The Day

The Day

 “Non cooperation movement”, yes I still remember, I was preparing for my 10^th class exams, when the short circuit chaos distracted me, I went out to see what the matter was. GO INSIDE, my father shouts at me, it’s a Fidayeen attack, all my nerves squeezed and I glued to the place where I was preparing.

It was 2002, ninth day of the cremation of my paternal grand mother, and my place was stuffed with mourners, as tomorrow is the 10^th day, as per Sikh rites, we observe ten days in the loving memory of deceased, so for that we had brought Guru Granth Sahib at our place, so every body was busy listening to last rites in the loving memory of my loving grand mother.

I was busy in preparing for the final exams of my matriculation as for the whole year; I haven’t touched my books, not only me but nobody in my home. As this year was the worst of my entire life, whole year went in confusion.

With due respect to all my subjects, I was very weak in history, so despite of it being my last paper I went on its intensive preparation, ‘Khilafat and Non cooperation movement’ was the topic I was running through, I was disturbed and confused with the disturbances of the entire year, yet I was making my mind for cooping up, the scene starts and the disorder was clear outside, In a mean time the chaos with firing sound reverberate outside  unexpected and unprecedented, it frigid me, I was no more in a condition to think anything.

In haste I went outside to get to know about family and others present on the spot, it was disgraceful to learn that my first cousin brother, Lucky was out for playing, which had already created havoc for the family, in addition to it all the relatives were out side gate waiting for its opening.

For the sake of Lucky all the members of the family had put their lives on stake, without thinking for another second, it was all mayhem as at the distance of around 50 – 60 meters, fidayeen was firing indiscrimately, whereas all my family members were confronting him face to face.  

I consider my self the most coward person, one can say the most pacifist one, I hate this word but I know its true, when all my family was on stake I was peeping for them from the grid of windows, I was looking for a chance to get over to Lucky.

The moment went in frictions at our place, don’t know what was it, kindness of fidayeen or mercy of God, everything was fine at our place, but unfortunately my dad received some splinters of bullet, which fidayeen fired aiming wall near my place.

Some thing gloomy is still striking my mind that, I was not aware with it until dad was brought back with their knees banded with white bandages, doctor have advised them not to work for three months, and on the next day it was 10^th. Every thing was like scattered and aimless, somehow dad at that moment stands with the situation and managed to observe the day.

It was all calm during night as both the ends stopped firing, neither police was firing nor was fidayeen, shockingly even after using crates of ammunition police was yet to locate him,,, it was so calm as nothing had happened, rumors had made its space, some say that fidayeen is hiding in the immediate next building to ours and some say he has been killed, so all in chaos night spent.

Sunday, I woke up and went out to get some fresh air, oh I forgot to mention that I too have very poor memory, same was the situation at that time I woke up causally and directly went out, as I stood out in veranda, sound of indiscriminate firing once again hold the momentum, I was thinking at my own, isn’t is something acquaint. I smiled and went back to my hide out blanket to take some more timely nap. For my family it was the toughest year as I say, all went like anything and we did last rites of grand mother under sheer fear.

After, fidayeen was killed people made their interpretations, especially our relatives, same old orthodox beliefs, some said that my grand mother saved us and more interesting part was that when I heard some women folk talking and saying fidayeen was kind enough.

Till date I still shrugged when ever I listen to any sound of fire, it reverberates in my ears like some body has fired it near to me.

“I am thankful to almighty God for saving all of us from that inexplicable day, our family use to talk about that incident but when ever I thought of it……..

