Four terrorists have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Daramdora area of Shopian, following information about presence of terrorists there, an Army official said. He said as the forces were conducting searches, the hiding terrorists fired upon them. The security forces retaliated, triggering off a gunbattle.
Four terrorists have been killed in the operation which was going on till last reports came in, he said. The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists was being ascertained by police, he added.
To promote water conservation across the country ahead of the monsoon season, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, recently wrote letters to all Sarpanches, urging them to undertake Rainwater Harvesting and Water Conservation activities in rural India. Gram Sabhas were convened across the country yesterday and the Prime Minister’s letter was read out publicly to all the residents of the village. The sitting of Gram Sabha was followed by shramdaan for water conservation, as outlined in the Prime Minister’s letter. Activities included building and cleaning small ponds for storing rainwater, tree plantation drives, Constructing/installing storage tanks for rainwater harvesting, and afforestation.
Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, kicked off the water conservation Shramdaan in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and also held a Jan Samvad with villagers and Swachh Bharat Summer Interns, who are youth volunteering for Swachhata work. He also inaugurated a rainwater harvesting unit at Narwa village, and did shramdaan for retrofitting of toilets and construction of Compost pits in the district. Addressing the sarpanches of nearby Panchayats and a large gathering of villagers, Shri Shekhawat stressed upon the need for water conservation, while reiterating the message of the Prime Minister’s letter. . He reaffirmed the Union Government’s commitment to providing drinking water to all households in the country.
The Minister also launched the Swachh Bharat Summer
Internship (SBSI) 2019 in the State. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, in association
with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and NCC has launched the Swachh
Bharat Summer Internship 2019 – a 50 Hours of Swachhata commitment by the youth
– from 10th June to 31st July 2019. The initiative will give an opportunity to
youth from National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
and National Cadet Corps (NCC) to develop their skills and orientation for
sanitation-related work and become a part of the Swachh Bharat janandolan. SBSI
has been taken up for the second consecutive year as part of the Swachh Bharat
Mission.
The Minister urged the youngsters to focus their
energy through this internship on Solid Waste Management and village
cleanliness to make the country cleaner and greener. The Minister thanked
everyone for being part of Swachh Bharat Mission as a result of which rural
sanitation has increased from 39% to 99% and over 9.6 cr. toilets have been
built. 5.6 lakh villages, 619 districts and 30 States/UTs have declared themselves
Open Defecation Free (ODF).
Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad have been quite tense over the last five years. The 14th February 2019, suicide attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama region that was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) resulted in the Indian Air Force launching airstrikes against the terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as well as Balakot in Pakistan. This was followed by an air duel in which both sides lost one fighter aircraft each.
The importance of cooperation in the sphere of connectivity dawned on this regional bloc as Pakistan shut down its airspace that had an adverse effect on the aviation industry. Islamabad responded positively to New Delhi’s request to permit Prime Minister of India to use Pakistani airspace while proceeding to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). However, India decided against availing this special concession and thus sent a clear signal to the international community that she is in not in a reconciliatory mood and will continue to pursue the policy of “terror and talks cannot go together.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi played his diplomatic cards very well during the SCO meet at Bishkek. Without taking any name but in a stern message directed at Pakistan, he said that countries will have to come out of their narrow purview to unite against terrorism to fight it, and the nations sponsoring, aiding and supporting terrorism must be held accountable. By recalling the recent Easter terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka and terming state sponsored terrorism as the biggest threat to the world Modi managed to draw international attention to the fact that a large number of internationally banned terrorist groups fighting in Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iran were based in Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tried to counter Modi’s assault by making a reference to Kashmir without naming it when he spoke about how Pakistan condemns terrorism in all forms including state terrorism against people under illegal occupation. However, his did not succeed in getting any support for his condemnation of “terrorism against people under illegal occupation” as this issue finds no mention in the SCO joint declaration. On the other hand, Islamabad’s stand that “freedom struggle in Kashmir cannot be equated with terrorism” has suffered a severe blow as the Bishkek Declaration has stressed that acts of terrorism and extremism cannot be justified.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan’s Imran Khan may have exchanged pleasantries on Day 2 of the summit in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek but there is no scope of any thaw in Indo-Pakistan relations. Khan did talk about the need for India and Pakistan to resume the dialogue process to normalise relations but Modi is adamant that there can be no talks unless terrorist activities in Kashmir ends. Here Modi seems to have a definite advantage as Pakistan is under severe pressure for allowing terrorist groups that are attacking neighbouring countries to have their safe-sanctuaries on its soil.
