conquerors and
thereore did not humiliate or hurt its
pride. Muslim rule was not an outside
import but followed the conversion of a
local ruler. Mass conversion of the
people of Kashmir to Islam owes to a
unique character that emerged from
the soil in the person of Alamdar-e-
Kashmir, Shaikh Nooruddin Noorani,
popularly called Nund Rishi (14th
Century), who became the patron-saint
of Kashmir. He translated Islam into
Kashmirs spiritual and cultural idiom
and converted it into a massive
emotional upsurage. Farooq Nazki calls
him a Muslim Shaivite. According to Dr.
B.N. Pandit, his poetry is a mixture of
Shaivism and Sufism.
Proclaiming himself to be the spiritual
son of Lall Ded, who represented the
acme of pre-Islamic spiritual heritage of
Kashmir, Nund Rishi carried it ahead as a
part of its Rishi order (as Sufism in
Kashmir was called). Islamic beliefs and
practices enjoyed as much autonomy
within wider Islamic tradition as pre-
Islamic Kashmir did during Vedic and
post-Vedic tradition of India. It neither
affected the independence of Kashmir
nor, at first, materially change its
cultural and political conditions. (Sufi).
Many scholars have noted pre-Islamic
influences in Kashmiri Islam. Abdullah
Yausuf Ali traces practice of relic
worship as in Hazratbal shrine where
the Prophets (PBUH) hair is preservedto
Buddhist influence. Dr. Arthur Nave
observes, Kashmiri Muslim has
transferred reverence from Hindu
stones to Muslim Relics. Similarly
Muslim saints are worshipped like Hindu
gods and godlings. Islam in sufi form
thus came to Kashmir not as a destroyer
of the tradition, as is the case in many
other lands, but as its preserver,
consolidator and perpetuator. The fact
that Islam is rooted in Kashmiri
tradition and the tradition is
permeated with the Islamic spirit has
enabled Kashmiris to reconcile
cosmopotan affiliations with territorial
nationalism. Kashmiri Muslim has
remained a Kashmiri as well as a Muslim
and rarely suffers from schizophrenic
pangs which Islamic links and local
patriotism often generate among
Muslims elsewhere in India.
Kashmir has been a melting-pot of ideas
and races. It received every new creed
with discrimination and enriched it with
its own contribution, without throwing
Epilogue Ø
44 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
Eye Witness
away its earlier acquisitions. As Sufi
observes, the cult of Buddha, the
teachings of Vedanta, the mysticism of
Islam have one after another found a
congenial home in Kashmir. He adds, it
has imbibed the best of Buddhism, the
best of Hinduism and the best of Islam.
Similarly, on account of its cultural
homogeneity and geographical
compactness, all admixtures of races
who emigrated to Kashmir from ancient
times merged their identities into one
whole. According to the renowned
Kashmiri scholar and historian
Mohammed Din Fauq, even the people
who came from Arabia, Iran,
Afghanistan and Turkistan as late as six
and seven hundred years ago were so
mixed with Kashmiri Muslims in culture,
civilization and matrimonial relations
that all non-Kashmiri traces are
completely absent from their life.
Monumental Achievements
Kashmir was, at one period, the clearing
house of several civilizations and the
influences of those are found in this
natural retreat. It had also made
monumental contribution to Indian
culture. Its position within India was
similar to that of ancient Creece in
European civilization. It has been one of
the biggest seats of Indian culture and
learning which, in the words of
Jawaharlal Nehru, dominated the
intellectual scene of the country for
almost 2000 years. There is no branch of
human knowledge to which ancient
Kashmir did not make a pioneering and a
substantial contribution.
Among political achievements of
Kashmir, mention may be made of the
conquest of Lalitaditya- Muktapdia
(725-753 AD), whom the great Kashmiri
historian Kalhana describes as the
universal monarch moving round the
Earth like the Sun. According to Sufi, he
is the most conspicuous figure in

Kashmir history. He raised this country
to pitch of glory it had never reached
before. He, writes Mohibbul Husan,
defeated the Arab forces led by
Mohammed Bin Qasims successor in
Sindh Junaid and overran his territory.
He collected a galaxy of scholars from
all over India in his Durbar. Kashmiris
similarly hail another golden period of
their history during the reign of the
Muslim king Zain-ul-Abdin popularly
called Bud Shah (the great king) from
1420 to 1470. It constituted a climax
never attained by any other
independent king in Kashmir. He invited
artisans, craftsmen, scholars and men
of letters from far-off foreign countries
as a result of which Kashmir flourished
materially and culturally. He laid lasting
basis of a truly secular polity. In Rodgers
words, he was three hundred years
ahead of England. According to Jonaraja
beauty dwelt in his person and the
goddess of hearing on his lips, fortune
rested in his breast, and patience in his
mind. Sufi quotes sir Wolsley who says
Zain-ul-Abdin possessed a stock of
learning and accomplishments from
which Akbar was excluded, his views
were more enlightened than the
emperors and he practiced a tolerance
which Akbar only preached. According
to the greatest Kashmiri poet of modern
age, Mehjur, Akbar learnt from him (Bud
Shah) the art of running the affairs of
the state.
It was emperor Akbar who brought an
end to indigenous Kashmiri Muslim rule
that had lasted 250 years. The
watershed in Kashmir history is not the
beginning of the Muslim rule as is
regarded in the rest of the subcontinent
but the changeover from Kashmiri rule
to a non-Kashmiri rule.
Crisis of Kashmiri Civilization
Kashmirs 5000 years old civilization is
facing unprecedented crisis today. Why
C O L UMN
Eye Witness
it has ceased to grow and is stagnating? to Omar Abdullah (with the exception of
What are the lessons of the past and a brief period of GN Azad) have made
how relevant are they in current absolutely no contribution to get a
situation? history of Jammu written. The same is
true about Ladkah.
It is a universal principle that a tradition
survives, if it continues to change. Diversity has in modern times been
Kashmiri traditions have continued to university recognized as a great virtue.
evolve in order to survive. Continuity In isolated and homogeneous society
and change have a symbiotic relation. becomes stagnant and is likely to decay.
The foremost change that Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir state is endowed
needs today is to provide for dissent with maximum diversities. If the
which has been absent so far. The aspirations and interest of each
wholesale conversion to Buddhism of diversity is appreciated and reconciled
the Naga tradition was followed by with one another, this state would
similar adoption of Shaivism. became a model state for the
Conversion of Kashmiris to Islam, too, subcontinent. The current drift breeds
was almost universal ie about 95% of the tensions and misunderstanding which
population. Though Kashmiri retained does not do good to any one of them.
the essence of its tradition, it did
modify.
Epilogue
Faced with divergent, optionsperhaps
for the first timeKashmirs survival Available at
depends on allowing respect for Jawahar Book Center
dissent. Otherwise, too, right of dissent
Jawahar Lal Nehru University
is essence of democracy. Freedom is
NEW DELHI
possible only in a democratic system.
Freedom of ex-pression and respect for ---
opposite view point must be introduced India Book Center
in Kashmiri society. THIRUVANTHAPURAM
---
Another new development is that
Kashmir is no longer a homogeneous
CNA Enterprises
society with the same race, language DN Road, MUMBAR
and predominant religion cut off from ---
geographical barriers from the outside KC Enterprises
would.
Himayat Nagar, HYDERBAD
In fact there is colossal ignorance ---
among leaders and intellectuals of EBS News Agency
Kashmir about the heroes of Jammu,
Sector 22-B, CHANDIGARH
freedom fighters, movements against
---
feudalism and system of tyranny, Sufis
and saints and eminent masters of art Bhargave Book Center
culture and music. The Kashmiri University Center,
leaders, who ruled the state, after the ALLAHABAD
end of monarchy, from Sheikh Abdullah
Epilogue Ø
45 ×
June 2009

Under the stars and
searchlights of Doda…
MANISHA SOBHRAJANI
Author is a Delhi-based independent
researcher working on the various
aspects of the Kashmir conflict. She can
be reached at
manishasobhrajani@hotmail.com)
Kishore da in Chenab Valley
N
othing unites Hindus and
Muslims as Kishore Kumar does.
And nowhere is this lowest
common denominator as apparent as in
the Doda district of Jammu & Kashmir.
Buses and taxis, shops, and even some
humble eating joints in this part of the
Chenab Valley play Kishore da's
unforgettable numbers, and are joined
in by enthusiastic locals.
Doda, known to the world as the
“hotbed of militancy in Kashmir”, has
always boasted of communal harmony,
and rightly so. There are villages in the
district which have a 100 per cent Hindu
population, and these families have
been living in Doda since ages. A village
called Arnora has only Rajputs, and they
are believed to be descendants of the
Rajput rulers. Another village,
Bhadroon, has a complete Dalit
population. Several villages like
Kalihand, Bhabnor, Shiva, Dashnan and
many more have a mixed population of
Hindus and Muslims, living together
amicably.
However, Hindu-Muslim relations in
Doda have become somewhat strained
in the wake of the Kulhand massacre in
which 19 Hindus were brutally killed,
and 10 severely injured by unidentified
gunmen on April 30, 2006.
When the government advocated
Epilogue Ø
46 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
Village Defense Committees (VDCs) in
early 1990s to combat terrorism,
Kulhand also formed its VDCs. But the
elders of the village (both Hindus and
Muslims) decided they trusted each
other and didn't really need any defense
committees. So they formed Aman
(peace) Committees instead. From 1995
to 2006, there were no VDCs. However,
after the massacre, the government has
provided 116 guns to the Hindus in
Kulhand for self-defense. This has
further upset the Hindu-Muslim
equilibrium in Doda.
Most people here are peace-loving, and
share the joys and sorrows of their
neighbours, or, as they call them –
humsaaya. In Ghat village of Doda,
militants once forcibly took away a
young Hindu boy. The Muslims got
together and brought him back to the
village, saying they will not allow such a
thing to happen while they are alive.
Also, some militant organizations are
known to arrange weddings for Hindu
girls. There are numerous such
incidents of camaraderie in Doda.
Every year, Doda hosts a Dangal or a
wrestling match. People from all over
Jammu & Kashmir come here to watch
it. Also, during the Navratras, Ramlilas
are held in every village and are
watched and enjoyed by people of both
communities. Similarly, during Eid, the

Muslims organise Eid-milan to which all
Hindus are invited, and told about the
preachings of Islam. Events like these
are possible only when there is
communal harmony, explained a local.
“Hindus in Doda have a lot of knowledge
about Islam, and Muslims in Doda are
aware of the preachings of Hinduism,”
the chief priest of the local mosque in
Ghat village said. “And issues like
untouchability, which are common
elsewhere, are not present in Doda.
People here have not received too much
exposure, western concepts have yet to
reach us, and so life is simple and
uncomplicated. The problem begins
when people with vested interests and
political agendas use this simplicity to
their advantage and speak ill about one
community to another. Until now, Doda
was far removed from such complex
issues, but one can sense some tension
in the air after the Kulhand massacre.”
One realises after visiting Doda that
only when communities live in isolation
do relations get strained because of
prejudices, lack of communication and
misunderstandings. But in Doda, Hindus
live on rent in Muslim houses, and vice
versa. There are fights between Hindus
and Hindus, and Muslims and Muslims,
but rarely between Hindus and Muslims.
Inter-dependence plays a crucial role
here. In a mountainous region, where
villages are far-flung, communication
with the outside world is limited and
Hindus and Muslims share a hereditary
relationship of togetherness, there is
perhaps no choice but to live in
harmony.
But this relative communal harmony
prevails under the constant gaze of the
gun — both of the militants and the
security forces. While militants lurk in
C O L UMN
Kishore da in Chenab Valley
apple orchards and inaccessible forests,
the security forces guard each hill-top,
watching this sleepy town day and
night.
Epilogue
because there is more to know
There have been recent reports, and
quite disturbing ones, of women
militants in Jammu & Kashmir. The Monthly Magazine
Chief of Army Gen. Deepak Kapoor has
been hinting at it for some time now. Extensively Researched
Recently, on April 18, 2009, security
personnel gunned down 3 LeT militants, Written with Clarity
one of them being a woman, named
Zahida. The encounter between the and Insight
militants and security personnel took
place in the Dori Bagla village of Doda.
Covers Four Key Issues
Dilshada, the second woman
overground worker for militants, was
Politics
also killed in the Doda district, again in
April 2009. She was killed in an Economy
encounter in which a Hizbul militant, a
jawan and a policeman were also killed. Culture
With two women overground workers Strategic Affairs
for militants killed one after the other
in Doda, it is clear that more and more
women are getting involved in terrorist
activities in Jammu & Kashmir. This is,
very clearly, a worrying trend not just
for the security forces, but for the
Unlike the General
general ethos of Kashmiriyat!
run of the
Sitting on a hillock, one is witness to the
night sky in Doda being flooded with
Mill News Magazine
millions of stars. And down in the valley
and on far away mountains, lights from
scattered villages makes one feel like
one is wrapped in a blanket of stars.
This heavenly spectacle is punctured
Epilogue
every few minutes with the long, Has a shelf life That Extends
swaying and blinding army searchlight
as it pries into every nook and corner of Far Beyond the
Doda, into the drawing rooms and
bedrooms of its residents — every few News Period Covered
minutes.
Epilogue Ø
47 ×
June 2009

Gulabnama: A Persian
Window to J&K History
PROF JIGAR MOHAMMED
Author is Professor of History at
University of Jammu
H
istoriography was one of the
most popular and dominant
academic exercises of the pre-
democratic India. It brought huge
dividends to the intellectuals engaged
in the history writings. It was an integral
part of the socio-political life of the
most of the ruling classes of pre-
democratic India to get the history of
their families recorded by the
professional historians. Consequently,
historians received considerable space
in the royal court. Though Kashmir was
the first region of Indian sub-continent
introducing Sanskrit historiography,
Persian historiography surpassed all the
trends of the historical writings of India.
It is well established that the Persian
historiography was introduced in India
by the Turks during the 13th century. It is
true that initially Persian historiography
was the single monopoly of the
intellectuals coming from Iran and
Central India. But with the passage of
time Persian historiography became
popular among the Indian intellectuals.
Since Indian were very liberal in terms
of exchange of knowledge from ancient
period onwards, the arrival of the
Persian historiography was treated as a
new form of the expression of the
knowledge. During the Mughal period
many intellectuals belonging to Indian
families made their career in the
Persian historiography. Punjab was one
of the most leading regions of the north
India where Persian historiography
Epilogue Ø
48 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
History
flourished very much. Similarly,
Kashmir also produced some sincere
historians. Sujan Rai Bhandari of 17th
century Punjab and Chandra Bhan
Brahman of the 17th century Kashmir
produced high quality of historical
works in Persian.
The modern state of Jammu and
Kashmir was founded by Maharaja Gulab
Singh (1846-57) in 1846. The credit of
uniting three important regions,
Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh into one
political unit goes to Maharaja Gulab.
Before him, all these three regions of
the state were divided into several
principalities. Even the modern Jammu
region was divided into twenty two
Rajput states during the medieval and
early modern periods. Both Kashmir and
Ladakh were separate political entities.
But both the modern Jammu and
Kashmir regions were very poor in terms
of the sources of their history upto the
12th century. It was Kalhan who first time
produced a master piece of history of
Kashmir, also giving some information
about the history of some of the states
of Jammu region such as Jammu,
Kishtwar, Rajouri and Punch etc. It is
well established fact that Kalhan's
Rajtarangini is the first historical work
of the Indian sub-continent. There are
consensus among the modern historian
that the seeds of the Indian
historiography were sown in Kashmir by
Kalhan.