Post title I, ME and MYSELF

My school days, I was not less than the character of ‘Taare Zameen Par’, words deterred my vision of attaining valuable knowledge, sitting back in the corner I always tried to escape from inquisitive teachers, and notorious students who used to call me by numerous names, I will say nicknames. The teachers were always in the hunt of students like me, and I was one of the easiest preys to them, it was not like that I was bad in studies, the reason was that I had phobia of facing teachers. New Convent School, the most reputed school in Kashmir, where students from well off families attain education. Still the school has very good reputation and is counted in top schools of valley. During my elementary schooling, I was very shy, with very less friends, not much effort to fall in competition, this competition word was something alien for me as I never put competition in my life’s dictionary. When students vie hard for positions, my funda was to contend with passing marks, but I can say that god was always kind to me as I always stood as per expectations of my parents. Slowly and steadily I kept on moving, from one grade to another,.. during schooling when students go off their schools and classes, It was record that I had never skipped my classes, I still remember that I was very poor in science as per my teachers but I was the best student of mathematics and Hindi, were I had marked my intellect. It is quite obvious that after qualifying matriculation, students mostly visit to their schools twice or thrice, but the haunting school never witnessed my presence after my being passed out. After attaining good numbers in 10th standard, I joined SP higher secondary with science stream aiming to be the doctor of future, ha ha ha.. very less I knew that being in science is not enough to be a doctor….desperately disregarding my so called dream of being a doctor I unveiled my real façade as I never entered in class during two years. There I cherished all the moments which are unforgettable ones of my life. Being in the company of good bunch of friends I used to venture out of school. But the restlessness of qualifying 12th was always haunting me. During my 12th I still remember, I completed my syllabus from Jammu, but it was equivalent to zero as they only provided me notes and nothing else. I worked hard but not as I can, qualified 12th and opted to join SP College for further studies, there some changes occurred in me as I start thinking out of boundaries and tried new facets of life. Here in College I participated in every function where I felt that my wings are unfolding, part I, second and third went like anything, students, whether junior, senior or class mates, named Bali, now people knows me with the name of Bali, this name sounds weird but it is kinda crazy and stylish name in Kashmir. Teachers were cooperative, I am not in PR so no more praise of teachers but they were really admirable. College time was most memorable time I had spent, that’s why even after four years, I have been to my college after every month or twice a month. Little I knew that my destiny will drag me to further studies in Kashmir University, where very serious students are seen. Following the trend I also tried to rescue from Kashmir in order to join management at Jammu, but destiny had something else for me as I joined Kashmir University, Department of Media Education and Research Center (MERC)………. It was something which unconventionally came to my kitty.. very little interested in what I had done I kept on going without thinking for any other reason why not to do.. coming into Media was more a chance as I was not intended to join it. Likewise every average student I also passed my graduation and applied for post graduation course, my aim was to join any MBA college in Jammu, so I took entrance test of Mass communication very casually. On the day of preliminary exam I found toppers of college, thoroughly taking notes, I was like zero all was what I knew, nothing special was prepared for exams. Unfortunately or fortunately I qualified that exam and was now among those 147 students who have registered their berth in mains. Out of 15000, students only 147 could make it and I was one among them. On mains 147 students all looking more than normal,, vying for just 20 seats.. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders…huh..what a little competition still I was envisaging that MBA college, I sat in examination hall,,,, all questions were easy to attempt…. Ha ha ha ha.. my name was in the list without any serious attempt. Usual formalities was done, first day it was all boring no friends, no acquaints,, it was hell for me.. sitting alone.. eating alone.. huh oh god were I had been I was thinking, but with passing months we all classmates came close and the moment when we left department no one was ready to leave. Every moment in the department was unforgettable, but the time spent together at Tangdhar was the most memorable for all of us.