Pakistan is in deep trouble. Washington has cut down its aid because Islamabad isn’t “doing enough” in its war against terror and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put Pakistan on its “Grey List” for not taking appropriate action to stop financial dealing of internationally designated terrorist groups. Pakistan is still to recover from the shock of Beijing removing its “technical hold” on the proposal to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar a “Global Terrorist.”
The sooner Islamabad realises that no ally will ever be willing to provide indefinite support on terrorism related issues the better it would be for Pakistan. It needs to take prompt action to avoid getting inextricably stuck in the quicksand of terrorism.
The whole world sees militant attacks such as the ones on Pathankot Air Base, in Uri Army Camp and suicide car bomb attack in Pulwama as acts of terrorism. The situation created by Pakistan is also spoiling the image of the Kashmir struggle. New Delhi won’t talk unless such attacks end and though Khan may keep requesting for dialogue, it is unlikely that Modi will relent and neither will he accept any offer of mediation by the superpowers or influential nations. In comparative terms, India’s financial condition is far better than Pakistan, which is now surviving on generous aid from Gulf States and loans from China and the IMF (International Monetary Fund).
Diplomatically, New Delhi wields much more authority and influence than Islamabad. Militarily, New Delhi has luxury to add sophisticated military hardware to its arsenal, Islamabad cannot afford to get into an arms race. The environment has pushed Pakistan into the proverbial Catch-22 situation. It can either react as the world expects it to act or get ready to face absolute marginalisation.
Prime Minister Imran Khan needs to understand that instead of wasting huge sums of money on defence purchases, it can be better utilised to improve living conditions, alleviating poverty and providing healthcare. Therefore, dismantling the existing militant infrastructure in Pakistan is a wise step and a win-win situation for all. It will help in improving Indo-Pakistan relations, which in turn will open the doors for dialogue and this will facilitate normalising relations. Once this happens, the two countries can work amicably towards resolving the Kashmir issue.
His
Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama once said, “If you want others to be
happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
Love, compassion and empathy are fundamental to the survival of human society. ‘Compassion’
in Dalai Lama’s words ‘is also the radicalism of our times.’ Leaders and change
makers have to be compassionate, if they want to connect deeply with themselves
and others to profoundly alter the trajectory of social development. Our world
can have more ethical and conscious leaders, if we integrate contemplation and
social-emotional skills (e.g., self-awareness, resilience, and compassion) with
leadership and social change projects. This is because external change is
inextricably linked with internal change in ourselves and others.
Earlier
this week, the Contemplative Sciences Center (CSC) at the University of
Virginia hosted the 2019 Dalai Lama Fellows Contemplative Leadership Assembly, from
June 17 – 21. More than 40 young leaders from 22 different countries gathered
at the event as part of a one-year fellowship. Founded in 2010, Dalai Lama
Fellows has been dedicated to facilitating the emergence of a new generation of
compassionate leaders who are able to bring a commitment to self-reflection and
compassion to the work of making a positive difference in communities, and in
the world at large. Dalai Lama Fellowship was formed with the authorization and
support of the 14th Dalai Lama and is designed to create a global community of social
change leaders by helping them cultivate greater self-awareness and compassion
for themselves and others.
Dalai Lama Fellows – 2019
This year the Contemplative Sciences Center (CSC) selected 25 Fellows
from 18 countries, which includes 10 fellows from Africa and 3 from India. Dalai
Lama Fellows looks for candidates who are passionate about affecting social
change and genuinely interested in improving social, emotional, and
intercultural skills of leadership such as self-awareness and compassion
through contemplation and holistic wellbeing. Projects from this year’s fellows
include efforts to address gender equity in Nigeria, indigenous rights in
Colombia, youth empowerment in India, innovative ways of using education as a
tool to break out of the cycle of poverty in Kenya, and importance of dialogue
among youth in Tunisia, to name a few.
Ten Fellows
from Africa – Transforming the continent
Fellows from Africa and Colombia representing 9 of the 40 fellows attending the global assembly at University of Virginia, June 17-21. Photo: csc.virginia.edu )
Esther
Ajari and Kate Ekanem, both from Nigeria, want to work on women issues. Esther,
through her Keep a Girl Dry and Clean (KAGDAC) Project, will teach
8-19 year- old girls in the Ibadan Community of Oyo State, Nigeria on how to
make their own reusable and biodegradable sanitary pads. Kate through Makoko
Women Mobilization will focus on implementing business start-up
workshops for underrepresented, unemployed, single mothers and elderly women in
rural communities.