Since modern Jammu and Kashmir state
was founded by Maharaja Gulab Singh, a
Jamwal Rajput, in 1846 with the
blessing of the British East India
Company, Jammu and Kashmir state
was treated as a princely and tributary
state of the British India. But the
Maharajas of Jammu respected the
local sentiments and continued Persian
as the state language. The official
patronage to the Persian language led to
t h e f l o u r i s h m e n t o f Pe r s i a n
historiography in the state.
Gulabnama is a pioneer historical work
of the Jammu Kashmir state, written in
the 19th century Jammu. Diwan Kirpa
Ram, the author of the belonged to the
aristocratic family. His family said to
have acquired socio-political
prominence in the 16th century. One of
his ancestors, named Rai Ugra sen of
Bikaner joined the service of the Mughal
emperor Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur
(1526-30) as secretary (Peshkar) to the
emperor. His grand-father Amir Chand
worked as Madar-ul-Maham (prime
minister) and Diwan under Maharaja
Gulab Singh. His father Jwala Sahai
acted as Diwan under both Maharajas
Gulab Singh and Ranbir Singh (1857-85).
When Jwala Sahai died in 1865, his son
Kirpa Ram was appointed as the Diwan
of Jammu and Kashmir state. Being a
person of aristocratic and literary
background, Diwan Kirpa Ram wrote
two Persian historical works: 1. Gulzar-
i-Kashmir and 2. Gulabnama. As far as
the Gulabnama is concerned, it has
translated into English by Sukhdev Singh
Charak.
The Gulabnama is a detailed account of
the life and works of the Maharaja Gulab
Singh. Kirpa Ram gives a brief account
of the works of rulers of Jammu of
ancient and medieval period. For him,
the rulers of ancient Jammu were the
descendants of Lord Rama of Ayodhya.20
However, historically, the description of
the events of the Punjab, Jammu and
Kashmir from the period of Maharaja
Gulab Singh onwards are very
interesting and valuable. Since his
grand-father and father had worked as
Diwans under Maharaja Gulab Singh he
had opportunity to collect the first hand
information from them. More
importantly, he was an eye witness to
the functioning of the political
institutions of Dogra rulers. He dealt
with the birth and early Maharaja Gulab
Singh very meticulously. According to
him, the great-grand father Mian Surat
Singh, grand-father Mian Zorawar Singh,
and father Raja Kishor Singh possessed
great valour and courage. Gulab Singh,
Dhian Singh and Suchet Singh were
mighty, cultured and brave sons of
Kishor Singh. He gives date of birth of
Gulab Singh in terms of both Vikrami
Samvat and Hijri calenders. He
mentions that Gulab Singh was born on
the fifth day of month Katak 1849
Vikrami and 2nd Rabi, ul-Awwal of 1207
Hijri.
Kirpa Ram mentions that Gulab Singh
entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh because of the prevalence of the
decline of the local ruling dynasty of
Jammu and its conquest by the armies
of Punjab. Similarly, Dhian Singh, Kishor
Singh (Gulab Singh's father ) also joined
the services of the Maharaja Ranjit
Singh.22 Kirpa Ram presents Gulab Singh
instrumental in Maharaja Ranjit Singh
victories of the different states of
Jammu hills and Kashmir. He has given
an interesting account of the conquest
Epilogue Ø
49 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
History
of Ladakh by Raja Gulab Singh's army
commander Zorawar Singh Kahluria.
Similarly, the decline of the family of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Anglo-Sikh
wars are penned down in detail by Kirpa
Ram.
Kirpa Ram gives details of the treaty of
Lahore, signed on March 9, 1846,
between the British and Maharaja Dalip
Singh of Lahore. According to him, the
treaty of Lahore consisted of 16
articles. More importantly, the copy of
the treaty of Amritsar, signed on March
16, 1846, between the British and Raja
Gulab Singh is given by him. The treaty
consists of ten articles. According to the
treaty, Maharaja Gulab Singh received
Kashmir on the payment of seventy-five
lakhs of rupees to the British and had to
act as an ally and tributary of the British
East India Company. He also mentions
events of Jammu and Kashmir State
taking place after 1846 and the
accession of Maharaja Ranbir Singh, son
of Maharaja Gulab Singh.
Although Kirpa Ram has acted as a
panegyrist, his Gulabnama provides
valuable materials to the modern
historians working on the history of
Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir during
the 19th century. It not only mentions the
exploits of Maharaja Gulab Singh, bul
also deals with the political events of
the different states of Jammu hills
during the nineteenth century. The
production of Gulabnama also
establishes that Maharaja Gulab Singh
welcomed the literary persons from
different parts of India and encouraged
literary activities in Jammu through the
different means. He maintained that
knowledge had no boundary in terms of
language, religion and ideology.
 L ADAKH SPEC I AL
Wildlife

Wildlife in Ladakh
Trans-Himalayas

TAHIR SHAWL
Author is Wildlife Warden of Leh Wildlife
Division in Ladakh. He can be reached at
tahir_shawl@yahoo.com
L
adakh the Northern most part of
our country represents the Trans-
Himalayan region of of Jammu
and Kashmir. It encompasses about
92000 square kilometers of the
geographical area of jammu and
Kashmir. It is also known as high altitude
cold desert and experiences harsh and
inclement climatic conditions which
include extreme low temperature ,up
to minus 45degrees centigrade, and
very low rain fall.
Due to harsh climatic conditions the
environmental productivity of this
region is very low. This barren, cold
desert region supports about seven
hundred species mostly herbs and
shrubs, thirty three species of mammals
and around 276 species of birds
including migratory avi-fauna.
The eastern Ladakh is the western
extension of Tibetan plateau and
exhibits Tibetan plateau influence on its
fauna. Where as the fauna in the central
and western parts of Ladakh region has
affinity with Himalayan and Central
Asian species respectively.
Ladakh harbours the most diverse wild
goat and sheep community in the world
represented by eight species and sub-species.
These include bharal or blue sheep, argali
or nayan, Ladakh urial, ibex,Tibetan wild
ass, wild yak, Tibetan antelope or chiru,
and Tibetan gazelle or goa.
Chiru or Tibetan antelope is known
world over for its famous under wool
used for making shahtoosh shawls. Its
main distribution is in Tibet. At the
beginning of the sanctuary its
population was around one million
which has drastically dwindled now to
about 75000 to 10000 due to large scale
persecution for wool and flesh in China.
It is reported that 4 to 5 chiru were
killed for getting wool enough for one
shawl. A small population of chiru
migrates to Ladakh from China in every
summer. Changchenmo valley on indo-
china border in Changthang region of
Eastern Ladakh and Daulet Beig Oldi,
DBO, in North-East of ladakh support
this small population estimated at 350
to 400 individuals. However, it is
presumed that population in DBO is
much more as the whole area cannot be
traversed due to inaccessibility and
harsh climatic conditions. Outside the
Tibetan plateau in China chiru is found
only at these two sites in Ldakh.
Only a relic population of Tibetan
gazelle, known as goa in Ladakh, is
battling the war of survival in Kalaktar
Tar pasture lands in Changthang region
of Ladakh. Only 50 to 100 individuals of
this gazelle are estimated to be
surviving in this area.
Apart from ungulate species this region
is well known for its carnivore fauna at
the apex of which is snow leopard

Epilogue Ø
50 ×
June 2009
 L ADAKH SPEC I AL
Wildlife

locally known as shan. This animal is
globally considered as critically
endangered with the total global
population estimated at 3000 to 6000
individuals.
The Trans Himalayan region in Ladakh
constitutes the major habitat of snow
leopard in India where the population of
this animal is estimated around 250 to
350 individuals. Only 500 to 700
individuals of this species are left in
India. As per the estimates the
population of snow leopard in Ladakh
has increased over the last decade. The
Government of India has recently
launched project snow leopard for the
conservation of this animal and its
habitat in the five snow leopard states
in India. Other carnivores found in
Ladakh include lynx, palla's cat, wild
dog, red fox and Tibetan wolf.
The avi-fauna of this region is quite rich
with migratory, resident and vagrant
species. The high altitude lakes like
Tsomoriri, Pangong, Tsokar and many
other marsh lands including Hanlay,
Chushul, Tse-gul-Tso, Fukche and
Staklung in Changthang region in
eastern Ladakh provide excellent
breeding ground for many of migratory
birds like black-necked crane, bar-
headed geese, brahminy (ruddy shell)
duck and crested grebe. Some other
bird species of this area which need
mention are Tibetan sand grouse,
Tibetan partridge, Tibetan snow finch,
Tibetan ruby throat, Tibetan snow cock
and Tibetan owlet. Ladakh is the only
breeding ground of species like black-
necked crane and bar-headed geese
with in Indian limits. The number of
black-necked crane, the only alpine
crane of the world, has increased in
Ladakh over the last decade from 25 to
84 in 2008. The population of black-
necked crane during the summer in
2007 was estimated around 60
individuals. In the summer 2008 a new
flock of about 24 black-necked cranes
was recorded near Tsokar wetland
increasing the total estimated
population of this crane to around
81individuals including 13 chicks in 2008
in Leh district.
The Department of wildlife Protection
at Leh in collaboration with the Wildlife
Institute of India, Dehradun, is placing
satellite telemeters on some black-
necked cranes and bar-headed geese in
Changthang wildlife sanctuary in Leh to
study their migratory routes and habitat
utilization pattern for making intensive
management plans for the conservation
of these endangered species.

EPILOGUE J&K IS LOOKING FOR A FULL-TIME TECH-SAVVY AND CREATIVE

GRAPHIC/LAYOUT DESIGNER
The responsibilities of the graphic/layout designer will include :
Creatively laying our the design of the magazine each month
Producing compelling artwork and layout for the magazine, including brochures, posters, banners,
booklets, and print publications. A fine appreciation for the effective use of space, color, imagery,
key messages, and the latest stylistic techniques is expected
Working closely with the editorial team

Requirement :
Epilogue

Minimum two years hands-on-experience in professional design & layout

Ability to produce highly creative design & layout in a timely manner
Strong knowledge of inDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, CorelDraw, Dreamweaver, etc
In-depth knowledge of current web design trends and techniques
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Must be able to work well in team and independently
Hardware/software expertise is a plus

This position is based in Jammu, with salary commensurate with experience and energy.
How to apply : Send samples of your portfolio along with CV by 1 July, 2009 to
editor@epilogue.in or mail us .
Epilogue J&K
Bathindi Top,
Jammu (J&K)
Epilogue
because there is more to know

J&K Registers Strong Presence at UPSC
Five youth make to top services
EPILOGUE DESK
A
t the Union Public Service
Commission, this year, Jammu
and Kashmir state registered a
remarkable success with five of its
youth making to the final list of coveted
Civil Services, the country's top most
and elite services. Though 5 selections
out of long list of 791 odd candidates
selected from all over the country is not
much significant going merely by the
numbers, but viewed from the point of
view of past trends from this hilly state
and number of candidates appearing for
this examination the final result is in
deed exceptional. Two doctors got the
elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
in open merit, another in a reserved
category, one from Kashmir selected for
Indian Police Service (IPS) and another
Jammuite cornered a seat in the Indian
Revenue Service (IRS). The success story
of each one of them is remarkable, and
an inspiration for the youth of state,
they did prove that a strong will power
and right kind of directed hard work
crosses all hurdles to pay rich dividends.
Epilogue went out to look into the
success mantra of these IAS toppers to
share the secrets with readers across
the state.
At serial number 21 in the merit list of
IAS figured the name of Dr Raghav
Langer, a medico by profession. Having
done his entire schooling from Nagbani
School, Raghav is an alumnus of
Government Medical College Jammu.
Coming from a renowned family of
Doctors in Jammu, he rather chose to be
into the administration. Raghav topped
the state Kashmir Administrative
Service (KAS) examination in 2007-08
Raghav, Shahid, Imtiaz,
Sumeet and Vishal are more
than being proud service
selectees for the state. They are
an inspiration for the youth in
state to excel not only in civil
services examination but any
field or career they decide to
pursue. Each one of them has
scripted an unimaginable and
stunning success story,
overcoming all odds and
making it to the top with
confidence and in a planned
manner. Five may seem to be a
small figure for the Jammu and
Kashmir state in this selection
list but going by the statistics
and facts- it's among the highest
success ratios for different states
and later selected for Indian Revenue
Service (IRS) based on his 227th Rank in
the Civil Services Examination 2007-08.
A jump from 227th Rank in the merit list
to 21st this year is something exemplary
this Jammu-based doctor did. Raghav
Epilogue Ø
52 ×
June 2009
R E POR T
achieved this success choosing Medical
Science and Psyhology as optional
subjects for the Civil Services
Examination. A score of 360 plus / 600 in
Medical Science, 174 / 300 in
Personality Test and 126/200 in Essay is
something exceptional achieved by
Raghav to make it to this top rank this
year. He serves as an inspiration for
those who stand committed to their
dreams, after topping the KAS
examination in state Raghav never
looked back and joined the Indian
Revenue Service the very next year and
Indian Administrative Service now.
Shahid Iqbal, figuring at serial number
51 of the IAS merit list, represents the
journey of an average rural student to
the Indian Administrative Service, with
a strong dedication and iron will.
Shahid, a 2005 batch Veterinary
graduate from Sher-e-Kashmir
University of Agricultural Sciences and
Technology, Jammu, did his basic
schooling from Government Middle
School, Rehan Village, in Budhal Tehsil
of Rajouri District. And after completing
Higher Secondary from Government
Boys' Higher Secondary School, Rajouri,
he joined the BVSc & AH degree
programme based on the results of
Combined Entrance Test. Though
belonging to the Gujjar community,
which enjoys the status of Scheduled
Tribe, under the constitution of India,
he got into IAS in the Open Merit list,
thus sparing one more seat in IAS for the