Social Networking sites go speculative over new controller JKPSC

PS BALI

The transfer of Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari, Secretary and controller J&K Public Service Commission (JKPSC) in the recent met State Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Omar Abdullah has raised many questions and speculations about his replacement. When the government is mooting over the replacement, the aspirants of various examinations under Commission are arguing over the competence of new controller. The replacement of Bukhari is the ‘hot bread’ among the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) aspirants, especially on various Social Networking Sites and Blogs, where the long streak of comments following the question about his replacement is visible. Many comments read “we will miss MA Bukhari, not because who he was, but for what he has done for Commission.” However, arguments also heated up over the appointment of new controller. Social networking sites, especially Twitter and Facebook are flooded with arguments regarding new controller. “At the time of joining of Bukhari, commission was obsolete without much to do, but under his control, JKPSC conducted CCE for three consecutive years, besides other examinations with satisfactory results”, commented aspirants. Followed “now the new controller has to further the system without much hassles, but we wish he aspires to make JKPSC functioning smoother.” According to official sources, government is mooting over the new controller of JKPSC and many competent people have been located, but the final name is yet to be decided. MA Bukhari, who served in JKPSC as a secretary and controller for more than two years, brought revolutions in the commission by making Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), besides departmental examinations a regular feature, aspirants reminded. Since his appointment as Secretary and Controller of JKPSC, the commission has smoothly and successfully convened many coveted examinations of the state. At the time of joining JKPSC, the commission was not in ‘Good Books’ of the aspirants, which was challenging for Bukhari, but to make obsolete Commission to run optimistically, Bukhari worked day and night, in which Bukhari succeeded to a great extend and made CCE and other examinations a “talk of the day”, shared aspirants on Twitter. Bukhari who is now transferred and posted as Secretary to Government, Information Technology and Science &Technology Departments expressed satisfaction and said that it was his job to run commission, but “without assistance and cooperation of other members this milestone of making examinations a regular feature was not possible,” said Bukhari.

Baisakhi

Baisakhi or Vaisakhi Festival is celebrated as the Sikh New Year and the founding of the Khalsa Panth. History of Baisakhi traces its origin from the Baisakhi Day celebrations of 1699 organized by the Tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh to form Khalsa - Brotherhood of Saint Soldiers to fight against tyranny and oppression.

Story of Baisakhi
The story of Baisakhi Festival began with the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru who was publicly beheaded by the Aurungzeb, the Mughal ruler. Aurungzeb wanted to spread Islam in India and Guru Tegh Bahadur stood up for the rights of Hindus and Sikhs and the Mughals therefore saw him as a threat.

After the death of Guru Teg Bahadur, his son, Guru Gobind Singh became the next Guru of the Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh wished to instill courage and strength to sacrifice among his fellow men. To fulfil his dream, Guru Gobind Singh called on the historic Baisakhi Day congregation of Sikhs at Keshgarh Sahib near Anandpur on March 30, 1699.

When thousands of people assembled for Guru’s blessing, Guru Gobind Singh came out of the tent carrying an unsheathed sword. He gave a powerful speech to infuse courage amongst fellowmen. At the end of the speech he said that every great deed was preceded by equally great sacrifice and demanded that anyone prepared to give his life come forward. On the Guru’s third call, a young man offered himself. The Guru took the man inside a tent and reappeared alone with a bloodied sword. Guru Gobind Singh asked for another volunteer. This was repeated another four times until a total of five Sikhs had gone into the tent with the Guru. Everyone present was worried and though that Guru Gobind Singh has killed five Sikhs. At this point Guru presented all the five men before the people. Every one present was surprised to see all five men alive and wearing turbans and saffron-coloured garments.

These five men were called Panj Piara or 'Beloved Five' by the Guru. The Guru blessed them with a Pahul ceremony. In an iron vessel, the Guru stirred with a sword called Khanda Sahib, the batasha that his wife, Mata Sundari Ji had put into water. The congregation recited verses from scriptures as the Guru performed the sacred ceremony. The water was now considered the sacred nectar of immortality called amrit. It was first given to the five volunteers, then drunk by the guru and later distributed amongst the crowd. With this ceremony, all those present, irrespective of caste or creed, became members of the Khalsa Pantha (the Order of the Pure Ones).

