[Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
Bipin
aliens at dataone.in
Tue Feb 23 16:43:04 IST 2010
When industrial progress more or less going through all over India, but that of Kashmir is stagnant so definitely restriction like such law would be the key reason.
-----Original Message-----
From: S. Jabbar [mailto:sonia.jabbar at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 1:23 PM
To: Bipin
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
How are you so sure?
> From: Bipin <aliens at dataone.in>
> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:51:01 +0530
> To: "'S. Jabbar'" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>
> But why article 370? It should be free for all Indians to buy land there. This
> is perhaps hindrance of progress. Industries might not willing for lease and
> they want there owner ship land instead.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: S. Jabbar [mailto:sonia.jabbar at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 12:22 PM
> To: Bipin
> Cc: Sarai
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>
> Dear Bipin,
> It would be useful to familiarize yourself about the industrial policies of
> the state before referring to the abolition of Article 370 as a quick fix.
> Perhaps this mail will help.
>
> The govt of J&K has a number of industrial estates in the Valley as well as
> in Jammu where highly subsidized land is available to entrepreneurs on long
> lease-- 90 years I think. Plus lots of other incentives to lure
> industrialists, but they haven't really worked. J&K had some industry
> before the troubles started in 1989. All of these closed down because of
> militancy including Mohan Meakin and HMT.
>
> There are other problems also which have nothing to do with the present
> political situation and that is geography and the fact that Kashmir which
> was once an entrepot, a hub on the lucrative Central Asia trade route is now
> a backward frontier without access to traditional markets. Pakistan & India
> attempted to address this by opening traditional roads between the Valley
> and Muzaffarabad and Poonch and Rawlakot (proposed Kargil-Skardu road yet to
> be re-opened), but these have not been thought through because there are
> currency & banking issues. Plus there is the additional problem of the ban
> on telecommunications between the two regions so that traders cannot
> coordinate with each other.
>
> The third reason for economic decline is the fact that young people are no
> longer engaging in traditional cottage industry like carpet & shawl weaving,
> wood carving, papier mache etc, which used to rank amongst the finest in the
> world. The reason for this is the same in the rest of India, that is,
> manual labour is looked down upon. No one wants to work with their hands
> and everyone wants sarkari naukri or the equivalent, which is any white
> collared job.
>
> These are some of the challenges that have to be addressed if you are
> seriously thinking about J&K's economy.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: Bipin <aliens at dataone.in>
>> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:05:28 +0530
>> To: "'S. Jabbar'" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
>> Cc: sarai-list <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Subject: RE: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>>
>> Dear Jabbar,
>>
>> "An overwhelming majority 71 per cent of the Valleys population is under 35.
>> An estimated 74 per cent of the youth are educated. But as a result of the
>> strife, stagnant economy and absence of industry there are no jobs. The
>> unemployment figure has touched 4 lakh half of them are college graduates."
>>
>> Problem with article/law 370 that no one than local Kashmiris buy land there.
>> If it is removed made free for all Indians, then you will see how industries
>> will set there and employment problem will solved definitely. But, it is
>> unfortunate that few (very minor) separatists dictate the terms there.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Bipin
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On
>> Behalf Of S. Jabbar
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:59 AM
>> To: Shuddhabrata Sengupta; Sarai
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>>
>>
>>
>> MAIL TODAY ePaper
>>
>>
>> Copyright © 2008 MAIL TODAY.
>>
>>
>> Feb 20, 2010
>> 'It is stifling to be young in Kashmir'
>> by Sonia Jabbar
>> ( As told to Neha Tara Mehta)
>>
>>
>> THERES a major difference between 1990 and 2010. In 1990, Kashmiris really
>> believed azadi was around the corner. Two historic events ‹ the withdrawal
>> of the Soviet army from Afghanistan and the fall of the Berlin Wall ‹
>> convinced people that great powers were not invincible and the
>> demonstrations in Kashmir, though full of anger, had a great degree of
>> optimism. Today, the demonstrations flow from a deep well of nihilism and
>> the reason for this is also located in recent history.
>>
>> From 2000 onwards, when the Vajpayee government initiated a series of
>> movements towards reconciliation with Pakistan on Kashmir ‹ the ceasefire in
>> 2000 and the Lahore Pact ‹ it created a very positive atmosphere. Everyone,
>> from General Pervez Musharraf on the Pakistani side to the mainstream
>> political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Kashmiri separatists, were
>> outdoing each other to come up with creative solutions. There were talks,
>> both public and secret, Track II meetings and round- table conferences at
>> the highest levels. The 2002 elections were very successful and all this
>> generated a great degree of public confidence and optimism.