reserved candidates. His story is an
inspiration for the rural youth of this
hilly state who face problems in
education and training owing to various
reasons. A never-say-die spirit and
effective decision making, along with
committed, sustained hard work finally
pays rich dividends, as his success story
reveals. Shahid clicked this top rank in
IAS with Veterinary Science and
Sociology in optionals. Scoring 210 / 300
in Personality Test and again 126 / 200
wa s in de e d a we some for th is
veterinarian turned forester. He has
already made to the Indian Forest
Service (IFS) in the very first attempt,
with Zoology and Veterinary Science as
optional subjects, in the very first
attempt. Presently posted at Jammu, he
has served at Poonch, Reasi and Srinagar in
the Forest Department. For a Government
School student, where the English
alphabet used to be taught in Class six, this
remarkably exception success reveals: sky
is the limit for achievers.
Son of an officer in the state
Government, at serial number 134 of
the Civil Services selection list is Imtiaz
Ismail Parray, a resident of a remote
village in Anantnag district in Kashmir.
Parray is slated to get into the Indian
Police Service (IPS) in the Open Merit.
An alumnus of National Institute of
Technology (NIT) Hazratbal, Srinagar,
his is a story of “Slow and Steady Wins
the Race”. Imtiaz studied at Burn Hall
School in Srinagar and later did his
engineering degree from NIT in 2004.
Later he was selected for the KAS-allied
services and allotted to the Social
Welfare in the 2007-08 select list.
Presently working as Project Officer,
Integrated Child Development Scheme,
in Kashmir Imtiaz is an inspiration for
whole state, especially rural Kashmir –
he happens to be the first Kashmiri in
past 15 years to make it to the IPS, and
also the lone selectee in the country's
Civil Services in the said period of time.
So, the “lone crusader” has given birth
to the reinvented thoughts in minds of
civil services aspirants in the valley. In
the current list too he happens to be the
lone Kashmiri to make it to the top.
Dr Sumeet Jarangal, a Medico from
Government Medical College Jammu, is
placed at 214th Rank of the select list.
Hailing from a remote village in
Hiranagar, Dr Jarangal sailed through all
thick and thins with firm dedication.
Having done his MBBS in 2003-04,
Sumeet was selected for the Indian
Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) in 2006,
based on the results of Civil Services
Examination 2005. Presently posted In
West Bengal, Sumeet is likely to get the
Indian Administrative Service in
reserved category.
Shahid Iqbal, figuring at
serial number 51 of the IAS
merit list, represents the
journey of an average rural
student to the Indian
Administrative Service, with a
strong dedication and iron
will. His story is an
inspiration for the rural youth
of this hilly state who face
problems in education and
training owing to various
reasons
And it seemed to be a doctor's day when
Dr Vishal Choudhary's name figured at
the 350th Rank in the merit list. Hailing
from R S Pura in Jammu, Vishal is again
an alumnus of Government Medical
College, Jammu and is likely to get the
Indian Revenue Service (IRS). His
younger brother, a veterinary graduate
from SKUAST also stands firm to follow
his footsteps in the coming years.
Epilogue Ø
53 ×
June 2009
R E POR T
Vishal's success story, again, is an
inspiring one – having done his schooling
in the native village in R S Pura, he was
selected for MBBS through the state
level Common Entrance Test and after
completing his Medicine, Vishal finally
decided to choose administration as his
career, and finally he did it.
Raghav, Shahid, Imtiaz, Sumeet and
Vishal are more than being proud
service selectees for the state. They are
an inspiration for the youth in state to
excel not only in civil services
examination but any field or career they
decide to pursue. Each one of them has
scripted an unimaginable and stunning
success story, overcoming all odds and
making it to the top with confidence and
in a planned manner. Five may seem to
be a small figure for the Jammu and
Kashmir state in this selection list but
going by the statistics and facts- it's
among the highest success ratios for
different states. About 56 odd
candidates from Jammu and Kashmir
state wrote the Civil Services Mains
examination, out of the 12, 500 strong
aspirants, in Mains Examination, across
the country sifted out of 3.45 lakh
candidates based on the results of
Preliminary examination held in May
2008. Of this only 9 from Jammu and
Kashmir could make it to the final
personality test wherein a total of 2239
candidates were called to appear before
the UPSC interview boards. Nine out of
2239 could well said to be non-existent
but final five selections out of nine
finalists puts the success ratio for Jammu
and Kashmir at far more than 50%. Since
personality test is the deciding factor in
the Civil Services Examination, the
exceptional performance by the
aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir at
this test reveals that the state has a great
potential and talent pool, but the only
thing required is a right kind of guidance
and awareness, apart from an
indispensable self confidence.

Build a Bigger Rainy Day Fund
Live on a budget, avoid expensive habits and force yourself to save
J&K Bank offers a basket of
products, which contain easy
saving options even for
those having irregular or
lesser means of income.
Smart Saver Scheme,
Childcare Deposit Scheme,
Depositors' Pension Scheme,
Mehendi Deposit Scheme,
Recurring Plus Scheme,
Recurring Scheme, Tax
Saver Term Deposit Scheme
etc. are some of the term
deposit products tailored by
the bank to suit its varied
client base.
SAJJAD BAJAJ
The views are of the author & not the
institution he works for
M
anaging money is not a big deal.
But what is required is the
development of habits of saving
money. There are two things that may
have kept many of us at bay for
developing money saving skills. Either
we were never really taught how to
manage money, or maybe we simply
avoid thinking about it because the
situation is so dire. But the dire need is
to incorporate some simple money-
saving habits and have a greater
awareness of money that helps to keep
a little more of it in the wallet!
Simply, if we really want to save money,
we have to increase our awareness of
money. This means knowing each month
how much we have, what we have spent
our money on, what our goals are, and
where we stand in terms of reaching
those goals. To do this, we have to take
the time each month to balance our
accounts. When we don't, we just
continue to spend money, we avoid
thinking about it, and then we feel awful
about ourselves when reality sets in.
Saving the right amount in the present
times is most crucial. The amount you
save can be invested in bank's fixed
deposit schemes, stocks, mutual funds,
gold etc to create a future income for
meeting small and large requirements
such as education and marriage of your
children and your post retirement
needs. Besides, saving right amount can
Epilogue Ø
54 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
Banking
help you to take care of current needs.
So one has to draw a balance between
present and the future needs.
This is the most opportune time to get
into the “saving more” crowd and build
a bigger rainy day fund by minimizing
you luxuries. Setting more aside and
spending less on the non-essentials is
the most crucial base of saving money.
The point of good preparedness is to
start doing it before you are forced to.
Just ask yourself. Are you living beyond
your means? Are you earning well but
still don't seem to be saving enough.
Have you ever thought of how to save
most of the money you earn? Adopt the
saving habits and you'll be laughing all
the way to the bank in no time.
Live on a budget, avoid expensive habits
and force yourself to save like helpful
money saving tips will definitely give
your finances that much needed boost.
Just do a simple thing. Record your daily
expenses, add them up and find that the
total exceeds the amount of your
income, you will realize that it's time to
cut down on your spending. Once you
have come up with a realistic budget,
avoid the temptation to overdo when
you are out shopping. Cutting back on
your day-to-day expenses and resisting
temptation makes it much easier for
you to save.

We have also seen that most of us fall
prey to the lure of plastic money. The
convenience of credit cards is hard to
resist but if you want to save, pay cash
whenever possible. You need to watch
out while using your credit cards,
especially the fees associated with
owning a card. However, if you can't do
without a credit card, find a card that
does not charge high annual fees and
comes with cash saving benefits.
We know monthly fuel expense; mobile
bills and other such expenses burn a
hole in our pocket? When we talk of
curtailing the expenses, these items
need careful handling. You should
always look for fuel saving options and
always check your phone tariffs to
ensure that your plan suits your
needs. Clip your bills
accordingly.
Last but not the least. A message
for the young birds. When it
comes to savings, the early birds
have an advantage. They manage
to save a decent pile for all their
requirements with much lesser fuss.
They can make their money grow so well
that they secure their future without
depriving themselves today. And
remember, the saving rates are higher
for people who start saving later in life
because the early risers get the benefit
of compounding.
Here is a note of caution. You may have
saved a lot and yet be forced to be
miserly when you need money. This slip
between cup and the lip can happen if
you haven't invested your savings in an
appropriate manner. So you should save
in such a way and invest your savings in
instruments, which not only ensure
appropriate growth of your money but
also makes your money available
anytime and anywhere.
In order to meet your requirements as
far as saving money is concerned, J&K
Bank offers a basket of products,
which contain easy saving options
even for those having irregular or
lesser means of income. Smart Saver
Scheme, Childcare Deposit Scheme,
Depositors' Pension Scheme, Mehendi
Deposit Scheme, Recurring Plus
Scheme, Recurring Scheme, Tax Saver
Term Deposit Scheme etc. are some
of the term deposit products tailored
by the bank to suit its varied client
base.
For example, Recurring Plus Scheme
of the bank suits persons with
fluctuating income, as the scheme
facilitates a depositor to deposit
variable amounts of installments at
his free will without any binding on
depositing the fixed installment. A
depositor can choose a minimum core
monthly installment of Rs.100 and is
free to deposit a selected core
amount or in excess of core amount in
multiples of Rs.100. There is no
binding on maximum amount of
deposit during a month or the number
of installments paid during the
month.
Then there is a special savings scheme
for the girl child. Known as JK Bank
Mehendi deposit scheme, a depositor
has to invest one time amount in the
scheme to choose Rs.25,000, Rs.50,000
or Rs.1,00,000 maturity amount for
his/her girl child at the end of a certain
Epilogue Ø
55 ×
June 2009
C O L UMN
Banking
period. The scheme carries free
accidental insurance cover equal to the
maturity amount, which the depositor
chooses.
The bank offers Millennium Deposit
scheme, in which a depositor can invest
his money in the units of Rs.500 and
withdraw a certain portion of his
deposited amount in the units of Rs.500
at the time of need without any penalty.
Yet another product, JK Bank Daily
Deposit Scheme has been tailored as a
doorstep banking facility. The Scheme is
catering to the requirements of those
small businessmen/professionals who
have the potential to save some
amount of their sale proceeds at the
end of the day/week. The bank official
makes collection by personally
going to the business
premises/household units etc.
of the depositor during the
working hours from 2 p.m. to
4.45 p.m. The collections made
from the account holders are
deposited on the same day in
the branch, where the account
of the depositor will be maintained.
A customer can open account under the
scheme by Rs.100, which he has to
deposit daily or weekly. However,
higher amount in the multiples of Rs
50/-(e.g., Rs.150, Rs.200, Rs.250) can
also be deposited under the scheme.
The customer would be provided with a
Passbook and counter foil of the receipt
duly signed by the designated bank
employee at his doorstep.
In succinct, this is the time to force
yourself to save and sign up for a
systematic investment plan in such a
way that gives you hassle free access to
your saving during the time of need and
at the same time help you not to fritter
it away on something frivolous.

Boosting hill economy
Kalari can show the way
SREYA SARKAR
Sreya Sarkar is a Research Guide
associated with Centre for Civil
Society
C
reation of organized markets for
traditional dairy products in the hilly
terrains of India is the key to the
economic upliftment of the small dairy
farmers involved in the production of
traditional dairy products, who have been
stuck in the stubborn cycle of poverty for
decades. But that would require innovative
public policies, which would support
institutional changes, special
infrastructural arrangements and the
development of markets, suitable for the
hilly terrains and—not a mere replication of
the mainstream development model
appropriate mostly for the plains.
Jatinder Handoo's recently published
paper, “Sustainable Livelihood for
Hills—policy and institutional arrangements
for Kalari cheese in the hills of Jammu and
Kashmir”, funded by the Centre for Civil
Society, explores the role of public policy in
facilitating the development of a value
chain and the market for one such
traditional dairy product—Kalari cheese, a
local delicacy in the hills of Jammu and
Kashmir (J&K). It successfully covers a
major gap in the literature on value chain
development of Kalari at the level of small
farm unit in the hills. Kalari cheese is a high
value dairy product that has the potential
to raise per capita income of small dairy
farm holders in the Udhampur district of
J&K. This paper maps and analyses the
Kalari cheese value chain and its various
components including production,
processing, marketing, and public policies
Epilogue Ø
56 ×
June 2009
S TUDY
Traditional Dairy
that affect the production process. The
author applies the 'evidence-based' policy
making framework to understand the
special significance of Kalari in turning
certain regional limitations into a business
opportunity. He identifies lack of
innovative public policies, with very little
interaction and coordination with the local
government bodies, local producers,
sellers and consumers of Kalari, as a major
barrier to the development of a formal and
organized market for Kalari.
Handoo is optimistic about the future of
Kalari cheese value chain, its positive
impact on J&K's small dairy farm producer's
income and its integration into the
mainstream organized market but—has
come to the conclusion that this demands
an innovative and interactive public policy
framework that would take into
consideration local problems and
requirements. He discusses how the
present policy initiatives do not address the
specific needs of this region. He
recommends that the state government
should facilitate formation of coalitions of
relevant stakeholders like women self-help
groups and producers, private milk parlour
owners, Village Development Committees
(VDC) of the Panchayats, and other
concerned government departments. This
will help interactive and participatory policy
making and would be the first step towards
converting Kalari cheese into a successful
business model enhancing the lives of the
small dairy farmers in the hills of J&K.
 TRACING A special feature on

REVOLUTION Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University

 Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah
University, Rajouri (J&K)
SEEKS FACULTY
Take the leap and be part of an educational legacy that spans four years. BGSB University that
has come into existence by Act No. XVI - 2002 of J&K Legislative Assembly and is one of the
forward looking university of the country invites academicians charges with passion and
dedication to enrich its faculty in following disciplines and for deliveing guest lectures.

SCHOOLS OF STUDIES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECH.

1. SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES 1. Department of Electronics & Communication

i. Department of Management Studies Engineering
ii. Department of Financial Management
2. Department of Computer Sciences & Engineering
2. SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICAL SC. & ENGG. 3. Department of Information Technology Engineering
i. Department of Computer Applications 4. Department of Civil Engineering
ii. Department of Information Technology
iii. Department of Applied Mathematics 5. Department of Electrical & Instrumentation
Engineering
3. SCHOOL OF BIOSCIENCES & BIOTECH.
i. Centre for Biodiversity Studies
LAST DATE: June 15, 2009
4. SCHOOL OF SLAMIC STUDIES ADDRESS:
i. Department of Arabic
Assistant Registrar(Establishment), BGSB University,
POSTS: Rajouri (J&K), Pin 185131, Fax/Tel. 01962 262616
PROFESSORS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS & Email: bgsbu@rediffmail.com, FOR DETAILS PLEASE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR VISIT US AT : www.bgsbuniversity.org
Qualification: AS PER UGC NORMS
SALARY:
Not a constraint for applicants with impressive
curriculum - vitae
BGSB UNIVERSITY
MANAGEMENT COMPUTERS ENGINEERING BIODIVERSITY APPLIED MATHEMATICS ARABIC
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Ruminations

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad

BGSBU will play a A rare

legitimate role in sense of
development of State, devotion,
Country dedication
The most distinct
The establishment of the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University of trait of this
Science & Technology is a landmark in the evolution of science education university, as I
in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. As India marches ahead to address the have seen for
challenges of a knowledge society, the role and 'relevance of Universities myself and as I have heard others acclaim, is
such as the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University assumes significance. that behind every big and small programme of
The inauguration of this apex educational body dedicated to science and development and expansion there has been a
technology is a heartening development in context of our efforts to rare sense of devotion and dedication. This has
encourage the younger generation to pursue science education in their not only made things happen with great gusto
higher studies. Historically, India has had a flourishing tradition of and speed but has also kept on adding new
science and technology. The decline of that tradition led to the decline dimensions to the whole process of campus
of India. During the postindependence period our scientists and development and expansion.
technologists have made us proud by applying their talents in nation
building and taking India to front rank of nations. We have to build on
these achievements to occupy our rightful place in a world, which is
increasingly driven by science and technology. Science combined with
humanism and our ancient wisdom will provide sanity and strength to "Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is a silent
our progress. Harnessing the talents of the State of Jammu & Kashmir revolution in the hills leading to huge
emancipation”
and pooling in resources from the rest of the country, the Baba Ghulam
Shah Badshah University of Science & Technology will playa legitimate
role in the development of the State and the country. Economic and Political Weekly;
On the occasion, I have great pleasure in extending my greetings and Mumbai
good wishes to all those associated with the University for its success.

Dr. Farooq Abdullah

This would have made Sheikh

Abdullah feel proud
It was wonderful for me to visit this young university. I am
confident that it is imparting quality education. Sheri-Kashmir
would have been proud of what I have seen here.
God bless you all. Keep it up.