The Guru regarded the Panch Piaras as the first members of the Khalsa and the embodiment of the Guru himself. With the constitution of the Panj Pyare the high and low castes were amalgamated into one as among the original Panj Pyare, there was one Khatri, shopkeeper; one Jat, farmer; one Chhimba, calico printer; one Ghumar, water-carrier; and one Nai, a barber. The Guru gave the surname of Singh (Lion) to every Sikh and also took the name for himself. From Guru Gobind Rai he became Guru Gobind Singh. This was seen as a great step in national integration because society at that time was divided on the basis of religion, caste and social status.

Guru Gobind Singh also bestowed on Khalsa, the unique Sikh identity. He directed Sikhs to wear five K's: Kesh or long hair, Kangha or comb, Kripan or dagger, Kachha or shorts and a Kara or bracelet. Guru Gobind Singh also discontinued the tradition of Gurus and asked all Sikhs to accept the Grantha Sahib as their eternal guide. He urged them to come to him with their hair and beard unshorn to get baptized by the sword.

Female Foeticide : A Hall of Shame

More than a hundred million women are missing because their parents wanted a son.

Female foeticide is a process of aborting perfectly healthy female foetuses after about 18 weeks (or more) of gestation just because they are females. The same foetuses would've been allowed to live if they were males. There is no question that female foeticide is not just unethical but it is downright cruel as well.

Despite a law banning sex selective abortion is in force for a decade, as many as half a million female foetuses are aborted each year in the country. Gender discrimination in our society is so entrenched, that it begins even before a girl is born. Baby girls are throttled, poisoned or drowned in a bucket of water.

A baby girl tied in polythene bag and dumped in a public dustbin left to be torn away by wild stray dogs. An incident that took place nowhere else but in the very capital of our country.
To cite a couple of more examples, of many, the recovery of pieces of bones of newly born female fetuses from a hospital backyard in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh in February 2008. And bodies of more than 100 fetuses found outside an abortion clinic in Pattran town in Punjab in August last year were both deplorable.

Though India has a history of skewed female sex ratio, what the country is witnessing today is the systematic extermination of the female child, with the ultrasound machine serving as an instrument of murder.

Clinics offering ultrasound scanning facility have mushroomed throughout the country, and despite making pre-natal sex determination a penal offence, doctors and parents alike rampantly violate this law. A survey in Maharashtra showed that an alarming 95% of the amniocentesis scan were being carried out for sex determination.

In India, the 2001 census reveals that the overall sex ratio is 933 females for every 1000 males, showing a marginal increase of 6 points from the 1991 census of 927. However, this is a very sorry state indeed and we are doing much worse than over a hundred years ago when the sex ratio was 972 in 1901, 946 in 1951 till the 933 today.

More and more baby girls have either been aborted or killed as infants since 1961 and that this trend continues strong even today. Indeed, an improvement in the child sex ratio has only been marked in one state, Kerala, and two Union Territories, Lakshwadeep and Pondicherry. Everywhere else, there is a decrease in the number of girls.

The greatest offenders in this area are the northern and the western states, with Punjab and Haryana leading the pack. In Punjab, the child sex ratio has decreased by 77 points to a new and horrifying low of 798 females to a 1000 males, and Haryana has seen a decrease of 60 points, meaning there are now only 819 females to a 1000 males. Other offenders high on this list are Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh and Gujarat.

This is not so much a legal problem as it is a social disease. The son-centric model of our society forms the foundation of the practice of female feticide and infanticide. Girls are made to face discrimination before birth, at birth, and throughout their lives at the hands of their families. Even those girls who are allowed to live get second-class treatment. They are denied adequate medical and health care facilities, they are denied adequate nutrition, and they are denied educational facilities. They are often subject to physical and sexual abuse.

This is not so much a legal problem as it is a social disease. The son-centric model of our society forms the foundation of the practice of female feticide and infanticide. Girls are made to face discrimination before birth, at birth, and throughout their lives at the hands of their families. Even those girls who are allowed to live get second-class treatment. They are denied adequate medical and health care facilities, they are denied adequate nutrition, and they are denied educational facilities. They are often subject to physical and sexual abuse.