Balanding Manneh, from the Gambia, is working to fight hunger,
malnutrition, and food insecurity in his country and Sam Brakarsh, Harare, Zimbabwe,
through the Chikukwa Project examines the conflux of education,
health, and art as a means of social change and community dialogue.
Several of these fellows focus on children and youth to bring positive social transformation in their countries. Ephrem Woldeyesus, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will be working on using creative tools such as art (art therapy and social circus) to address trauma, peace, reconciliation, innovation, self-expression, social entrepreneurial skills and well-being of the children and youth. Farai Mubaiwa, Johannesburg, South Africa, in The Aurum UnlockD Project tackles two national South African issues – youth unemployment (53,7%) and HIV (7.1 million people infected). Mansi Kotak, Kisumu, Kenya, through Kitabu Changu Haki Yangu (Swahili meaning My Book My Right) project aims to improve both the rate and quality of literacy across communities living in abject poverty in slums and rural areas. The project will see resource centres established that will open the door of opportunities for current and future students by giving them access to a variety of books, workshops and technology. For Moses Ogutu, Nairobi, Kenya, re-incorporating street children back into the society by creating opportunities that would allow them to become self-sustaining after their transformation process is the focus of – Streets Incorporated project. Mathew Ndekudugu, Bolgatanga, Ghana, seeks to help youth use their talents, or the resources around them, to find and create jobs to improve their lives, through Your Talent, Your Future (Talented Academy). Through her Big Talk project, Sara Gzara, Monastir, Tunisia, chose the art of communication as a starting point to create fruitful and sustainable social change by teaching the community to both listen and speak in a profound manner.
Three Fellows from India – Making development
inclusive and gender sensitive
Dalai
Lama Fellow Avinash Kothuri aims to increase braille literacy rates across the
world, while simultaneously making education more inclusive. His Thinkerbell
Labs, has developed the world’s first braille literacy tech ecosystem to help
the visually impaired to learn on their own, and for teachers to be able to
supervise multiple children learning braille at the same time.
Dharini
Suresh through her Earning while Learning
(EwL) initiative works to de-stigmatize menstruation and encourage a
healthy dialogue around it among adolescents by fostering a culture of student
entrepreneurship. EwL aims to co-create a safe and supportive environment for
girls and women to handle a biological process in the best possible manner by
breaking the disrepute associated with menstruation.
Gaurav
Somwanshi feels that It’s only by democratising the knowledge and raising
awareness among all that we can hope to yield technology for the benefit of
everyone. His project, Emerging
Technologies for Public Good, aims to conduct a series of training
workshops, sessions, and awareness campaigns regarding these technologies and
relevant subjects to those places and communities who are at a higher chance of
missing out on them due to lack of access and systemic blockages.
Leadership with compassion and ethics
(Fellows share Bhangra dancing, a traditional dance from the state of Punjab in India, during the annual Global Leadership Assembly, held at UVA last summer. Photo: csc.virginia.edu )
Anthony DeMauro, Associate Director of Dalai Lama Fellows, says, “When we see possibilities for external change in terms of social innovation and equity, we often lose sight of how such work is inextricably bound up with internal change in ourselves and others. Thus the hard work of social change has to be intertwined with the equally hard work of personal change, or burnout and dysfunctionality can undercut the possibilities of sustainable change being achieved.” He shares that traditional leadership programs often don’t address leaders’ wellbeing or the kinds of social, emotional, and intercultural skills necessary for them to truly flourish and sustain their work. “Dalai Lama Fellows’ Head, Heart, and Hands leadership curriculum integrates experiential learning, peer collaboration, and contemplative practices to help Fellows cultivate these competencies and develop the necessary skills and tools. In this process, they develop a deep understanding of the interconnectedness and complexity of local communities and ecosystems,” he adds.
Changing the
world for a better future
The one-year long engagement with young leaders includes bookended
gatherings at University of Virginia; an innovative and interactive online
curriculum; individualized mentoring; group learning; and a project geared
toward social innovation, social change, social justice and deep engagement
with a community of choice. Through a unique leadership curriculum, Fellows learn
to lead in collaborative and sustainable ways.
The fellows are committed to integrating these external activities
with a commitment to internal, contemplative and reflective self-work including
cultivating compassion and resilience. Once the fellowship is completed,
participants join an international community of fellowship alumni who have the
skills, the network and the capacity to work together to bring about change in
the world around them.