Epilogue Ø
59 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Ruminations

"The establishment of the Baba

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister Ghulam Shah Badshah University
(BGSBU) in Rajouri adds to the
optimism in the air. Hidden in the
Harbinger of an era of hills of Rajouri, the University was
established under the Jammu and
awakening in J&K Kashmir Legislative Assembly Act,
2002 and is nurtured by the Jammu
and Kashmir Wakf Council. Could
As a nation we have to be in step with the this University situated on the
latest developments in science and technology border district of the state become
upon which hinges our collective prosperity,
progress and development. As a nation of one
billion people our problems range from stark
poverty to the all acute deprivation and
backwardness. The only ray of hope that we
have is our youth who are required to be
provided with the necessary backup and
support by way of strengthening our
educational infrastructure and redefining our
national goals in terms of what our youth are capable of contributing to pool of
knowledge and upward economic mobility. The youth shall have to occupy the a means to exchange social and
central stage of this national endeavour and that will be the time when we will see cultural ideas and experiences in
our nation emerging as an empowered and developed nation. the state? Is it a catalyst for
The setting up of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in a very short passage of
sustainable interaction between
time at Rajouri town of Jammu and Kashmir is the harbinger of an era of awakening
students of J&K and PoK?"
and awareness in the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir which has suffered a
considerable back push in terms of its development and progress over the last more
Institute of Peace and
than a decade and a half. Whereas it affords an endless array of possibilities and Conflict Studies, New Delhi
opportunities for the progressive youth of the state it will hopefully emerge as the
centre for stimulation of economic development and material prosperity which have “The groves of academe – situated
now become the yardsticks by which the well being and sustainability of a society is in the lofty hills, Baba Ghulam Shah
measured. Besides, generating employment avenues for the deserving and the Badshah University has made a
needy, this university I believe, shall also become the podium for laying down a solid place of its own in the world of
foundation for industrial development, and a centre for research and development. academia”
I congratulate everybody associated with this noble venture for raising a monument Rising Kashmir, Srinagar
for prosperity.

Saiyid Hamid, Former Vice Chancellor Aligarh Muslim University, Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard

Let campus acquire extra-mural dimension

Let me first felicitate you for the seminal role played by you in bringing Baba Ghulam Shah Sadshah
University into existence. All of us here wish the institution a great success.
May I suggest for your consideration that the institution that is privileged with your stewardship
should acquire an extra-mural dimension and spearhead the educational movement in Jammu
Region.
I am indebted to you for the invitation but would crave your indulgence for the inability to avail of
your generous offer. I am in my twilight years with the result that my participation will perforce
assume the form of prayers, from a distance, for your success.

Epilogue Ø
60 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Ruminations

"Thanks to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri
will no more be out of bounds for students from Kashmir Valley."
Greater Kashmir, Srinagar

Dr. Ghulam Nabi Qazi, Director, IIIM(CSIR), Dr. M. Sanjappa

Jammu Director, Botanical Survey of India, Central National
Herbarium, Kolkotta
Enthusiasm of VC seems to
be key driving force
I am Rare
amazed to
see this spectacle
upcoming
university
anywhere in
named after country, may
a\revered
soul-Baba be anywhere
Ghulam
Shah
else
Badshah. I
express my “….Perhaps we would
great all be taking giant leaps if only we knew the exact
pleasure to dimensions and boundaries of our avowed goals and then the
see the support base needed for going forward to the signposts that
developmen we set unto ourselves for chasing. I am delighted to see that
ts that newly established BGSB University is sufficiently well
seem to prepared and suitably prepared, on both these fronts. This
have taken place here within a short span of three gives me enough reason to congratulate the Vice Chancellor
years. The enthusiasm of the very leader (Hon'ble of the university, Shri Masud A. Choudhary and the wh01e
VC) and his staff seems to be the driving force for team of the professionals who have come up with the idea
such a fast development at such a remote place. The of establishing the Centre for Biodiversity Studies (CBS) with
way the institute and the Biodiversity Centre are the same gusto and momentum with which this university
coming up leaves no doubt in my mind that the days came up in a matter of months- a spectacle very rarely seen
are not far when the institute will be noticed all in any part of the country or may be hard to find anywhere
over the country and indeed globally. I wish the VC at the international level.”
and the staff very best for all their endeavors for a
great success in nearfuture.

Tariq Hameed Karra, former Minister for Housing, Urban Dev. Forests, Environment & Ecology

VC's mission, goal making versity first of its kind

I am highly impressed by the beginning of this university. I am envisaging it as a unique university & first of
its kind, I think, in Asia. I feel the VC has taken it as a mission & a goal as well. I have drawn an image in
my eyes about the university and I would feel a proud person in giving a practical shape to that image &
for which I have decided to do I anything everything. I wish to see this university, the best university in
India, during my I life-time, god willing.

Epilogue Ø
61 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Ruminations

“ "By debating the issues

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
like world trade regime Team is moving with
and global climate change,
Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah missionary zeal
University situated at remote
Rajouri district is setting I must congratulate the management and the entire

issues of national
priorities"
Political and
“
trends for role of Jammu and
Kashmir in participating in the
team of assisting hands who have worked whole
heartedly and with missionary zeal to perform the
incredible feat of making this university operational
in a record time of less than one year. One only
hopes that it becomes a lighthouse for the coming
generations and carves a place of honour and
Business Daily;
prestige for itself among the institutions of excellence.
New Delhi

Dr. Haseed A Drabu Harsh Dev Singh, Minister for Education, J&K
Chairman & Chief Executive, Jammu & Kashmir Bank
Amazing. A
University in
The making of
7-8 months
Oxford of its own Well begun they say, is
kind half done. The university
has become functional in
A great institution in the
a record period of 7-8
making! Dedicated faculty
months. I find great
headed by a visionary V.C and a
enthusiasm in the V.C
bunch of bright & talented
and faculty to achieve
students working in great
over all excellence. I
environment is a sure recipe for success. I hope the
wish the V. C and his
university becomes the Oxford University of J&K &
team of officers the best.
Rajouri develops as Oxford County.

Sudhir S. Bloeria, Former Chief Secretary J&K

The campus is poised to make name in country
It was indeed a pleasant surprise to see what you have been able to achieve during a
short period of one year, both in terms of infrastructure development as well as the high
level of motivation and the spirit that has been inculcated in the faculty and the students
of the University.
I am sure under your inspired stewardship, practical vision and untiring efforts this
University will go a long way and make a name for itself not only in the State but all over
the country".

Epilogue Ø
62 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE
Tracing a Revolution
D SUBA CHANDRAN
Author is Consulting Editor of Epilogue
Magazine and Deputy Director of the
Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies
BGSB
D
uring one of my field trips few
years ago in the Rajouri-Poonch
twin districts, a friend of mine
asked whether I was aware of the new
University, that was recently started in
Rajouri. It was a surprise for me; for I've
been traveling up and down in the
Jammu-Poonch road, but never saw
one. I joked, perhaps it was one of those
tutorial centers, which call themselves
as University. My friend was serious and
increased my curiosity when he said, it
was in the hills of Rajouri and the Vice
Chancellor of the University was a
policeman and that I should visit him.
Naturally, I got inquisitive. A University
in Rajouri, with courses on computer
science and bio technology, led by a
former police man?
In 2005, the State government
established a technical university in
Rajouri, with courses in MBA and MCA.
The University is named after a Sufi
saint Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah, who is
revered by all the three major
communities of these two border
districts - Hindu, Muslim and Sikh. His
shrine – Shahdara Sharief, 30 kms away
from Rajouri in the Pir Panjal range, is a
holy place and a symbol of communal
harmony and also attracts people from
other regions of the State and even
outside it.
I decided to see it for myself. What
started as curiosity then in 2005, has
Epilogue Ø
63 ×
June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
The Wonder in the Hills
now become a ritual for me. Invariably,
during my every visit to this region, I
ensure I visit this University Whenever I
find some time to visit my parents back
in Tamil Nadu, it is almost a ritual, that I
visit some of my relatives. The BGSBU.
in a way, has become my relative in
Rajouri. I could literally see the growth
of this University, like how Dr Ashfaq
Ahmed Zarri, the young and energetic
botanist of the Center for Bio-
technology would observe the growth of
his plants. The first time, when I visited
the University, there were only two
buildings of MCA; today, the entire hill is
dotted with buildings, hosting
numerous other departments.
And I vividly remember my first meeting
of the Vice Chancellor Mr Masud
Chaudhary; I was hoping to see him in an
air-conditioned office, sitting in a huge
well cushioned seat. Instead, I met him
in a construction site, what is now a
faculty's residence. He was sitting in a
stool, looking into the construction of
the building and invited me with a nice
big smile. Even today, I recollect his first
question: What brings you here, to an
isolated hilly region from the comforts
of Delhi, young man? I wanted to tell
him, perhaps the same passion that
brought him to Rajouri from the
comforts of Jammu!
I have met him thrice, after my first
meeting. I could see the same passion
SPEC I AL F EATURE
and energy in him. Some of his
detractors and critics may call him over
powering and bulldozing, with what he
wants to achieve. Perhaps, from whose
angle you look at. What is important at
the end, is he gets things done. Whether
getting bricks for his buildings from
Jammu or faculty for his departments
from far away place, he gets them done.
Four years after my first meeting, I see
him with the same passion, sincerity
and dedication to the University. I
sincerely think, it was his passion, that
really moved the mountain here in
Rajouri. Undoubtedly for him, BGSBU is
his Taj Mahal.
When I returned from my first trip, I was
impressed with this new project,
though I was not sure, how far this
initiative would succeed. I wrote an
article in the Economic and Political
Weekly in 2006, titled Rajouri: Seeds of
a Silent Revolution. Rajouri along with
Poonch, two districts bordering LoC in
the Jammu region, till few years back
was one of the most militancy infested
regions of J&K State. There was a time,
the public feared to travel in the road
from Poonch to Rajouri via Surankote
and Bafliaz, as the militants used to
intercept them with ease. The pool,
from which the University could attract
students to this remote region, was a
question. While there are degree
colleges teaching arts and science, both
in Rajouri and Poonch, there are no
technical courses at higher level. In
most cases, courses on these subjects
were not offered by local private
institutions, which are recognized, nor
have a reputation. Since these two
regions are backward and cut off from
the rest of J&K state and the country,
most of the students educated in degree
colleges remained inside. Besides, the
standard of education which is
comparatively lower also created
BGSB
difficulties for the students educated
from here. This did create problems for
students from here and also resulted in
creating both unemployment and under
employment.
And I vividly remember my
first meeting of the Vice
Chancellor Mr Masud
Chaudhary; I was hoping to
see him in an air-conditioned
office, sitting in a huge well
cushioned seat. Instead, I met
him in a construction site,
what is now a faculty's
residence. He was sitting in a
stool, looking into the
construction of the building
and invited me with a nice big
smile. Even today, I recollect
his first question: What brings
you here, to an isolated hilly
region from the comforts of
Delhi, young man? I wanted
to tell him, perhaps the same
passion that brought him to
Rajouri from the comforts of
Jammu!
Given the above problems, many were
critical of the future of BGSBU. But
then, after five years, like New Delhi
metro network, this project has grown
at a much faster pace. In my 2005
article, I wrote, this university, with
courses on information technology,
nano technology and bio technology has
the potential to change the outlook and
future of young students from the
region. Though started in 2005, with
only four departments, today it has five
Epilogue Ø
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UN I V E R S I T Y
The Wonder in the Hills
Schools, including Computer Science,
Applied Mathematics, Management,
Bio-Sciences and Bio-technology.
Bio sciences in particular, needs to be
mentioned, for the faculty here – young
and old, see it as a mission to make a
difference. While one cannot belittle
the role played by the other
departments, bio-diversity project is
special here, for it is unique and is well
suited to this region. Funded by Ministry
of Sciences and Techonology, and the
Ministry of Forests and Environment,
the Center for Bio-Diversity has
ambitious projects, including the Pir
Panjal Bio-diversity Park. As Prof Kaul
commented, there is certainly a need to
impart education on bio-diversity and
bio-resources, and need to add value to
our bio-resources. No one can deny his
point, that there is a need to wedlock
bio-diversity and bio-technology.
Assisted by young scientists like Dr
Zarri, the “bird-man”, (I hope, he does
not mind me calling him so!), this dream
is likely to realized at a faster pace.
What is more important about the
BGSBU is, the growth is not limited just
to two districts. Today there are
students from all over the region. As
expected, the University has started
attracting students from other regions
of the State and country to Rajouri and
is also producing graduates who are
likely to be employed all over India and
even outside. Like the IIT in Srinagar
and the University in Jammu, BGSBSU
has now become a regional center of
learning; thus, a two way process has
started and is a major milestone in
integrating these two backward
districts with the rest of the State and
also the country.
Obviously, attracting students from
outside is not an easy task. There are
SPEC I AL F EATURE
two important ingredients in attracting
students from outside. First, the
University should have adequate
infrastructure, to provide comfortable
facilities for the students not only to
study, but also to enjoy their stay. With
no entertainment in the near visibility
(the University is 13 kms away from
Rajouri town), students cannot be
expected to spend their time in a
University environment.
The administration is aware of this
major expectation. Which is why, the
University has 24 hours internet
connectivity with wireless facilities. To
everyone's surprise, the hostels are
clean and their mess cleaner. Perhaps,
this is one of the few University hostels
in the entire country, or perhaps even
South Asia, where the mess is equipped
with a dish washer and a wash basin,
with flowing hot water in the taps,
thanks to the geyser attached. Only
those who visited the University will
understand the problems in getting
water to this place; it comes in trucks,
get filled in the huge tanks, from where
it is distributed to various buildings and
hostels. There is a bank and a small
shopping complex. In terms of facilities,
what the BGSBU offer may not be equal
to what the other Universities offer;
there may not a Gol Market or an Apsara
theatre or a Dal lake near by, but BGSBU
has its own charm. Though some
students do complain about how they
feel isolated in the hills, most of the
others do enjoy the natural beauty.
Surrounded by hills and away from the
mad rush and concrete jungles of other
cities, BGSBU is indeed a romance. One
has to feel this place and not read it!
The second important ingredient to
attract students from outside is the
academic strength of faculty. One of the
major problem that the University
BGSB
faced during its initial years, was how to
attract the best talents available to
lead the courses. Undoubtedly, Rajouri
is one of the remotest regions even
inside the J&K state. It would take a
back breaking five hours journey from
Jammu, which is the nearest town with
a railway station and an airport.
Security of the family and the future
education of their wards are two issues
that always dominate the minds of
faculty.
Some of his detractors and
critics may call him over
powering and bulldozing, with
what he wants to achieve.
Perhaps, from whose angle you
look at. What is important at
the end, is he gets things done.
Whether getting bricks for his
buildings from Jammu or
faculty for his departments
from far away place, he gets
them done. Four years after
my first meeting, I see him
with the same passion,
sincerity and dedication to the
University.
Today, this concern is being addressed.
Thanks to the initiative from the Vice
Chancellor, and also from the faculty,
who were willing to give up some of
their other lucrative jobs elsewhere to
come and work in this place. Take the
case of the University's young guns – Dr
Ashfaq Ahmed Zarri, the environmental
scientist or Dr Nisar Ahmed, the
sociologist/anthropologist. Both are
extremely competent young
researchers, who could have gone
anywhere, if they had wanted. But,
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UN I V E R S I T Y
The Wonder in the Hills
they had decided to come to BGSBU, to
serve a cause. Not only the young, but
some senior teachers, also are fired
with the same zeal. For example, Prof
Kaul, though retired from the Jammu
University, and taught bio-technology
his whole life, still wants to be a part of
this new initiative. For most of the
faculty, as Prof Dost Mohammad, the
Dean, another towering personality
from Kashmir, commented, BGSBU was
their destiny. There is a missionary zeal
in them.
Of course, there are other challenges.
As I wrote in my earlier article in the
Economic and Political Weekly, for
making any institution of higher
learning a success, the educational
institutions at the lower levels – schools
and colleges should provide the right
inputs. The university teaching should
only shape and provide better teaching,
but should not start from the scratch.
While the educational standard in the
Valley in schools and colleges are
comparatively better, Rajouri, Poonch
and Doda districts remain abysmal in
this regard. The recent years witnessed
opening of new colleges; today in
Rajouri and Poonch alone, there are six
degree colleges – two each in Mendhar
and Rajouri and one in Sundarbani and
Poonch. The standard of these
institutions along with that of the
schools would form an essential
ingredient in making the BGSBU a
springboard for the students from this
region. If efforts are not taken at the
lower levels, the students would find it
difficult to compete with the rest from
other parts of the State and country.
Connectivity is a major issue. Unless the
university is well linked with the outside
world, it would be difficult to attract
both students and faculty, which would
form the core component for the
SPEC I AL F EATURE
success of this new initiative. As of now,
the only connection is the Jammu-
Poonch road; when compared to how it
was in 2005, the Jammu-Rajouri road
has considerably improved. It used to
take almost five to six hours from
Jammu, which is only 160 kms away.
Now the road is better and if one travels
by car, he can reach Jammu faster. But
still, the regular transport is a problem.
The bus services need to be improved.
More importantly, the Mughal road
needs to be completed. The
governments of PDP and Congress has
made the necessary investments; the
NC government led by Omar Abdullah,
another youth icon, should take the
extra efforts to make this road
functional. This will make the travel
from Kashmir Valley to Rajouri much
simpler and easier. Today, students from
Srinagar, for example, have to travel all
the way to Jammu and then to Rajouri;
if the Mughal Road becomes a reality, it
should take maximum five to six hours
to reach Kashmir University via Sophian
and Bafliaz from BGSBU and vice-versa.
This will make the BGSBU easily
accessible to the students from Kashmir
Valley. As of now, from the Valley, it
would take almost one and half days to
reach Rajouri.
Along with connecting these two
districts with the rest of the country,
the State government should also take
efforts to develop tourism in the region.
The more the region receives tourists,
the higher the prospects of success of
BGSBU. Tourism would not only bring
the people in, but would also integrate
these two districts emotionally with the
rest. This would remove any hesitation
in their minds in sending their children
to study here in Rajouri. Tourism,
especially religious tourism in J&K has
been picking up in the recent years.
BGSB
Amarnath yatra has become a huge
success in the recent years; this region
also has important religious shrines
including Shahdara Sharief, the shrine
of Baba Ghulam Shah near Rajouri; and
Buddha Amarnath, the temple of Lord
Shiva near Poonch town. Besides these
places of religious importance, the
region also has important places of
historical significance – the forts of
Poonch, Dhani Dhar and Chingus in
particular can be made into tourism
hubs. As of now, most of the historical
As Prof Kaul commented, there
is certainly a need to impart
education on bio-diversity and
bio-resources, and need to add
value to our bio-resources. No
one can deny his point, that
there is a need to wedlock bio-
diversity and bio-technology.
Assisted by young scientists
like Dr Zarri, the “bird-man”,
(I hope, he does not mind me
calling him so!), this dream is
likely to realized at a faster
pace.
forts are occupied by the security
forces. The Chingus fort right on the
Jammu-Rajouri road, where the
intestines of the Mughal emperor
Jahangir is buried, now hosts 22 Punjab
regiment. The Poonch fort, once a
magnificent piece of architecture, was
already in a dilapidated status, what
ever has been left was shattered by the
October 2005 earthquake. Mr Javed
Khan, the CEO Tourism, another
energetic person has a radical idea – to
revive the Mughal Road, all the way
from Agra up to Kashmir.
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UN I V E R S I T Y
The Wonder in the Hills
This is where the BGSBU interaction
with the rest of civil society should
become even more intense. It should
not be just students, courses such as
MBA, MCA and Bio-diversity Park. BGSBU
should become a platform and a
springboard for the growth of entire
region. The State, could make a
conscious effort in appointing its
officials, who will be able to make use
of the University. It is a mere
coincidence, that Mr SD Singh Jamwal,
an extremely capable and highly
enthusiastic young officer is made the
DIG of Police. Not many would know, he
is a botanist and can contribute highly
to the bio-diversity park initiative of the
BGSBU. Besides technical issues, the
BGSBU could also invest in social issues
and understand the social and tribal
issues, which are becoming increasingly
important. Nisar Ahmed, the Deputy
Registrar is an excellent sociologist,
with his PhD on the tribes of Ladakh,
whose expertise can be extremely
useful in this field.
Besides, emotional and road
connectivity, there are two other
important factors, which needs to be
addressed if this initiative needs to be
made into a revolution – internet
connectivity and continuous electricity.
On both these counts, both Rajouri and
Poonch districts remain poorly
equipped. Electricity remains a luxury
and both these districts remain in dark
for most of the working hours. Though
Rajouri town is slightly better when
compared to Poonch, both the districts
face these problems all over. No
revolution could succeed, if there are
problems of connectivity.
Finally, if the present momentum of
linking the two Kashmirs continues,
perhaps this university could even
attract students from across the LoC.
When the University was started, the
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
The Wonder in the Hills

