The Varmul PostVolume: 01 | Issue: 07 | 19th - 26th December 2014 | Pages: 08 | English Weekly | Rs. 3/-

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Baram

ulla

Interpreting the Kashmiri vote

By Ayesha Pervez

Page 6

Transfersbefore

IPL 2015Page 7

SOPORE:THENEGLECTEDTOWN ?

In Solidarity: World United with

PakistanPage 3

Ranji Trophy: J&K crash to

277-run defeatPage 7

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/2WEEKLY SNIPPETS

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Will take action if any member found involved

in voting: jama’atThe chief of the religio-po-litical organi-zation Jama’at Islami (JeI), Moh a m m a d A b d u l l a h Wani, said it

will dismiss any cadre against whom the charges of voting during Assembly elections are proven.Wani said JeI has already intimated to its cadre to remain away from the poll exercise. “We have sent a clear message to our cadre that they should not participate in elections and neither should they vote. When JeI says it has nothing to do with the poll process, how could it take part into it?”.Wani said that if the reports that JeI cadre in North and other parts of Kashmir valley had voted are correct, then the organization would not be the mute spectator over this grave issue. “JeI would take disciplinary action against any of its registered member who has taken part in the poll exercise. We will take action against those of our registered members who have voted. So far we have not received any complaint, if we receive we will take action,” Wani said.However, the Jama’at chief was quick to add that any person who has taken part in JeI’s function but is not a member, will not be scrutinized. “Anyone who is the Jama’at sympathizer cannot be stopped from voting if he is not our member,” he told KNS.Reports earlier surfaced that some Jama’at cad-res have taken part in voting and would be in-strumental in making certain political parties to win.

Air India plane almost hits UAV in Leh

An Air India aircraft operating the ultra difficult Delhi-Leh sector recently was prevented by a disaster twice on the same day — once each time it was approaching to land in Leh on the two

flights it operated that day — by the sheer pres-ence of mind shown by its pilots. While com-munication failure at Leh air traffic control (ATC) tower was the common problem in both the approaches, an unmanned aerrial vehicle added to the problem on the second flight.On the first approach, AI’s Airbus A-320 flying in as AI 3449 experienced communication failure with the air traffic control (ATC) tower managed by Indian Air Force at this defence air field. “In the case of a communication failure, green flares are fired to ask the aircraft ap-proaching to land or red flares are shot to com-municate that landing permission has not been given. That day, the experienced pilots (Leh flight is given only to specially trained pilots) for the first landed after seeing a green flare being fired from the Leh airport,” said sources.

Hideout bustedin Handwara

Based on a specific input, a search operation of Army was launched in Waligam forest Hind-wara which resulted in recovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition.According Police Spokesman, In joint search operation by Handwara Police and 6RR busted a hideout in the forest area of Rainawari in Waligam and recovered one AK 47, 1450 of AK

rounds, 170 Pika rounds, 20 UBGL grenades, 09 detonators, 03 IED RC, 01 Benet cover, 04 RPG rods and 02 RPG boosters.A case has been registered in this regard and investigation taken up.

Govt to make food adulteration law more stringent

Responding to concern expressed in the Lok Sabha over rampant food adulteration the gov-ernment said that it would review laws to make them more stringent. Union health minister J P Nadda said that a task force had been set up to recommend changes in the Food Safety and Standards Act. The task force is expected to submit its report in 45 days.Amid concerns voiced by law-makers over the “slow poison” in the form of food adulteration, unregulated use of pesticides and antibiotics, especially in poultry products, Nadda termed it as a “serious health hazard” and said government will strengthen manpower and infrastructure to tackle the challenge.Nadda said 13,571 out of 72,200 food samples analyzed in 2013-14 were adulterated, resulting in launch of 10,325 civil and criminal cases, and assured the House that the government was committed to curb what Singh described as a “crime with humanity.”

Sarpanch shot dead in Hygam

Unidentefied gunmen kidnapped and killed a sarpanch in Hygam area of Baramulla district. This is the second sarpanch killing since the start of assembly elec-tions.Sopore SP Abdul Qayoom told re-por te r s “Some four-five militants kidnapped Ghulam Mohammed, 62, at 8.45 pm on Friday from his house in Hygam village and then killed him.” The body was re-covered from a local orchards, one kilometre from his house, Saturday morning, Qayoom said.He said that the police are investigating the case and are looking for leads. Mohammed, who is survived by five daughters, was initially associ-ated with the Congress. However, he was not affiliated to any political party at present. A known social worker and philanthropist, Mo-hammad was also a poet. Protests were held in the area following the killing.

PDP activist shot at in Srinagar outskirts

Unknown gunmen shot at a worker of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at Parimpora area of Srinagar outskirts. A police official said that PDP activist Tariq Ahmad Baba son of Ghulam Mohammad of Barthana Qamarwari was shot at by the gunmen near Fruit Mandi, Parimpora around 8:25 pm.Baba was immediately shifted to Sher-e-Kash-mir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, in critical condition, he said.

Counting arrangements finalized in Kupwara

The District Election Officer, Kupwara, Itrat

Hussain Rafique convened a meeting of Return-ing Officers and security agencies to review the counting arrangements.The District Election Officer was apprised that adequate security arrangements, uninterrupted power supply, drinking water facilities, and other logistic arrangements in the counting halls of ITI Kupwara and Handwara for 5 Assembly segments have been made.It was given out that the counting of votes for 1-Karnah, 2-Kupwara and 3-Lolab shall be held at ITI Kupwara. Similarly, the counting of votes for 4-Handwara and 5-Langate will be held at ITI Handwara.