The Indian Army has a rich legacy of valour
and chivalry. The qualities that make the Indian soldier stand apart in the
soldiering fraternity of the world are best epitomised by the Northern Command
of the Indian Army. Raised on 17 June, 1972 and having completed 48 years of
selfless service this year, the relatively young organisation naturally fosters
a spirit of resilience, high-order professionalism and indomitable spirit in
concert with the noble ethos and traditions of the Indian Army.
Prior to independence, the Northern Command of
the British Indian Army was located at Rawalpindi. On partition, the Command Headquarters was
allocated to Pakistan and in India, a new Headquarter designated as Western
Command was established at Shimla. The Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab theatres
came under Western Command.
The Northern Command was raised on 17 June,
1972, at a time when India had already faced four major wars: the Indo-Pakistan Wars of 1947-48; 1965 and
1971 and the Indo-China War of 1962. The cumulative experience reinforced the
conviction that the Northern theatre needed a separate command for proper
control.
The legendary soldier Lt. Gen. PS Bhagat, VC,
PVSM, was designated as the first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
(GOC-IN-C). Initially it comprised of two Corps and one Division; the Chinar
Corps, responsible for Kashmir and Ladakh; the White Knight Corps, responsible
for the Jammu Theatre and the Dah Division located at Palampur. Post the Kargil
War, it was felt that the Ladakh region required a separate Corps Headquarters
and as such the Fire and Fury Corps was raised and located at Leh.
The command is predominantly responsible for
the sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir. Its theatre of operations encompasses
varied terrain from the icy glaciers of Siachen (the highest battlefield in the
world) to the plains of Akhnoor. It comprises of thickly forested mountains,
high altitude deserts, rugged mountains and glaciers and hot plains. Several
forward areas remain cut off for five to six months and have to be air-maintained.
It also has the unique distinction of guarding
four different types of borders – the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Actual
Ground Position Line (AGPL) with China and the Line of Control (LOC) and
International Border with Pakistan. Each one of these boundaries comes with a
separate politico-military perspective which poses a very big challenge.
China as a neighbour believes in opportunistic
and calibrated belligerence; Pakistan, of course is a sworn enemy; it is no
wonder then that Northern Command was on the roll from the word “go.” It is not without reason
that it supports the logo “Always in Combat.”
In the 1980s, Pakistan built up a notorious
Proxy War in Jammu and Kashmir by infiltrating terrorists in thousands through
the porous LOC. The command was called upon to fight a debilitating internal
security operation to quell foreign sponsored terrorism and insurgency. The
enemy used all means, mostly foul, to gain ascendency, but the brave troops of
the command succeeded in defeating their nefarious design. Today, the cult of
terrorism lies destroyed, except for a few remnants that are also being dealt
with quite effectively.
Operation Meghdoot was launched
on 13 April, 1984, to establish control over Indian territories in the icy
heights of the Siachen Glacier. In an unimaginable feat of grit and bravery the
troops of Northern Command gained control over the dominating heights on the
main passes of the Saltoro ridge, Sia La and Bilafond La; this feat of valour
that has no parallels in the annals of the military history.
In June, 1999, Pakistan thrust a war upon
India with its ignoble attempt to occupy the Kargil heights in Indian
territories. The plan was spearheaded by General Pervez Musharraf, then Chief
of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. The response of the Indian Amy was
politically righteous and militarily courageous beyond the call of duty. The
courage and commitment exhibited by the Indian soldiers in the short, swift and
brutal war is now part of military folklore. The intruding Pakistani
forces were completely decimated and the country faced international
humiliation.
Alongside
its achievements in operations, the Northern Command has earned for itself the reputation of being a “People’s Army.” Having been
compelled to fight an infiltrated enemy in own territories, the Northern
Command has followed a policy of zero tolerance for human rights violations by
own troops. Cases coming to light, however few and far between, are dealt with
swiftly with exemplary punishment meted out to defaulters. Counter-terrorist
operations in civilian areas are conducted with great care to ensure minimum
collateral damage to civilian life and property, even at the cost of buying own
casualties.
It is, however, in the domain of “Winning Hearts and Minds” (WHAM) that Northern Command has set a new benchmark. Decades of terrorism and turmoil has had a devastating effect on the psyche of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially so, in the Kashmir Valley. The army has put in great effort to ameliorate the suffering of the people through welfare initiatives, in particular, Operations Sadbhavna. Army Goodwill Schools are one example, they have been instrumental is meeting the pressing educational requirements at a time when government education infrastructure collapsed under the terrorist threat. There are many other areas like infrastructure development, medical aid etc where the army takes initiative to assist the people. Whenever a demand comes from the people, especially so in remote areas, the army makes a sincere effort to do whatever is feasible. Every year an average of Rs 40 crore is spent over the 1200 projects under Sadbhavna.