road between Poonch

and Rawlakot was not
opened. Today the
road is opened for the
divided families and
also for trade. More
than thousands of
people have visited
each other in this
region, across the LoC
in the last few years.
Though started very
recently, the cross-LoC
trade is picking up. The
latest exchange in May
2009 across the
Chakan-da-Bagh
witnessed 39 trucks
cross the LoC, carrying
goods of more than one
crore. The next
obvious movement
across the LoC should
the students. There
are no technical
universities in PoK and
students have to travel
to Islamabad and
Lahore. If the LoC
becomes soft, BGSBU is
only four hours away
from Chakan-da-Bagh.
In that case, this Attracting students from outside is not an easy task. There are two important
university would ingredients in attracting students from outside. First, the University should have
revolutionize the
adequate infrastructure, to provide comfortable facilities for the students not only
entire region and usher
the students of Jammu to study, but also to enjoy their stay.
and Kashmir into the
next century on The second important ingredient to attract students from outside is the academic
technological studies.
strength of faculty. One of the major problem that the University faced during its
U n d o u b t e d l y, t h e initial years, was how to attract the best talents available to lead the courses.
BGSBU revolution is
marching ahead. A Today, this concern is being addressed. Thanks to the initiative from the Vice
good beginning has
been made, but a long
Chancellor, and also from the faculty, who were willing to give up some of their
way to go. other lucrative jobs elsewhere to come and work in this place.

Epilogue Ø
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June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Milestone

The War Against Illiteracy

A
fter getting functional in 2005, BGSB University represents the fructification of a dream that was too big to be chased
and too exacting to be accomplished in a limited span of time. Barely in 8 months (December, 2004 to August, 2005)
the barrenness and wilderness of Dhanore hills started stirring out of its all pervasive passivity into re-generational
activity whose powerful impact was felt in all parts of this beautiful montane state endowed with immense natural wealth
and huge human resource waiting to be tapped and directed towards its fuller commissioning. In these three years of
existence, the university has earned recognition from UGC and AICTE. On the basis of its outstanding performance, the
university is already the beneficiary of several high profile and prestigious research, extension and developmental projects
funded by the Ministry of Science & Technology (GOI), Ministry of Forests & Environment (GOI), Ministry of Textiles (GOI) and
the Ministry of Social Welfare (GOI). We believe we are already heading towards our cherished goals with the infrastructure
getting stronger and sturdier by the day, faculty getting highly competitive, and products getting absorbed in prestigious
institutions with a never look-back attitude. Thus the future is here with us. Our broad contours already having taken shape
point unmistakably to the larger horizons waiting to be explored and conquered. In fact a welt envisioned regime of
expansion and development is already in the process of unfolding which surely will lead to a bigger and brighter future of this
premier institute of higher learning.
Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University represents a symbol of hope for the entire backward region of Rajouri and Poonch,
which has remained perennially, neglected and marginalized, and has suffered considerable trauma during the three Indo-
Pak wars and nearly two decades of militancy. The region, reeling under educational backwardness, endemic poverty and
economic deprivation, deserved an institution of higher education since long. It has fructified only now. The newly
established university will promote education and usher social transformation, sensitise social psyche, guarantee social and
intellectual progress and serve as an antidote to the forces of disruption and chaos.

The BGSB University embraces Multiculturism, Multiethnicity and Multilinguism. It takes pride in being secular in character.
The far-reaching consequences of these rich traditions shall be a beacon lights for not only this region but the whole state,
nay the entire country. Modeled on the rich traditions of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia, this is the fourth
minority university in row. Its role and relevance for boosting the literacy rate of the minorities, especially Muslims, and
underprivileged sections of the society calls for no explanation. In times to come this centre of higher learning shall,
hopefully, earn name and fame for its mission of promoting intellectual excellence irrespective of religious, ethnic or
regional affiliations.

The overriding objectives of the university are pursuit of excellence and conformation to the national pledge relating to
growth with justice. In this perception we are guided by the Nobel laureate Professor Amritaya Sen who makes remarkable
observation on the kind of symbiotic relationship that obtains between education and its beneficiaries, "Education builds
capabilities which empower people". Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is a milestone in war against illiteracy, ignorance
and poverty. It is the platform wherefrom the journey towards intellectual advancement and self-sufficiency has been
launched.

Epilogue Ø
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June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE
History
Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University,
nurtured by the Jammu & Kashmir Wakf
Council came into existence by the Baba
Ghulam Shah Badshah University Act No.
XVI 2002, of the Jammu & Kashmir
Legislative Assembly. The land for the
university was identified at Dhanore,
Rajouri, and actual possession handed
over in September/October, 2004. Mr.
Masud A. Chaudhary in whom an
academician has always been lying
dormant, was appointed as the founder
Vice Chancellor in October, 2004. By
disposition and his habit of being a
voracious and avid reader Mr.
Choudhary is a scholar and a researcher.
The act of switchover from a super cop
to an academician is no sudden
metamorphosis but the logical blooming
of what already existed in him. He has
done commendable indepth study
particularly of the tribals of Jammu &
Kashmir, which has culminated in the
inception of the Gurjar Desh Charitable
Trust that has, over the years, acquired
the stature of a nodal centre of research
and conservation of tribal heritage.
When the university existed only on
paper the then Chief Minister, Mufti
Mohammad Syed, who was also the
Chancellor of the University at that
time, made a public statement on
December 15, 2004 that the university
will become functional from August
2005, when the first batch of students
will be enrolled and regular teaching
started. In order to achieve this target
the faculty positions were advertised
and excellent faculty put in place in
August 2005. The first class lecture was
delivered on August 29, 2005. By so
doing the new born university
successfully fulfilled the commitment
that the Chancellor had made to the
people of Rajouri.
The motto of the university is "Iqra
Bism-e- Rabbik-al-Iazi Khalaqa" which
BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Milestone
means "Read in the name of God who has their single-minded devotion and
created all that exists." It reflects the dedication. They are our role models in
idealism for which the university the pious task of setting up yet another
stands. The objective identified for the centre of higher learning.
university in the Act is to impart quality
education and undertake research in Mission
basic and job oriented courses. The
Establishment of BGSB University in the
university is located at the slopes of
most economically backward belt of the
Dhanidhar, which is part of the majestic
J&K State is not an accident. It is
Pir Panjal mountain range. The unique
deliberate. The university represents a
geographical location, far from the
milestone in the war against illiteracy,
maddening crowds of cities, offers ideal
ignorance and poverty in which people
ambience for teaching and learning.
of these hinterlands are immersed.
The less developed environment, away
Therefore, it is expected to contribute
from the hustle and bustle of cities,
towards sweeping away the cobwebs of
lacking proper connectivity, electric
stagnation, inertia and superstition and
and water supply may seem some initial
usher in social transformation
disadvantages but these were not nor
particularly in its catchment area. It has
are so daunting that they cannot be
to take care of the educationally and
grappled with and finally overpowered.
economically backward minorities and
What is required is sincerity of purpose
other weaker sections of the society. A
and untiring zeal. The initial phase of
kind of symbiotic relationship exists
Aligarh Muslim University and the Jamia
between education and social well
Milia have also been studded with
being which the Nobel laureate
similar obstacles. We have learnt how
Amritaya Sen explains by stating that,
Sir Syed, Dr. Zakir Hussain and their
"education builds capabilities which
contemporaries overcame all
empower people." The nearly 46%
adversities one by one and succeeded in
socially disadvantaged section of the
founding great centres of learning with
Epilogue Ø
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June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE
total population of the twin districts of
Rajouri & Poonch has to be targeted,
and helped to come out of the quagmire
of inaction and ignorance, given skills
and the confidence to stand on their
feet to fight social injustice and win
which is a formidable task that requires
involvement of ignited minds. More
than that it requires passion. "To
achieve a goal what is needed is not only
knowledge, but also passion, (which)
should not be limited to the technical
aspects but (it) should also aim towards
creating a concern for the society with a
view to finding positive solutions to
problems." Expansion of education
facilities will therefore, certainly lead to
expansion of social opportunities for all.
India is a country of more than 1 billion
people. It is a country of immense
diversity and pluralism. Muslims
constitute, roughly 15% of the total
population of India and represent the
largest minority community. Compared
to their counterparts of other
BGSB
communities they have lagged
educationally as well as economically
for various reasons which is a matter of
serious concern. India cannot dream of
becoming an advanced nation unless all
sections of society catch up with the
time. Some eminent Indian
educationists point out that the
participation of Indian Muslims in the
fields of higher education is dismal.
Their representation is hopelessly low
especially in science, technology,
management and medical sciences,
because these fields are largely ignored
by Muslim youth.
Location & Setting
The University campus is located in the
lap of mighty snow covered mountains
of Pirpanjal range at Dhanore, 9 Kms
away from Rajouri town (latitude 33°
23' N. longitude 74° 21' E.) at an altitude
of 9753.6 meters above the mean sea
level. The climate of the place varies
from subtropical to temperate.
Frequent rains and occasional
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June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
Milestone
hailstorms account for the moderate
climate and serene ambience of the
campus.
The university is spread over a fully
fenced area of 8,012 kanals of
undulating rocky slopes covered by oak-
pine forests. A sizeable part of the
campus is being developed into a
Biodiversity Park with the aim of
creating a repository of the fauna and
flora of the Pirpanjal mountain range
and its neighborhood. The physical
landscape, such as hillocKs of all shapes
and sizes, outcrops of rocks, lush green
slopes, profusion of native seasonal
flowers and the commanding view of
sunrise and sunset are features that add
colour and beauty to the landscape of
the campus. As of today, most part of
the sprawling campus is still open; only
a small part has come under
construction.
Academic blocks:
The university is running eight courses
under four different Schools of Studies,
namely School of Islamic Studies, School
of Biosciences & Biotechnology, School
of Mathematical Sciences and
Engineering and School of Management
Studies which are housed in separate
buildings covering total plinth area of
63,960 sqft. All buildings are well
lighted and well ventilated with
spacious lecture theaters, laboratories,
conference halls, toilets, faculty rooms
etc. The buildings have been raised in
tiers and designed tastefully with
manicured lawns attached to each.
Administrative blocks:
Two adjacent administrative blocks
house, the Vice Chancellor's
secretariat, Registry, office of
Controller of Examinations and the
Engineering Wing. Together, the two
blocks cover plinth area 9,956 sqft.
SPEC I AL F EATURE
Boarding houses for girls and boys:
Being a residential university hostel
facility is made available on the campus
to all scholars. The hostels covering a
plinth area of 53,300 sqft accommodate
a total of 300 scholars. The rooms are
spacious, well ventilated, semi
furnished and double-bedded. Each
room has provision of ceiling fans, table
lights, internet etc. The hostels have
modern kitchen, recreation halls and a
set of modern bath and rest rooms.
Residential blocks/flats:
On campus accommodation is provided
to all members of teaching and most
officers of the non-teaching faculty in
bungalows and flats. Till date the
university has raised residential
accommodation on plinth area of 46,
725 sqft.
Roads and Parking:
All administrative, academic and
residential blocks are connected with
one another by a 5.5 km network of 20
feet wide, motorable roads. Besides a
centralized parking lot, parking lots are
also available with most of the teaching
and administrative blocks. Ornamental
shade trees have been planted on road
sides, which will add colour to the
landscape and provide shade to the
pedestrians as they grow. After sunset
when the darkness descends on the
terraced campus the serpentine roads
with street lights and ornamental plants
on either side are a sight to watch.
Hordes of students and members of the
faculty enjoy late evening stroll up and
down the hillocks.
Shopping malls:
In order to make the campus self
sufficient in respect of articles of daily
use, the university has constructed a
shopping complex on the campus which
BGSB
is popular as 'Sabrang' square. The shops
in this complex keep open till very late
in night to provide uninterrupted
service to resident students and staff.
Helipad:
The university is located away from the
town and the 9 km long, circuitous drive
from Rajouri town is time consuming
and tiresome for V.I.P's who often visit
the campus. For them, as also for
meeting any emergency, the helipad is a
big boon.
Meteorological observatory:
The university is maintaining a
Meteorological observatory at its
Centre for Biodiversity Studies to
collect data on weather for use in
scientific studies and for the benefit of
farmers and local populace. The
weather report is broadcast daily from
the local T.V. Channels.
Arboriculture/Landscaping:
The University maintains a full-fledged
Arboriculture section headed by a
professional Horticulturist with a staff
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June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
Milestone
of twenty gardeners who maintain road
side plantations and lawns attached to
different blocks of the university. Every
attempt is being made to blend the new
plantation with the existing landscape.
Ornamental annual flowers are being
planted along the road network which
impart beauty to the entire campus.
The section maintains its own nursery
and polyhouses to multiply plants for
use in plantation.
Services and amenities:
Health Centre:
The University maintains well-equipped
health centre with qualified Medical
Officer, technical and nursing staff. The
services of the Doctor and Health
Centre available round the clock are
provided free to the university staff and
students.
Bank:
A branch of The Jammu and Kashmir
Bank has been established on the
campus to facilitate bank transactions
SPEC I AL F EATURE
by staff and students including
educational loans.
Post Office:
The campus post office is a great help to
students and teachers both.
Sports facilities (indoor and outdoor):
The university has made arrangements
for indoor and outdoor sports activities
on the campus. Two big play grounds,
are being maintained for outdoor games
which keep humming in the evenings.
Guest House:
The university has 3 guest houses, one
each at Jammu, Srinagar and Rajouri.
While the first two cater to the faculty
and university guests in transit, the one
at the campus is used as the Visitors
lodge. The guest houses are well
furnished with spacious rooms and a
well kept lounge.
STD/PCO facilities:
In order to ensure proper telephone
connectivity with different parts of the
country and abroad, the campus has the
provision of STD and PCO which function
round the clock.
Security:
Since the university campus is cut off
from the town, is montane and isolated
the university has a full watch and ward
section of its own. Besides, there is also
a State Police Station.
Transport facilities:
The University maintains a fleet of 10
four wheelers for use by the university
staff and students for movement in
Rajouri and outside.
Central Library
The Library works under the supervision
of Library Advisory Committee of which
Vice Chancellor is the Chairman. It is at
BGSB
the verge of real take off as it combines
the virtues of classical reading with 21st
century technology. It is trying to reach
out to members and create new ways to
fulfill their information requirement.
The library maintains a collection of
10,000 books, which are fully
classified as per Dewey Decimal
Scheme of classification. A
substantial collection of CD-ROMs
and more than 120 online video
lectures of world-renowned
universities are available in the
holding list. The library stands
registered as an institutional member
of DELNET through which members
are able to acquire any document,
except those pertaining to grey
literature, available in any library of
South-Asia within a fortnight.
Records of documents available with
the library have been made available in
Common Communication Format (CCF)
for access to DELNET members world-
wide. The library subscribes to 25 online
databases, a few electronic journals
and print version of 49 national and
international journals. It offers routine
library service like reprography,
circulation, reference, photostat, CD-
ROM browsing, online access and
internet facility to members. To keep
student members aware about current
affairs the library subscribes to 12 daily
newspapers and 20 magazines in three
languages. SOUL (Software for
University Library) has been installed
for automation of the library. Before
end of the year the library will put
Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)
on the university website.
The library has received grants from
the Deptt. of Social Welfare, Govt. of
Jammu & Kashmir under Book Bank
scheme for raising text book section
for use specially by students of the
socially disadvantaged categories. Two
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UN I V E R S I T Y
Milestone
projects, one on creating a repository
of literature on Rajouri-Poonch belt
and the other on Rare Arabic
documents are under the
consideration of Ministry of Culture,
Govt. of India for funding.
Efforts are afoot to make the university
library a house of wisdom where
knowledge will rest and be exploited to
its optimum with the help of efficient
library professionals.
Placement Cell
Training and Placement Cell is an
integral part of the BGSB University
system. It has the required
infrastructure and manpower for
effective interaction and functioning.
Training activities are organized by the
Cell round the year to prepare
prospective students for campus
selection programmes. The Placement
Cell coordinates with the corporate
sector and facilitates campus
selection.
The cell maintains cordial relationship
with recruiting industries and
prepares aspiring candidates to face
the competitive world. In the global
economy every person is expected to
be clear, correct and confident in his
speech and writing. This is not
possible without training learners
how to, draft a speech, overcome
stage fright, modulate voice, use
correct posture, appropriate
gestures and proper eye contact.
With inputs from trainers and
extensive exercise attempts are
being made to impart to budding
professionals complete structure of
English language, flawless
pronunciation and vocabulary
development by utilizing proper
technique of using dictionary,
thesaurus and reverse dictionary.
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
The Man Who Moved The Mountains