>>
>> Both India and Pakistan failed to take advantage of the tremendous goodwill
>> that they had generated. Nothing happened. By 2007, peoples hope started
>> dwindling. There was no alternative but a life of constant tension
>> between the guns of the army and those of the militants.
>>
>> Most young people in Kashmir view the Indian military presence from two
>> perspectives: one, as an army of occupation, and two, as an irritant you
>> have to negotiate with every day when you come across road blocks and
>> bunkers. What do you do with a life that's continually disrupted by hartals
>> and curfews? Young people in the rest of the country have no idea of just
>> how stifling it is to be young in Kashmir. There doesnt seem to be a way
>> out, so young people are filled with suspicion and cynicism.
>>
>>
>> The Amarnath issue in 2008 was a non- issue. It was an excuse for the
>> volcano of disappointment and frustration to erupt. The separatists took
>> advantage of the groundswell. At that time I spent some time in downtown
>> Srinagar. Though I found the stone- throwers employed by separatist groups
>> as agent provocateurs, most of the demonstrators were young and gullible
>> boys. These I found to be extremely frustrated youth who took to the streets
>> at the slightest provocation. For some, it was a rite of passage to prove
>> ones masculinity. It was considered an act of bravado to have taken on the
>> police.
>>
>> These are young people who have grown up in the last 20 years, their
>> movements constricted by the military presence and restriction on movements.
>> An overwhelming majority ‹ 71 per cent of the Valleys population ‹ is under
>> 35. An estimated 74 per cent of the youth are educated. But as a result of
>> the strife, stagnant economy and absence of industry there are no jobs. The
>> unemployment figure has touched 4 lakh ‹ half of them are college graduates.
>> And because they cant settle in life financially, they marry much later. So
>> you have young people who would normally have married in their early 20s,
>> are now marrying in their late 20s or early 30s.
>>
>> This large population of frustrated, nihilistic young people is most
>> susceptible to being drawn into another cycle of militancy. Death has more
>> meaning for them than life. The only way this situation can be salvaged is
>> if they see some forward movement on the Kashmir problem.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
>>> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:19:12 +0530
>>> To: reader-list list <reader-list at sarai.net>
>>> Subject: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>>>
>>> Dear All,
>>
>> Two bits of news that came in, of a Taleban beheading of two sikhs
>>> in
>> Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, and of the death of an 11
>> day
>>> old infant in Kashmir, during a scuffle between a group of
>> protestors and
>>> the infant's parents, who were being apparently
>> prevailed upon to join their
>>> protest - are shocking.
>>
>> The Taleban's beheading of the two Pakistani Sikhs is
>>> barbaric and
>> needs to be condemned in the strongest possible words.
>>
>> And the
>>> mindless hot-headedness of those who precipitated the infants
>> death in
>>> Kashmir also points to the fact that the pro-Azadi camp has
>> a great deal of
>>> introspection to do about how it handles the day to
>> day aspects of running a
>>> protest movement. I think that the 'stone
>> pelting' protests become in
>>> several instances, episodes for lumpen
>> young men to let off their macho
>>> steam. The second Palestinian
>> intifada degenerated into something that the
>>> Israeli Armed Forces
>> could completely crush because the twin tactics of
>>> 'stone pelting'
>> and suicide bombing totally alienated both public opinion
>>> across the
>> world, and also ensured that ordinary citizens found it
>>> increasingly
>> intimidating to be a part of the protest process. Protest
>>> became a
>> young men and adoloscent boys fantasy of militancy, not a serious
>>> and
>> non-violent challenge to state power. There is a real danger that the
>>>
>> same might occur in Kashmir.
>>
>> I remain convinced that the end of the military
>>> occupation of the
>> Kashmir valley is a worthwhile goal. I am also fully aware
>>> that the
>> pro-Azadi camp is fuelled at present by little other than rage. I
>>> do
>> not think that rage alone is a basis for a worthwhile political goal.
>> I
>>> find the incident in which the infant died, as regrettable as
>> instances
>>> where children have either died or been severely injured by
>> police,
>>> paramilitary or army actions in the recent past in the
>> Kashmir valley.
>>
>> The
>>> absence of a vision can never be made up for by a surfeit of
>>> stones.
>>
>> sadly,
>>
>> Shuddha
>>
>>
>>
>> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>> The Sarai Programme at
>>> CSDS
>> Raqs Media
>>> Collective
>> shuddha at sarai.net
>> www.sarai.net
>> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>>
>>
>> _____
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>>
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>
>
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