Indian Army runs 43 Goodwill Schools across Jammu and Kashmir. These schools offer quality education to over 15,000 students across the state.
Recently, Army Commander, Northern Command, Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh felicitated
23 meritorious teachers of Army Goodwill Schools for creativity and innovation
at a ceremony held in Udhampur on 16 November, 2018. On 20 May, 2019, Army
Commander also presented financial aid to 71 students from below poverty line
category and remote areas of the state.
Jammu
and Kashmir, especially the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh have suffered many
natural disasters in the last decade and a half. In each of these calamities
the Indian Army has unilaterally undertaken relief and rehabilitation works at
a massive scale, at times when it was itself grappling with the effects of the
calamity. The assistance provided during Operation Rahat launched after the Snow
Tsunami of February, 2005; Operation Imdad for the devastating earthquake in
October, 2005; Operation Cloudburst in the aftermath of the flashfloods in Leh
in September, 2006 and Operation Megh Rahat during floods in Kashmir in September,
2014 are noteworthy.
Northern Command, despite being most operationally active, has had a
number of units participating in joint exercise with friendly foreign countries,
mainly Thailand, Kazakhstan, China and Oman.
Sports and adventure activities are the hallmark of military ethos and Northern Command finds time to pursue and excel in such activities despite its heavy operational commitment. Northern Command firing team won the 15th Gen JJ Singh Officers’ Air Weapons Championship at Mhow in March, 2019. The first Inter Services Paragliding Accuracy Championship was conducted in October, 2018, under aegis of the command. Himalayan Height Motorcycle Expedition was flagged off from Karu, Leh on 07 April, 2019. A Skiing and Mountaineering expedition by Ski Troopers from Ladakh Scouts created history by skiing along the route Indira Col, Turkistan La in record time and simultaneously summiting the Junction Peak (20,374 ft) on 9 May, 2019.
Indian Army’s timely intervention helped save the lives of 14 shepherds who were stuck in an avalanche in Mushkoh Valley
The Northern Command, under the able leadership of the present GOC-in-C, Lt.
Gen. Ranbir Singh, who took over this responsibility on 1 June, 2018, is
striving to attain the next level of glory in its illustrious history.
Sustained efforts, with complete support of the locals and in total synergy
with the paramilitary, police and local administration have resulted in
breaking the backbone of terrorism. The locals continue to share a deep bond of
trust and faith with the soldiers and together the “Jawan and Awaam” are
marching towards a better tomorrow. A stable security environment has been
created which has opened avenues for the democratic political process to take
roots and for the region to witness an era of development and prosperity.
For the Northern Command, however, the time to sit back and enjoy the
laurels of success has not arrived. The enemy is determined to continue with its
nefarious designs at whatever cost, they are brutal and ruthless. There is no
option but to stay constantly vigilant and ready for all contingencies. The
entire Nation stands firmly in support of the brave and noble soldiers of
Northern Command with the firm belief that they will never let the enemy
succeed.
While the nation celebrates landslide victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) some are still wondering why the Congress and other opposition parties were routed. There worked tirelessly a well-oiled machinery of “minority intelligentsia” who were instrumental in setting agenda for the opposition all through the last five years and they firmly believed that the Congress was set to storm to power. They believed so because even Atal Bihari Vajpayee could not secure a second term despite his deliverance through the Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Golden Quadrilateral among several other promising schemes to his credit. The threat to minorities and secularism was used to the hilt to reap electoral benefits by this very same “intelligentsia” in the 2004 General Elections and to pave way for Congress-led UPA-I and UPA-II governments.
The rise of Narendra Modi as Indian Prime Minister was certainly not palatable for these self styled protectors of secularism and the Indian constitution. According to them, it was their birth right to see the events and showcase it before the masses through their own ideological spectrum. India is a vast country with so much diversities, the nation surely will have difference of opinion on many issues, the local skirmishes were often blown out of proportion and was used to instill fear among the minorities that their existence was in danger. The persistent efforts made in this regard were nothing but a shameless, unpardonable attempt to break the nation. It was shocking, when a premier educational institution—JNU, and its student bodies organized an event against the hanging of Afzal Guru who was the terrorist mastermind in Parliament attack case. No nation can tolerate such an act on any count, absolutely indefensible act of treason, but the shameless act took place inside the premier university. The act of treason was supported by this “intelligentsia” in the guise of freedom of speech and expression. The universities were made a platform to spread lies and unrest in the country and an immature opposition supported these movement intending an electoral gain ignoring that many of these voices were aired by known anti-national subversive groups.