Knowing is not the same

as understanding him

Masud A Choudhary, Vice Chancellor BGSB University, has lived life at his own terms. He is silently
doing as a matter of faith what others of his species may die to flaunt. All these years he has fattened
the account of his achievements without making a fuss about the same. The act of switch-over from a
super cop to an academician is no sudden metamorphosis of his personality but the logical blooming
of what was already existing in him. Some glimpses of this legend of a person.

MY TAING
Author is a widely celebrated
litterateur; known, among other things
for being amanuensis of Sheikh
Mohammad Abdullah’s Biography Aatish-
e-Chinar. He is recipient of Padma Shri,
one of the highest Indian Civilian Awards
W
riting a biographical
account is the most
difficult job. There are
several challenges you
have to see through,
several pitfalls you have to prevent
yourself from slipping into and of course
you have to put aside your personal likes
and dislikes if you do not want to be
grossly misunderstood. Doing this kind
of tightrope walk is a difficult feat to
accomplish and if all goes well there
may still be a section of readers who
take delight in finding meaning below
the meaning and the connotation above
the connotation. In the observations
below, such concerns have been quite
central to this exercise.
The Man: Fuller understanding of a
person comes from close encounters. It
also requires association extending
back in time that gives you a fair idea of
the social background that the person
has acquired through the principle of
descendence, the barriers and
handicaps he has succeeded in getting
across and the signposts which s/he has
conquered, retained, built upon and
strengthened by the prowess of his/her
character and person. Here the
noteworthy observation is that this man
who travelled forward with unwavering
resolve, never looked back when he
took the proverbial first step forward.
His schooling happened in his native
village- Kalaban- which lies in a remote
pocket of Poonch district (J&K). One
can have a fair idea of how resilient and
progressive this man must have been in
his childhood who refused to have his
spirits dampened by negative
influences like ages-old poverty and
backwardness which made a lethal mix
together with all-pervasive illiteracy
and ignorance. He decided to pursue
higher studies which tossed him from
the lonely and forlorn setting of the
village where he was born and schooled
as a young boy to the covetous environs
of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)
where he pursued higher studies as
Bachelor in Law and obtained his degree
tagged with distinction.
That brought him to a point in his
evolution where he had to take up a
profession which would respond to his
inner urge for helping and serving fellow
human beings and would give him an
opportunity to wage a war on injustice
and inequalities which happened to be
the main stumbling blocks in the way of
progress and prosperity. Though he had

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SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
The Man Who Moved The Mountains

immense greed for knowledge and

learning, yet his abundant energy
prompted him to join Jammu & Kashmir
Police as Deputy Superintendent of
Police. His own academic interests
could wait but not the zeal for helping
fellow human beings in distress and in
need of relief and help. In fact so
eventful and distinguished was his
career as a police officer that he was
almost literally handpicked for core
postings like Superintendent of Police in
almost every district of the state
followed by an equally meaningful
innings as DIG Jammu-Kathua Range
followed by equally important postings
a DIG in State Vigilance Organization.
Next came his elevation to the rank of
Inspector General of Police and he Some preach peace, others spread gospel of love and brotherhood
became the founder Director of Sher-i- whereas there are those who believe in action-oriented life,
Kashmir Police Academy, Udhampur. He
contributing unselfishly to the human society in fields as varied and
brought innovation and ingenuity to this
apex institution. This posting came at a diverse as education, healthcare or social welfare or by preparing an
time when Jammu & Kashmir was even turf for the preservation, protection and propagation of our
already aflame with militancy. Upon his
ancient art, culture and literature in order to prevent it from
shoulders rested the responsibility of
training a police that could bare its slipping into obscurity. Slowly making his way to the top echelons
teeth to bite deep into the scourge of of police hierarchy and superannuating as Additional Director
militancy. One cannot omit the mention
of the fact here that at the onset of
General of Police- the only Gujjar tribal to achieve this distinction
militancy he was the Senior thus far- Masud busied himself with social service way back in
Superintendent of Police, Srinagar and 1992 when he founded the Gurjardesh Charitable Trust, Jammu.
this certainly gave him his cues as to
what is required in police force by way contributing unselfishly to the human This is Trust today represents the
of providing them an edge in counter- society in fields as varied and diverse as dreams, hopes and aspirations of nearly
insurgency operations. Nothing education, healthcare or social welfare 15 million Gujjars living in different
outmatches his superb professionalism or by preparing an even turf for the parts of Jammu & Kashmir. Himself
in this respect. preservation, protection and belonging to this ethnic community,
propagation of our ancient art, culture Masud Choudhary infused new levels of
The Mission: We live life with some kind and literature in order to prevent it from confidence, kindled new hopes and
of mission to provide it substance and slipping into obscurity. Slowly making his provided new direction to their
meaning. All well-meaning people have a way to the top echelons of police unexplored potential and energy. It is
core ideology which they cherish, hierarchy and superannuating as under his visionary and inspiring
propagate and popularize among the Additional Director General o0f Police- leadership that the whole of Gujjar
masses for improving the quality of life of the only Gujjar tribal to achieve this community has been fired with the zeal
their fellow human species. Some preach distinction thus far- Masud busied of shedding the baggage of the past and
peace, others spread gospel of love and himself with social service way back in taking substantial steps in the direction
brotherhood whereas there are those 1992 when he founded the Gurjardesh of fighting out poverty, illiteracy and
who believe in action-oriented life, Charitable Trust, Jammu. backwardness which have traditionally

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June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE
kept this community neglected and
marginalized. Through several
programmes and projects launched by
GDCT, Masud has been instrumental in
giving a sense of self-respect to the
members of the community. The major
plank of his fight against rampant
backwardness in the community has
been education. Himself an avid reader
and a staunch believer in the all-
powerfulness of education, he focused
his primary attention on the education
of this community. The Founder Vice
Chancellor of Baba Ghulam Shah
Badshah University (BGSBU)- he got
this assignment owing to his
monumental contribution to the
cause of popularization of education
among tribals and other weaker
sections of the society- he has the
crowning distinction of having set up
the said university in barely 08 months,
a fact that sounds as incredible as it is
real. One who is familiar with the
terrain where BGSB University has come
up, would certainly bite his tongue
under his cheeks on seeing so much
done in so little a span of time. Add to
this the fact that the university had to
be created from a shoestring budget
amidst a difficult terrain where even
link roads weren't available, where
there was no electricity and where
drinking water facility still needs
considerable augmentation. However,
the will to deliver and to perform
remained unwavering and resolute.
Close on heels with these challenges
was the more daunting job of arranging
a competent faculty strong enough to
“I have known Masud A. Choudhary for years now and his active role in the Trust has
brought it where it is. One can hardly imagine miracles happening but he is the man who
can perhaps make the impossible happen, barriers fall and road to progress smoothened by
the sheer determination and unwillingness to give up under even the most unfavorable
conditions”
BGSB
The Man Who Moved The Mountains
cultivate the culture of excellence and
competent enough to withstand and
hold unto the pressures of
globalization. Finally, making the
The Founder Vice Chancellor
of Baba Ghulam Shah
Badshah University
(BGSBU)- he got this
assignment owing to his
monumental contribution to
the cause of popularization of
education among tribals and
other weaker sections of the
society- he has the crowning
distinction of having set up the
said university in barely 08
months, a fact that sounds as
incredible as it is real. One
who is familiar with the
terrain where BGSB
University has come up, would
certainly bite his tongue under
his cheeks on seeing so much
done in so little a span of
time.
campus enticingly tempting for the
admission seekers which carried with it
the need of quality maintenance which
could lead to suitable placements of
young professionals, was no easy job. It
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June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
is again a big achievement for this
university to have attained 100% mark
in placements for its maiden batch and
then keeping up this tradition till date
with big corporates already evincing
keen interest in our products.
Whether it was the setting up of BGSB
University or the cultivation, grooming
or strengthening of GDCT, the struggle
that had to be undergone was heroic.
For example BGSB has trundled its was
ahead in the face of severe financial
crunch which it has been able to
squeeze through amidst great odds
undeterred, unfettered and unfazed. It
is quite natural to have a respectable
financial base which alone can sustain
globally competent institutions of
higher education. Here in BGSB
University what he had on his side was
the clarity of vision, the will to perform
and the determination to deliver. A
sound financial position wasn't perhaps
on his side which is eloquently
discernible from the fact that other
sister universities in the state are
getting a steady and uninterrupted
inflow of finances which is at the back of
the gusto and speed with which they
are coming up, growing up and
expanding. The wizardry this man has
been able to do is that the relevance of
finances has been relegated to the
background without letting stagnation
come anywhere near this fast growing
and evolving university.
Almost identical has been the position
at GDCT where funds didn't trickle in
Dr. Farooq Abdullah
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
The Man Who Moved The Mountains