Unfortunately, various schemes to counter this situation brought out by many states as well as at the central level have been ineffective in reducing the extent of this problem. Removal of this practice must involve:

• Focus on the humanist, scientific and rational approach and a move away from the traditional teachings which support discrimination.
• Empowerment of women and measures to deal with other discriminatory practices such as dowry, etc.
• A strong ethical code for doctors.
• Simpler methods for complaint registration for all women, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
• Publicity for the cause through the media and increasing awareness amongst the people through NGOs and other organizations;
• Regular appraisal and assessment of the indicators of the status of women such as sex ratio, female mortality, literacy and economic participation.

Infanticide is a crime of murder and punishment should be given to both parents. There ought to be stricter control over clinics that offer to identify the sex of a fetus and stronger check on abortions to ensure that they are not performed for the wrong reasons. Doctors must also be sensitized and strong punitive measures must be taken against those who violate the law.

It has been calculated that more than a hundred million women are missing because their parents wanted a son. We have made significant scientific and technological progress and we churn out some of the brightest minds every year in every area possible. But if we can’t check female feticide all this progress is absolutely worthless.

How can a society expect to survive without women? Indeed various studies have shown that having far fewer women in a society leads to increased violence in a society, particularly against women. If the macabre practice continues, it would spell doom for both sons and daughters and will have a disastrous impact on the future generations.

Onset of Baisakhi; Canals yet to be cleaned up

photo by Sansar Singh



Irrigation Department apathetic
PS BALI
Jammu, Apr 5
What could be more apathetic on the part of Irrigation Department that the canals, which are thrown open with the onset of Baisakhi every year, are yet to be touched for de-silting and cleaning.
Contradicting tall claims of the Irrigation Department of performing their duty with devotion and integrity, most of the canals in the Jammu are craving for attention of the Irrigation Department.
With the continuous negligence of the Irrigation Department, the canals are turning into dumping site.
Regretting over the working of the Irrigation Department, the local residents rued that just a few days are left for Baisakhi, no work of clearance on this canals yet has been initiated.
“Every year, these canals are being cleaned and de-silted properly before throwing water into it, but this time the situation is not same as 5-6 days are left, but no work has been initiated,” said Atul Malhotra, a resident of Resham Ghar.
He lamented that with such attitude of the concerned authorities, it seems that this time the water will be released without cleaning of the canals, thus making water of no use for the agriculture and other purpose, as would be filled with dirt.
However, official sources claimed that the process of cleaning of canal is under progress at some areas, but due to apathy of the concerned authorities, there is no supervision from the higher officials. Moreover the residents maintained that the working agency is just mowing weeds from sides of the canal and the actual waste is not properly removed.
“Though the work over canal has been initiated, but the concerned authorities are only mowing weeds and picking some waste from the sides of the
canal, which is sheer wastage of money,” maintained Balbir Singh, a resident of Sehora.
He regretted that the government is spending huge money for cleaning and hygienic purposes, but the lethargic approach of the departments causes suffering and inconvenience to the people.
“JCBs are installed for the clearance, but the problem is that the department lacks sufficient manpower, and those at work are lethargic to understand their responsibility,” said an official in Irrigation Department, wishing anonymity. He added that normally every year canal cleaning process is complete before Baisakhi, but this time the situation seems different.
Denying the allegations, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department, Avinash Sharma said that the machinery is being put onto work and within a day or two canals would be cleaned up.
“We are already done with the process of de-silting, but at some places where the road widening project is undergoing, we are waiting for signal from PWD,” he said, adding that although the working is complete, but due to the lack of civic sense, we are facing huge quantity of polythene thrown by people to be removed, which would otherwise be washed away with the flow of water.
Admitting that the Department lacks sufficient manpower, Chief Engineer said that they are dependent on Service Selection Board (SSB) for the recruitment of permanent employee. He further claimed that some distributaries are under jurisdiction of Ravi-Tawi Irrigation Complex and they are responsible for their clearance.