Anti-national plots were hatched and open calls were issued to rise
up against a duly elected government, a false propaganda of “intolerance” was
coined, many from the silver screen were used in this ploy to make timely
comments to push these canards. The fifth columnists were striving their level
best to create discord among various communities, they brought in isolated
incidents in distant villages to the national headlines, to instill fear among
the minorities, to spread hatred among the castes, to create deep fissures in
the nation. In order to portray their acts as genuine reflection of simmering
anger of the entire nation, they roped in their trusted ideological fellow
travelers, to return awards given at various point of time. They were promised
more distinctions, their acts were assured to contribute to a regime change in
the long run, as their acts of returning awards and creating an atmosphere of distress
everywhere would eventually result in return of the Opposition to power.
The Supreme Court of India and the Election Commission of India were
also not spared, malicious campaigns were spread to demean these Institutions,
to weaken them and to show to the world that nothing remains here in the
largest democracy, every institution has been compromised under Modi regime.
Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbel’s theory of “repeating
a lie often enough and it will become the truth” was used again and again to portray
the Prime Minister Modi and his government in a bad light. The political
narrative fell to the lowest ebb when Prime Minister Modi was time and again
called a “thief”, no country in the world would have seen such a political
campaign, the propagator of this narrative had to escape from his beloved
bastion before the fire engulfed it and narrowly save himself taking a timely
refuge in new green pasture down south.
Now, the same intellectual brand is busy in coining new theories,
its being told that the electorate is still not mature, that the EVM’s are they
foolproof, the voters are not educated enough. To this the common man answers,
“you made every attempt to demean my nation and its Institutions, it was our
duty to stand by Prime Minister Modi and his political party, we discharged our
noble duty from our inner hearts, thus this landslide victory. Those demeaning
us don’t forget your father, grand mother and great grand father were also elected
by us, you never questioned our political wisdom or political maturity then,
mend your ways it’s high time now.”
As per United Nations’ latest
report, more than 70 million people globally have been displaced in 2018. The
number is highest in the last twenty years. For millions of men, women and
children life is never the same outside their homeland. With troubled present
and an uncertain future, for most of them life becomes a daily struggle. It
becomes all the more challenging, if you are a refugee and a single mother. Farhat
and Nasiha Nawabi both from Afghanistan, have gone through nightmarish struggle
but they are determined to make their lives better. What ties these two power
ladies together is their association with Ilham
– a catering group of Afghani women,
which was established in 2015.
The word ‘ILHAM’ means positivity
and the women chose this name because they feel that their life has been
overshadowed by threats, negativity and cruelty. For them Ilham was a way to find a ray of hope and positivity in their
lives! The group was founded by Aditi Sabbarwal from UNHCR (United Nations High
Commissioner of Refugees) who works on sustainable livelihoods of refugees in
Delhi. Initially the group was formed with four Afghan refugee women, and later
on joined by three more women.
The idea of Ilham first came in Aditi’s mind, while working on a UNHCR project
in 2015 with refugees who were single mothers. She wanted these women to have a
livelihood, which gives them a sense of being at-home and they can easily
relate it with their customs and traditions. Sharing the journey of Ilham,
Aditi says, “The first experiment of their culinary skills was at Dastkar, New
Delhi, in Sept 2015. The positive feedback received by the women at the fest
gave them a boost and encouraged them to become a part of the catering group
which gave them hope that they will be able to earn a livelihood in Delhi.” But
why a group on food and catering? “Surprisingly food was not the first idea of Ilham,
it was handcrafts and embroidery, inspired by Afghani culture. But we realize that
starting with clothes will need huge investments, so shifted to food,” she
shares.