natural course but had to be managed
with considerable effort and self-help.
Generous donations that have come in
from time to time from individuals,
institutions and government have
proved unequal to the ever growing
needs of this premier institution. This
man however cruised through all kinds
of rough weather with admirable poise,
courage and grace. Untiring efforts and
a great degree of determination
coupled with the dynamic leadership of
Shri Choudhary have resulted in GDCT
raising an impressive Cultural Complex
which is going to be a magnificent
addition to the efforts that have so far
been pioneered by GDCT in preserving,
promoting and showcasing the rich
cultural heritage of tribals of J&K in
general and of Gujjars, in particular.
Looking Beyond: Finding solutions to
problems at hand is not the same as
imagining the future set of challenges
and then putting into shape your
defense systems. With rare penchant
for looking into future and meticulously
fine-tuning the requirements of the
times ahead, Masud Choudhary poured
his days and nights trying to close in
upon the best options BGSB University
could exercise in order to attune it with
the requirements of the present and the
challenges of the future. There were
some rickety attempts prior to his
appointment as Vice Chancellor of this
university, to sketch the roadmap of the
development of this institution. This
was a half-hearted exercise that need
complete dismantling and obviously,
overhauling. Making BGSB University a
hub of knowledge and excellence was
uppermost in his mind and that was
possible to achieve only by making this
university compatible with the present
needs and requirements of higher
education by making the right choices.
It was a measure of far-sightedness that
subjects like Biotechnology and
Nanotechnology were short-listed for
their early introduction in this premier
institute of higher learning. It was
strongly felt that as the 20th century was
the century of physics, 21st century
could well be the century of Bio-
sciences. A big dream after all is the
substratum of all big achievements. It is
in adherence to this line of thinking that
the university today has Centre for
Biodiversity Studies (CBS) which is
thick in R&D activity. This effort has
quite deservedly attracted national
attention with accolades pouring in
from the Ministries of Science &
Technology, HRD, GOI.
Prominent Attributes: Three things
come out prominently in Masud
Choudhary that makes him what he is- a
deep seated love for education,
preparedness to sacrifice his comfort
and convenience and ability to lock
horns with even the most obdurate of
the challenges. His vast administrative
experience comes from his
distinguished career as a police officer
who never threw up his hands in despair
even in the face of most daunting
challenges. That after those tiring and
turbulent years in police service
spanning over nearly four decades, he
still had the courage to raise a
university from ground-zero only shows
his academic interests which remained
unfazed and undiminished even in spite
of an exacting and draining work
schedule as a police officer. Add to this
the fact that he has contributed
mightily towards making GDCT a
powerful platform for addressing the
most pressing concerns of Gujjar
community, and you get the insight of a
person who has numerous layers to his
multi-dimensional personality than
what actually meet the eye.
This will not be possible to draw the
finishing line anywhere near this iconic
figure. He is full of love and sympathy
for fellow human beings, is soft-spoken,
has highest levels of commitment, is a
man with depth and incisive vision, is
endowed with discreet decision-making
and is imbued in the rich traditions of
our social, cultural and religious
pluralism He is open to well-meaning
suggestions and opinions but when it
comes to implementing something on
the ground he is the one who wouldn't
show any signs of dithering. One reason
why his decision-making is so flawless is
that he believes in extensive homework
and broadening the scope of the process
as far as possible in order to incorporate
all shades of opinion and to include the
whole multiplicity of concerns. When it
comes to the churning of all the inputs,

“GDCT has all along done a commendable job under the visionary leadership of Masud A
Choudhary during decade and a half of its meaningful contribution towards the cause of
Gujjars in Jammu & Kashmir. Through his exemplary deftness in visualizing the existing as
well as future needs of the community and by sweating out on several progressive
programmes and policies of GDCT, he has symbolically been the most powerful ideological
pillar of strength behind the achievements of this NGO”
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

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SPEC I AL F EATURE
his decisions naturally have the strength
and infallibility that is above all doubts
and misgivings. His decisions being the
decisions most sagaciously taken always
find popular backing and hence prompt
implementation. He is not the one who
would talk harsh to anyone but through
unspoken gestures and some spoken
nothings would convey his displeasure.
He would prefer to laugh away an
unintentional mistake of a junior rather
than frown or squeak in anger. All these
qualities add up to the depth and
richness of his multidimensional
personality.
The Profile: Profiling of this be-
spectacled, short-statured, soft-
spoken, sober, energetic giant of a
person, would perhaps run into many
more pages but that is not our purpose
here. We aren't endorsing through this
paper someone who deserves to be eyed
by some political party to lead the
Gujjar community, nor is it our intention
to portray this man all in the pink to
make him a hot selling commodity. It is
just a small tribute to a matchless
person that Masud Choudhary is. The
boundaries of his outlook are difficult to
delineate. However, one certainly can
have glimpses of his personality from
th re e d i ffe re n t a n gle s- Ma su d
Choudhary, the Top Cop, Masud
Choudhary, the Academician and Masud
Choudhary the Socio-cultural activist.
In all these areas his contribution is not
only immense but exemplary and
inspiring.
“He is full of energy and courage. Endowed with vision and armed with untiring spirit
to work selflessly for fellow human beings is his outstanding attribute. I wish him success
and more success in all the ventures he undertakes”
BGSB
The Man Who Moved The Mountains
I had the very natural hesitation in
trying to reduce into some paragraphs
or pages the outstanding attributes of
the rich and dynamic personality of Shri
Masud A Choudhary. I know the
limitations and pitfalls of my brief. But
if I have been able to reproduce the
facts as they are without allowing any
imaginary content to creep in, I believe
I have been able to do my job well. I
intentionally omitted the mention of
numerous awards and decorations
which have come his way as a police
officer, including Presidents award for
meritorious services, for the simple
reason that I didn't want the readers to
get burdened with such high-profile
attributes which tend to downplay even
more refreshing shades of his
personality that will remain a huge
gold-mine for me from where to have
my peck as I need, when I need and for
all the reasons and seasons I need.
Masud Choudhary has a God given gift of
emerging as a leader of Men. This has
enabled him to create a dedicated and
devoted circle of comrades around him.
What is remarkable is that this is an
extension of his affable and inspiring
persona. He has not used this gift for a
personal or political gain but
channelized it for Institution Building.
This peculiar trait is reflected into the
emergence and consolidation of world's
first and truly unique institution of
Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust. There
should be no doubt that it heralds the
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June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
renaissance of this wonderful
community which after losing its pre-
eminent place because of illogical
viscissitudes of history is again rising
and asserting its dignity.
Mir Taqi Mir seems to be very relevant,
while taking a quote to illustrate the
accomplishment of Choudhary Sahib.
The Plaudits: Masud Choudhary has
been the very epitome of success,
sacrifice and selfless service all these
years of his eventful life and career.
Head and shoulders above everything
else, he has been a creative and
innovative mind devoted to the well-
being of fellow human beings. His
contribution to the Gujjar community
and their most outstanding concerns has
simply been superb and brooks no
comparison with any of his
contemporaries. Here are some of the
observations of the two former Chief
Ministers of Jammu & Kashmir:
For a man of such substance and stature
one cannot perhaps wish success as one
would ordinarily do because he has seen
and experienced success in such an
abundance that he may not be needing
it any more. Such iconic figures are the
pride of the society of which they are a
part and with which they so gladly
relate themselves. What one can
sincerely wish and pray for is his health
and a lot more to happen through him
for the good of the fellow human beings!
Ghulam Nabi Azad
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB
Empowering Women
in Neighbourhood
B aba Ghulam Shah Badshah
University is an upcoming center
of learning, knowledge and
intellect in the state located amidst the
towering ranges of Pir Panjal mountains
in District Rajouri. Keeping pace with
the times the University has opened up
new vistas for academia and students
alike in the field of Biological Sciences,
DR ASHFAQ ZARRI
Author is a scientist, also taking care of I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y, A p .
administrative affairs at BGSB University, Mathematics, Business Studies,
Rajouri
Engineering & Technology and
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June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
Story of Change
Computer Sciences through its various
Schools of Studies. Apart from these the
Centre for Biodiversity Studies 'CBS' was
created with for as a vision for
promoting biodiversity research,
conservation and extension education.
In order to facilitate the link between
pure and applied aspects of science
with issues of concern to of this region,
the CBS Centre has been working
relentlessly in this direction through
SPEC I AL F EATURE
several strategies. Community
participation is an integral part of
development programmes and has been
touted as a major booster of socio-
economic progress of a region. One such
programme launched in 2007 is
currently running as a full fledged
project sponsored by The Department
of Biotechnology, Union Ministry of
Science and Technology has approved
and sponsored funded a project entitled
“Bioresource-based training of rural
women of District Rajouri-hinterland of
J&K”. The project aims to create means
of sustainable livelihood for rural
women for their empowerment and
livelihood security. which is fully
operational today in the Centre. The
project would aims to benefit a total of
around 7240 women belonging to from
ten villages adjoining BGSB University
Campus by imparting training in various
non-traditional activities such as
mushroom cultivation, cultivation of
medicinal and aromatic plants,
floriculture, vermicomposting, quail
farming and Biocrafts.
Since The major source of income of
people of this e poverty torn region is
rain-fed agriculture, which is rain-fed,
and livestock rearing, the . The project
aims at socio-economic upliftment of
the local populace rural women by
training them in income generating
activities as mentioned above using
low-cost technologies and locally
available bioresources. This in turn is
aimed at reducing anthropogenic
pressures on forests, which are an
integral part of livelihood of the people.
Approach
An extensive participatory rural
appraisal approach was adopted
through the project to facilitate shared
BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Story of Change
learning and analysis among local given motivational and orientation
people rural womenfolk. This approach lectures to encourage them for carrying
has assumed the shape of a dynamic activities throughout the year so that
process where all members are trained they develop a better understanding of
to contribute towards attainment of the essence of the programme and the
common objectives, and share the possible hindrances which they might
benefit of knowledge and experience. face upon implementation of the
In order to carry out the various activity as an enterprise.
activities under this scheme the initial
step was a socio-economic survey of Income Generating Training
targeted families followed by
Activities
establishment of infrastructure for
Details of the Activities
conducting training workshops. The
Ours is principally an agricultural nation
programme is based on land ownership
and about 70% of the population is
status of each family. For example e.g.
dependent on agriculture. According to
if a woman owns a substantial area of
statistics, women comprise about 60%
land, she can cultivate medicinal and
of rural population and their
aromatic plants or venture into
contribution towards labour force is 60-
floriculture. In case she does not have
70%. Today the need of the hour is to
any substantial land holding she can
develop infrastructure for income-
take up mushroom cultivation or quail
generating activities such as mushroom
farming as a viable enterprise. Biocrafts
cultivation, floriculture, biocrafts etc.,
based on wood work can also be a
which would automatically pave way
feasible option for them Timing of
for economic progress and livelihood
scheduled training programme has been
security for the women. The activities
set up from 11 AM to 2 PM in the
detailed below are cost-effective,
afternoon, which is generally the time
profitable and have the potential of
of leisure from household work.
generating round the year employment.
Participation certificates and stipends
The trainees selected for the different
(Rs/-800 per month) are provided to
training programmes are womenfolk
the trainees and a portion of this money
belonging to different age groups from
be kept aside as seed money to help
nearby and adjoining villages . After
them in setting up their own enterprise
enrollment they are taught the nuances
after completion of training. In addition
of different activities through
to training the womenfolk in various
classroom teaching, demonstrations,
non-traditional activities they are
field trips etc. In addition the women
familiarized with the concepts of
are familiarized with concepts of
entrepreneurship, marketing and
marketing, finances, co-operatives etc.
cooperatives. The role of cooperatives
apart from orientation and motivational
in fixing the sale price of the produce
lectures by the trainers and guest
and efforts to reduce marketing cost to
experts.
boost the demand has been worked out.
An additional step is training the
Mushroom cultivation
womenfolk the techniques of packing
Mushrooms represent a delicacy, which
and processing the produce in an
is in great demand in the country.
appealing way. Finally the women are
Mushrooms are not only excellent
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June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE
sources of protein but also have good
prospects as an enterprise. Mushrooms
are consumed on a large scale in the
region by the local populace. Around
eighty women of nearby villages have
been trained in cultivation of Dhingri
mushroom (Pleurotus sp.) Milky Wwhite
Mmushroom (Calocybe indica) and
Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) by
standard methods. The selected species
are easy to grow, fasst-yielding and
require minimum investment.
Agricultural waste or residues can be
utilized as substrate for mushroom
cultivation.
Floriculture, medicinal and aromatic
plants cultivation and
vermicomposting. Given the socio-
economic conditions of the farmers,
rain-fed character of farming and
problems of soil erosion in the hilly
terrain of this region low productivity
and poverty are major issues. To
overcome these hurdles cultivation of
Rural women of Rajouri gathered for a training at BGSBU Campus.
BGSB
medicinal and aromatic plants and
floriculture can be a feasible
alternative for the local populace.
Around eighty women have so far been
trained in cultivation of important
flowering plants such as Sword lily
(Gladiolus sp.), Rajnigandha
(Polianthes sp.), Marigold (Tagetes
sp.), Tuberose (Polianthes sp.),
Chrysanthemum, Rose etc. and
medicinal and aromatic plants such as
Sadasuhagan (Catharanthus sp.), Bach
(Acorus calamus), Tulsi (Ocimum
sanctum), Kwadgandhal (Aloe vera),
Datura (Datura sp.), Pudina (Mentha
sp.) etc. Vermicompost can be applied
as a supplement with fertilizers or as
such in floriculture and for
cultivation of medicinal and aromatic
plants besides agriculture. Women
have been taught about the process of
making vermicompost by
demonstrations in pits, containers and
a concrete tank specifically designed
for the purpose
Epilogue Ø
80 ×
June 2009
UN I V E R S I T Y
Story of Change
Biocrafts
One of the most famous crafts of the
region is Chikri Wood Craft, which is
based on wood of Bauxus wallichiana .
designing Beautiful artifacts and articles
such as combs, ladles, decorative items
etc. with intricate patterns and a fine
finish are designed .. Some of the popular
articles are combs, ladles, decorative
items etc. whichThese have a good
market in the state and country due to
their uniqueness and craftsmanship..
Around eighty forty women have been
trained in wood, wool and straw based
crafts and a large number of aesthetic
and unique artifacts have been created
by the trainees. The difficult terrain and
climatic conditions of the region during
winters make venturing out difficult. In
such a situation the womenfolk can work
at home and sell their products in the
local market.
Quail farming
The climate of Rajouri is suitable for
SPEC I AL F EATURE
breeding and rearing of Japanese quail
(Coturnix coturnix japonica) , which in
turn can become a lucrative enterprise
for the local people due to the fast
growth and reproduction. Besides land
holding is not a pre-requisite for the
activity hence its implementation is
easy. Forty women have so far been
trained in quail farming and have been
apprised about the nutritional
importance of the bird.
Expected Dividends
The schemes launched with the aim of
rural women empowerment intend to
provide round the year gainful
employment, increased family income
and economic independence of the
women. Success of the schemes can be
assessed by a comparison of pre and
post implementation survey of the
economic status of each family. Besides
this, setting up of spawn production
units, nurseries of medicinal and
aromatic plants etc. can symbolize
success of the project. The vision
behind the schemes is to promote
diversified and value-added agriculture
where incentives and technical
messages would merge leading to
promotion and adoption of full package
of the recommended practices in the
adopted trades.
Follow up programmes
Since the first year of the project is
complete a post-training survey has
been conducted in the villages through
a feed back questionnaire to have a
first-hand account of the problems
which the women are facing in order to
start their own enterprise. After the
interaction with the villagers a couple
of issues came to light which are a
hindrance in starting an enterprise for
e.g. scarcity of water, supply of spawn,
BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
Story of Change
financial help etc. An effort is being position of women and all possible
made to sort out these on a priority hindrances which might come during
basis. Besides a strategy has been the implementation of such
worked out to facilitate the process of programmes. A collaborative effort on
availing providing subsidized loans or part of the government and people to
any other financial help in the form of design, implement and encourage
micro-credit schemes to the villagers. strategies to create various means of
livelihood by linking agro ecosystem
In addition trainees and technical knowledge with bio-resources would go
manuals in Urdu and English languages a long way for overall economic
have been designed and distributed progress and sustainability.
among the trainees for their benefit.
Apart from all this the preparation of a
guide to sustainable livelihood is
currently under process the purpose of
which is to popularize the above
mentioned activities as a source of
livelihood security.
The Honourable Vice-Chancellor of the
University Jenab Masud A. Chaudhary
Need for an integrated approach
The current policies of the government
aim to impart resilience to the
production system with active
cooperation of various sections of the
society especially women. The various
programmes focus on aspects such as
value-addition, diversification, micro-
enterprising and special provision for
landless, asset less and other
economically or socially disadvantaged
families. National Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development (NABARD) and
various NGO's have started self-help
groups in various villages where
womenfolk are motivated to engage in
economically viable activities. Various
Agricultural Universities and Krishi
Vigyan Kendras (KVK's) conduct training
programmes for rural women to impart
scientific-training of income-
generating activities. An overall
assessment of various development
subscription@epilogue.in
programmes would highlight actual
Epilogue Ø
81 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
What they said to us

CHOUDHARY MOHAMMAD ASLAM

(Congress) MLA Surankote
I t is a matter of pride and prestige for having Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in our
region which is considered to be the most backward and neglected region of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir. The University which is named after famous Sufi Saints Shrine (Baba
Ghulam Shah Badshah) is located at Rajouri (foot hills) having a green campuse.
Surrounding with snow-capped peaks of the mighty himalaya, rich biodiversity and valuable
agri-diversity make entire Rajouri-Poonch region a nature lovers paradise. The teaching
programmes designed by various Academic bodies of the University are interactive, flexible
and are directed towards helping learners to gain the ability to confidently and effectively
answer real life challenges. The University has different departments include Academics,
faculties, central library, in-campus hostel, shopping mall, placement cell, references and
external links. The University imparts technical education through the academic divisions
like School of Management studies, Mathematical studies, Islamic studies, Bio-sciences and
bio-technology, health care and pharmacy etc. Its central library has collection about 8000
Books and journals approx and members 500 appox. The students have been benefited by
the opening of this University in the region which not only cater the local students, but
students from other parts of the country as well. Masood Choudhary, the former Director
General of police and the present Vice-Chancellor of BGSBU is truly a man of honesty and integrity under whose guidance the
University is progressing by leaps and bounds and is truly becoming one of the truly professional University of the country.
This region has also come up on global website after opening of varsity in the region. One can search on website about the
location and other things regarding the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University. The Rajouri-Poonch region has come up on
world map. In addition to the congenial academic environment, the University has also created necessary facilities for
recreation, sporting events and all round personality development of its students. The University has many challenges ahead
and under the able supervision of Masud Choudhary, it will overcome those challenges and will give tough competition to
other varsities of the country in terms of providing quality education to the students.

Epilogue Ø
82 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
What they said to us

ZULFIKAR CHOUDHARY ALI

MLA (PDP) Darhal

B aba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is a pillar of light in Poonch-Rajouri region. The university
which was established five years ago in the region will go global in the time to come. Our region
which is considered to be neglected and backward has now started becoming more aware towards
education after opening of Baba Ghulam shah Badshah University in the region. Its campus which is
located at the foothills of the great Himalayan. Pir Panchal range in Rajouri, is 154 kms from
jammu, meandering the way by the sparkling streams through the thick pine forests make the three
hours journey a mesmerizing experience. The local students of the region for which the 25% seats
are reserved are getting quality education at the doorsteps. Local populace has got enourmous
benefit by opening of this varisity. This university has tremendous potential and will continue to grow and in the short span of
period ,this university made lot of achievements and will touch the sky by providing quality education to the students of the
region. The university campus has excellent hostel facilities for boys as well as for girls. The hostel with homely
environment, well furnished and well ventilated rooms is located in eco-friendly, pollution free scenic setting on a flat
stretch of land vanishing into ascendant chain of pine covered hills with a gurgling and foaming brook in the front. Facilities
like computer room with internet connectivity, 24 hours power supply, indoor games, common room; canteen service, are the
other features of the university. Overall Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is a boon for the Poonch-Rajouri region, which
remained neglected for so many long years. Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party Patron Mufti Mohd Sayeed
has contributed a lot for upbringing of the university during his tenure as the chief minister of the state. Line of control (LoC)
will become irrelevant in the time to come and this university will impart education to all those who are interested in taking
education from this varsity which will benefit them in long way. As far as the role of the Vice Chancellor of the university
Masud Choudhary is concerned, he is the man behind this concept and has done lot of work for upliflifting of this university.
Initially there were apprehensions about his role as a Vice Chancellor of this prestigious university as he was not an
academician, nor had any experience regarding education, inspite of serving most of his service in police he came out with
flying colours and proved himself as an able administrator and brought many glories for the university. With his honesty and
dedication, Masud Choudhary today not only made the name of university famous, but the state of Jammu and Kashmir,
which is known for its beauty all over the world.

M.R. QURESHI
MLC (NC) Poonch

E arlier, it used to be difficult for the students of the region to get admission in Jammu University and that too traveling
long distances too. Now when the varsity has come up at stones throw distance, it has brought smile and cheers on the
faces of students who wanted to do Post graduation courses. This region has also come up on global website after opening of
the varsity in the region. One can search on website about the location and other things regarding the Baba Ghulam Shah
Badshah University. The Rajouri-Poonch region has come up on world map. In addition to the congenial academic
environment the University has also created necessary facilities for recreation, sporting events and all round personality
development of its students. The campus with its lush green surroundings, swaying fields, blossom laden trees, provides a
highly conducive environment for academic as well as recreational activities. The University takes pride in having developing
co-operative and participative work culture. The Vice-Chancellor Masud Choudhary of BGSBU is doing commendable job.
Earlier people having inhibitions about how a super cop can be a good academician. But his work has silenced everyone's
voice.
The University has different departments Academics, faculties, central library, in-campus hostel, shopping mall, placement
cell, references and external links. The University imparts technical education through the academic divisions like School of
Management studies, Mathematical studies, Islamic studies, Bio-sciences and bio-technology, health care and pharmacy etc.

Epilogue Ø
83 ×
June 2009
SPEC I AL F EATURE BGSB UN I V E R S I T Y
What they said to us

SHABIR AHMED KHAN JAVED RANA

MLA (Congress) Rajouri
T he motto of the University is "Iqra Bism-e- Rabbik-al-Lazi
Khalaqa" which means reads in the name of your Lord
who has created (all that exists). It reflects the vision and
idealism for which the University stands. The University has
launched post graduate teaching programmes in Business
Management, Computer Sciences, Information technology,
Arabic, Applied mathematics and B.Tech in electronics and
communication, computer sciences and engineering and
Information technology. Our district which is considered as
the Backward district will get benefited by setting up of this
University. Earlier, students who live in Rajouri, Poonch,
Mendhar, Darhal, Surankote, Kalakote, Nowshera,
Sunderbani had to come Jammu to impart post-graduation
education. Now it is easy for them to get technical education
in their own region. Locals as well as those living in far off
places like Jammu, Srinagar, Leh or in any part of country can
get admission in Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and
then can serve in any party of country or world. This
university means a lot for a region and it will grow from
strength to strength in the time to come. In addition to the
congenial academic environment the University has also
created necessary facilities for recreation, sporting events
and all round personality development of its students. The
campus with its lush green surroundings, swaying fields,
blossom laden trees, provides a highly conducive
environment for academic as well as recreational activities.
The University takes pride in having development co-
operative and participate work culture. The main
contribution of setting this historic university goes to the
Vice Chancellor Masood Choudhary, without him it was just
not possible. He has really worked hard to get this dream into
reality and still right from its inception, Choudhary Sahib is
striving hard to make it a truly global university where every
subject faculty can be taught.
MLC (NC) Mendhar
B y providing quality education to the students of the region,
Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is doing a highly
commendable job. As it is an old saying" if attaining education,
your are supposed to go to china, without any hinderance, you
should go to get education. By opening of Baba Ghulam Shah
Badshah University it has opened a new chapter in the history of
Rajouri-Poonch region, which remain a backward and neglected
area from the last 60 years. The students faced lot of difficulties
in attaining their postgraduate courses. Now when BGSBU has
opened its campus in Rajouri with faculties like Mathematical
sciences and Engineering, Master in Computer application,
Master of Science in Information technology, Master of Applied
Mathematics, Management studies, MBA, MFM, Health care,
Islamic studies, Computer sciences, Bio sciences and Bio-
technologies, Electronics and communication engineering and
Information technology, it has provided greet opportunity not
only for the students of Rajouri, but for its neighbourhood and
far flung areas to attain quality and higher education without
moving out of their region. Earlier, there was no such facility in
entire Rajouri-Poonch region, but now, BGSBU has built up an
excellent academic infrastructure in the form of teaching
faculty, computerized labs, 24 hrs wi-fi internet facility. The
teaching and research is promoted through modem
technological aids with
all the departments being provided with independent computer
and LCD facilities. I cannot stop by pen without praising the
excellent work done by Vice-Chancellor of the University, Masud
Choudhary, without him, it was not possible to get the desired
results within a short span of period. The students living in a far-
flung areas of Rajorui-Poonch region got maximum benefits with
the opening of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and is
situated at an ideal place at the foot hills of Pir Panchal range.
The students from other parts of the country are imparting
education from this university.

AIJAZ JAN
MLA (NC) Poonch
O verall educational scenario in the region after opening of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University has changed dramatically and
in the region in which university is located has rich geographic, climatic and culture diversity. The teaching programmes
designed by various Academic bodies of the University are interactive, flexible and hands on directed towards helping learners to
gain the ability to confidently and effectively answer real life challenges. This university means lot to the region as it generates
employment avenues to the local populace besides giving all kinds of education to the people who live in region. This University
has built up an excellent academic infrastructure in the form of teaching faculty, computerized labs, 24 hours wi-fi internet
facility. The teaching and research is promoted through modem technological aids with all the departments being provided with
independent computer and LCD facilities. The University takes pride in having developed co-operative and participate work
culture and in the longer run, it will help the twin border distts of Rajouri and Poonch. The Vice-chancellor, BGSBU, Masud Choudhary
has done remarkable achievement and full credit goes to him in creating such kind of University in the region. The campus has
excellent hostel facilities for boys as well as girls. The hostel with homely environment, well furnished and well ventilated rooms is
located in eco-friendly, pollution free scenic setting on a flat stretch of land vanishing into ascendant chain of pine-covered hills
with a gurgling and foaming brook in the front. Facilities power supply, indoor games, common room, canteen service are the
other feature of the hostel. Overall, BGSBU is a boon for the region which remained neglected for so many long years.

Epilogue Ø
84 ×
June 2009
THE NEW INDIA FOUNDATION

Application Invited for

Fellowships
In the sixty years since Independence, there has been a large body of work produced by Indian historians and soci3J
scientists. Taken singly, many of these studies are very impressive; viewed cumulatively, they add up to much less
than what one might expect. The chief reason for this is the determining influence on scholarly practice of that single.
date: 15th August, 1947. Historians don't look beyond the attainment of Independence, whereas other social
scientists don't look back at all. We have solid studies of the Congress under British rule, with books Written about its
operations in different parts of India, yet there are no systematic studies of the most influential of political parties in the
post-independence period. Again, there are numerous ethnographic accounts of the caste system. Yet, we have no
analytical overview of caste since Independence.

We have had political scientists conducting field studies of every single election since 1952. But we have no
comprehensive analyses of changes over time in voter behaviour, election propaganda, or election finance.

These examples could be multiplied manifold. The Republic of India is a Union of twenty-eight states, some larger
than France and Germany. Yet not even the biggest or most important of these states have had their histories written.
Again, there are no serious biographies of some of the key figures in our modern history such as Sheikh Abdullah or C.
N. Annadurai or A. Z. Phizo or (to take figures from very different, fields) Pandit Ravi Shankar or Dhirubhai Ambani.

It is this lack that the New India Foundation seeks to address, by sponsoring work of quality on modern India.

The New India Foundation invites applications for the fifth round of the New India Fellowships. Open only to Indian
nationals, these Fellowships will be awarded for a period of one year, and will carry a stipend of Rs 70,000 a month.
Fellowship holders shall be expected to write original books. Proposals should be oriented towards final publication,
and outline a road map towards that destination. The Foundation is ecumenical as regards genre, theme, and
ideology: the only requirement is that the proposed work contributes to the fuller understanding of independent India.
Thus Fellowship holders may choose to write a memoir, or a work of reportage, or a thickly footnoted academic study.
Their books could be oriented towards economics, or politics, or culture. They could be highly specific-an account of a
single decade or a single region---or wide-ranging, such as a countrywide overview.

Since 2004, a total of twenty New India Foundation Fellowships have been awarded, for books to be written on such
topics as the social history of Telugu films, the reform of personal laws, refugee politics in north-eastern India, the
history of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, debates on the death penalty in India, and the science and
politics of biodiversity conservation.

The first books to emanate from the New India Fellowships are Harish Damodaran's India's Nw Capitalists (Pal grave
Macmillan), Vasanthi Srinivasan's Gandhi's Conscienc(f-K£epcr (Permanent Black), and Dinesh Sharma's India's
Long Revolution (HarperCollins India).

Applicants for the New India Fellowships for 2009 are invited to submit their c.v., book proposal, and a writing sample
of at least 5000 words (published or unpublished) to the Managing Trustee, The New India Foundation, 22 A Brunton
Road, Bangalore 560025, before 31 July 2009. These maybe sent by post or courier. Email applications will not be
entertained. However, specific queries may be addressed to ramguha@gmail.com

The fellowships will be decided by a jury whose members are Andre Beteille, Ramachandra Guha, Niraja Gopal Jayal,
Nandan Nilekani, and N. Ravi.

Further details about the Foundation may be found at

www.newindiafoundation.org
 To be published in May:

WAR 2.0
Irregular Warfare in the Information Age

by
Thomas Rid and Marc Hecker

Westport, ed. Praeger, 2009

War 2.0 argues that two intimately connected trends are putting modern armies under huge pressure to adapt: the rise of insurgencies
and the rise of the Web. It traces the contrasting ways in which insurgents and counterinsurgents have adapted irregular conflict. It
examines the public affairs policies of the U.S. land forces, the British Army, and the Israel Defense Forces. Then it compares the
media-related counterinsurgency methods of these conventional armies to the more diverse methods devised by their asymmetric
adversaries, showing how such organizations as al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and Hezbollah use the Web not merely to advertise their
political agenda and influence public opinion, but to mobilize a following and put insurgent operations into action. But the same
technology that tends to level the operational playing field in irregular warfare also incurs heavy costs on terrorists and insurgents.

ENDORSEMENTS:
Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, The London School of Economics: "Thematically rich and masterfully constructed, this
book shows how our wired-up world has changed the operational environment, making both war and insurgency more complex, decentralised, and
bottom-up. Few other books have grasped so effectively the seismic change in the character of war. War 2.0 is Clausewitz rebooted for the 21st
century."

Noah Shachtman, Wired magazine, editor of Danger Room, a security blog: "High-tech revolutions are rocking the military and the media,
toppling hierarchies, and upending traditional players. Until now, no one has shown how these twin upheavals are linked--and feeding
one another. War 2.0 reveals how the old ways of war and communications are coming apart, and what the chaotic, self-organizing,
networked future is likely to be."

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Thomas Rid worked for several think tanks including Ifri and the Rand Corporation. He is currently a research fellow at Johns Hopkins
University. He is author of War and Media Operations (2007).

Marc Hecker is a research fellow at Ifri's Security Studies Center and author of several books, including La presse française et la
première guerre du Golfe (2003).

Publisher's press office contact: reviewcopies@abc-clio.com

Ifri's press office: Natacha Crance - 0033 1 40 61 60 22 / crance@ifri.org

IFRI: www.ifri.org
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