Functioning form Bhogal, near Jangpura, Ilham serves many delicacies from Afghanistan, including Bolani, Ashak, Chapali Kebab, wrap, and Kabuli pulao, prepared with love and traditional flair by women like Farhat and Nasiha Nawabi, who are two of the three members working in Ilham currently. Farhat is from Ghazni, Afghanistan and moved here in 2012 after she lost her husband in an explosion by Taliban. Her son was only one-year-old when her husband died. For safety, she took asylum in India, and used to do household work to earn her living, before joining Ilham. “I used to leave my son locked in the room, while going for work, so he would not fall from the balcony or get kidnapped. Even though I was at work, my mind was always with my son worrying about him,” Farhat recalls. Life has become comfortable now, as she gets to stay at home to look after her son and earn a living at the same time. Cooking her homeland’s cuisine also gives her emotional comfort. Nasiha Nawabi, moved to Delhi in 2011 with her 8 children. She is from Parwan, Afghanistan, and came here after she lost her husband to heart disease due to a lack of medical facilities in Afghanistan. Initially, she tried to set up her own stall for serving Afghani homemade food, particularly Murgh Moshini and Chicken gravy. However, she faced stiff resistance from other residents of the area and her efforts remained futile. Ilham gave her new hope and she is now a master cook of Chapali Kebab. In Ilham, she learned the basics of business and also learnt a little bit of Hindi.
However, initially, it was
extremely challenging to convince women from Afgahnistan to join the group. “Initial
two-years were very difficult for Ilham
because many women had their own apprehensions; they considered India as a
transit point and wanted to be settled in other developed countries. Many
refugees don’t take up livelihood projects assuming that their chance of
settling to a different country will be diminished. Another reason was no
steady income from these livelihoods. I had to motivate them to understand the
aspects of business, how it takes time for business to grow eventually,” Aditi
adds.
Finally, dedication and joint
efforts of these women bore results and within 3 months of its operations, Ilham had a profit of Rs. 25000. In
2018, the profit reached to 6 lakh. These power women of Ilham haven’t looked back after that despite many obstacles and
have come a long way ever since. On March 22nd 2018, the ILHAM Afghan Cuisine
was awarded as the ‘Best Women Food Entrepreneurs’ at the Delhi Street Food Awards
organized by Delhi Food Walks in association with the American Centre. This year
ILHAM was invited to O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat to put up a stall on the
occasion of International Women’s Day. Ilham
has also started its catering with US Embassy, followed by receiving many
orders by reputed names like Taj Vivanta in Gurgaon. They’ve even catered in
college festivals of Jamia Islamia and Miranda House and have reached out to
hundreds of food lovers in festivals like Jashn-e-Rekhta and Jashn-e-Adab, with
more than 2000 orders received.
Ilham has been an inspirational journey, made possible by the grit
and determination of these wonder women from Afghanistan, to change their
destiny forever.
Superstar Deepika Padukone recently attended a
fundraising event in New York hosted by the Youth Anxiety Center. She flew to
New York for one night to participate in this event as she considers mental
health an extremely important issues and something really close to her heart. The
actress had opened up about her depression several years ago. Since her
recovery, the actress has worked really hard to remove the stigma around
depression in India and has been a fighter for mental health awareness.
Deepika, revealed in an Instagram post, after the
event, that the lessons she has learnt
from battling depression are patience and hope. Deepika posted two pictures of
herself at the fundraiser, writing: “Mental illness has presented society
with a very tough challenge. But my experience with the illness has taught me
so much; to be patient, for one, but most importantly that there is
‘Hope’!”
The fundraising dinner also saw a host of
celebrities in attendance to raise awareness about anxiety, including Anna
Wintour and Kendall Jenner. At the dinner, Deepika also gave a speech about her
experience with depression and what helped her overcome it.
More than 70 million people were
counted last year as displaced from their homes, a record that underestimates
the real number of refugees and asylum seekers, the UN said Wednesday.
In its annual global trends
report, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) described the figure of 70.8
million at the end of 2018 as “conservative”, particularly because
the number of people who fled Venezuela’s devastating crisis is undercounted. The
UNHCR attributed the increase partly to surging displacement in Ethiopia caused
by inter-ethnic conflict, and in Venezuela, where thousands are fleeing every
day amid an economic collapse that has triggered shortages of basic food and medicine.
At the end of 2017, by
comparison, 68.5 million people were counted as being forcibly displaced by
violence or persecution. An estimated 3.3 million people have left Venezuela
since the start of 2016, according to the UN.
Overall, the number of displaced
people in the world has doubled over the last 20 years and now exceeds the
population of Thailand. The report lists 41.3 million internally displaced
people (IDPs), 25.9 million refugees, and 3.5 million asylum seekers — those
awaiting a decision on their bid for official refugee protection.
The countries with the most
internally displaced people — fleeing within their own countries — are Syria,
wracked by conflict since 2011 and Colombia, plagued by decades of violence,
said the UNHCR.
A year ago, on this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP
chief Amit Shah pulled the plug on the coalition government of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP in Jammu & Kashmir. They decided that
the government headed by Mehbooba Mufti needed to be sent packing as its
continuation was harming their party.
It is most likely that none of 25 party MLAs, nor its 11
MLCs knew anything about Modi-Shah plans. Most of them were happy being part of
the ruling dispensation of the state.
Before that, voters across Jammu region were getting
alienated from the BJP from where it had won all its 25 seats in the 2014
Legislative Assembly elections. Besides other factors, abrasive manner of the
handling of the infamous Ressana case by Mehbooba had damaged the ties with the
BJP badly.
If is often said that hindsight is 20:20 and yet we cannot
avoid looking at things in rear-view mirror, so to say. There is little doubt
that most BJP ministers in the Mehbooba government had failed to deliver. From
March 1, 2015, to June 19, 2018, what stood out more starkly was their
incompetence, and failure to lead, rather than any imaginative and innovative
solutions they applied in the ministries they headed.
Of course, these people from the BJP were totally raw as far
as governance goes. But contrast their performance with that of Dr Jitendra
Singh in the Modi ministry at the Centre. He had the PM’s backing, and that
became possible only because he did what was expected of him. It can thus be
said that he acquitted himself well in the ministries he handled.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Dr Nirmal
Singh, who was the Deputy Chief Minister to Mufti Mohammed Sayeed as also to his
daughter Mehbooba later. On the very first day of becoming Deputy CM, perhaps
within two hours or so, he was wrong footed by Mufti when the latter praised
Pakistan and argued for the release of Massarat Alam. Nirmal watched in awe and
could not utter a word of protest, or reservation against Mufti.
This was Mufti’s first major blow to the trust put in him by
the top leadership of the BJP, and of course the RSS. His manner of
articulation served to alienate them so completely. In November 2015, Mufti
again managed to rile Modi at a public meeting in Srinagar when he advocated
talks with Pakistan. Modi reacted almost instantly when he chided Mufti in his
speech later that he did not need “anyone’s advice” on that score.
This clearly showed that Modi and Mufti, the BJP and the
PDP, were not on the same page on various issues. Both parties knew from day
one their deep rooted differences but ultimately failed to keep them from
snowballing. The PDP had higher stakes in the coalition government for it was
leading the government.
Of course, it lost far more than the BJP when the latter
decided to pull the rug from under Mehbooba’s feet last year. Mehbooba often
acted in haste, as she had done in case of Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu whom she
dismissed summarily.
Her systematic undermining of senior party leaders like
Basharat Bukhari and Imran Reza Ansari also served to weaken the party.
Propping up her brother, Tassaduq Mufti, as virtual number two in the cabinet
did not help either.
The elder Mufti kept on harping about the Vajpayee doctrine
on Kashmir even when he was dealing with Modi. Mehbooba did the same during her
tenure, perhaps unnecessarily rubbing Modi the wrong way. This only acted as a
catalyst in Modi developing a strong antipathy for them. This sense of unease
and unfriendly overtures from Modi become clear when we consider the fact that
he did not go to meet ailing Mufti at the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
Mehbooba sure overestimated invincibility vis-a-vis the BJP
after she became the CM on her father’s demise. She used to behave in an
imperious manner earlier when her father was around. He was there to protect her
and act as a shield against her detractors.
Her unchanged behaviour as CM was the single most important
factor for her fall. Mehbooba’s abrasive way of reacting to any developments
did nothing to help her cause. When some party leaders left the PDP, she
compared them to garbage and this is likely to haunt her for a long time.
She has a long and bumpy road ahead in trying to rebuild the
PDP. With many party leaders choosing to part ways with her, it is not easy for
her to regroup party workers. Her garbage remark, made in extreme anger and
carelessness, will perhaps impede reconciliation with many of the leaders in
the future as well.
The father-daughter duo did all within their powers to
undermine party veteran Muzaffar Beigh. They virtually excluded him from any
role in the party’s day to day functioning in the state. It is ironical that
Mehbooba could think of no other person than Beigh to try to revive the party
once she lost the Chief Ministership.
Undermining people like Beigh, Bukhari, Drabu and Ansari
caused grievous injury to the party apparatus. Beigh can only try to help
Mehbooba revive the PDP but the damage done by the latter runs too deep.
In a meeting with Governor SP Malik on Tuesday, Mehbooba
exchanged pleasantries, as also her ideas about the state. Had she been meeting
him as CM then had things would not have gone against her on June 19, 2018!
Mehbooba Mufti often acted in haste in her heydays and she can
now brood over each of her actions leisurely. Modi is around till May 2024 and
there is little optimism for her party managing to reach even double digits
when the elections are held for the state assembly. Whenever.
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