Slain militant of Ahmednagar encounter identified as bijbehara

residentOne of the two militants killed in an encounter at Ahmed Nagar area of Srinagar early this month was on Tuesday identified to be a resident of South Kashmir’s Bijbehara town. The iden-tity was established after his body was legally exhumed and his relatives identified him.Earlier, his father moved an application to the police claiming that the slain militant was his son. The body was then exhumed on the direc-tion of Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar.“The body of the militant was exhumed in pres-ence of a Magistrate and the relatives identified him as Shahid-ul-Islam Malik son of Moham-mad Shafi Malik resident of Arwani, Bijbehara,” a police spokesperson said. The body was handed over to his relatives for last rites.Pertinently, two car-borne militants were killed in an encounter at Ahmed Nagar area in the outskirts of Srinagar city. One of the militants was killed on spot in retaliatory fire while an-other was killed after three hours of refuge in a nearby cow shed.One of the slain militants was earlier identified as Qari Asrar, who, according to police, was an active member of the Lashkar-e-Toiba militant outfit and was involved in a number of militancy related incident.“A Special Investigation Team has been formed to trace the third militant who has escaped in a white Santro car in which all the three militants were boarding before the incident,” the police spokesperson informed.

Kashmir University film wins national award

EMMRC of the Kashmir University bagged a national award at a prestigious film festival at the Indian capital New Delhi. According to the University spokesperson, the film ‘SECMOL – The School for Norphel’ won the best film award in education category at the second Wood-

pecker Film Festival and Forum organized at the India Habitat Centre New Delhi..The film tells the story of Students Educational and Cultural Movement, which was founded by Sonam Wangchuk and some other young Lada-khis in 1988. This movement was launched to bring about reforms in the educational system and to bring down the percentage of failures in Ladakh.“The film (SECMOL) was shot at Ladakh. It revolves around a Nobra boy, Norphel, who had failed in 10th grade. Norphel’s story is that of courage and the right environment provided by his School, the SECMOL. It is an alternate school at Leh which enrolls only 10th grade failures. It shapes and boosts their personality besides helping them pass the exams,” he said.“The documentary film demonstrates how our educational system fails even the brightest and calls for relook on the curriculum, the course

material and the techniques of teaching and learning. At Norphel’s school, the stress is more on learning then on scoring the marks,” he stated.Woodpecker Film Festival and Forum is India’s premier competitive film festival focusing on documentaries and short films.

DEO B’la inspects counting centers

The District Election Officer (DEO) Baramulla inspected counting centers established at Degree College Baramulla, ITI Pattan and Agriculture College Wadoora.SSP Baramulla, SP Sopore and the concerned Returning Officers accompanied the DEO.While reviewing the arrangements, the DEO directed the concerned authorities to en-sure adequate se-curity arrange-m e n t s , un inter r upted power supply, drinking water facilities, instal-lation of counting tables and other logistic ar-rangements at all the counting centers.During the inspection it was informed that the counting of votes for 6-Uri, 12-Sangrama and 13-Baramulla shall be held at Degree College Baramulla and counting of votes for 7-Rafiabad and 8-Sopore at Agriculture College Wadoora while counting for 14-Gulmarg and 15-Pattan shall be held at ITI Pattan.

Officers to keep strict vigil on sale of Acid:

DM BlaDistrict Magistrate Baramulla has directed the concerned authorities to intensify vigil to check the sale of acid to avoid its misuse and avert any untoward incidents in the district. The concerned have been asked to furnish action taken reports in this regard to the DC office Baramulla on weekly basis.

Unidentified body recovered in KupwaraPolice on Wednesday recovered an unidentified male body from Kralpora area in north Kash-mir’s Kupwara district.Official sources told GNS that a body under mysterious circumstances was recovered from a Nallah on Kralpora Trehgam road.Meanwhile, a case has been registered and further investigations taken up in this regard. (GNS)

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/3FEATURE REPORT

BREAKING DOWN

TEHREEK-e-TALIBAN PAKISTAN

In Solidarity: World United with PakistanPeshawar: World in general and Pakistan in particular woke up to a day of mourning on Wednesday after Taliban militants killed 133 students at a school in the city of Peshawar in a grisly attack which shocked Pakistan and the world.People around the world lit can-dles and staged overnight vigils as parents prepared to bury their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar - a big, volatile city on the edge of Paki-stan’s lawless tribal belt.Pakistanis may be used to almost

daily militant attacks against the security forces but an outright assault on children stunned the country, prompting commentators to call for a tough military re-sponse.In Peshawar, the vast grounds of the military-run Army Public School were all but deserted, with a handful of snipers manning the roofs of its pink brick-and-stone buildings.A day after the attack, Peshawar appeared subdued and many were still in shock, recalling the grue-

some events and trying to soothe each other. More details of the well-organized attack emerged as witnesses came forward with their stories.“The attackers came around 10:30 am on a pick-up van,” said Issam Uddin, a 25-year-old school bus driver.“They drove it around the back of the school and set it on fire to block the way. Then they went to Gate 1 and killed a soldier, a gatekeeper and a gardener. Firing began and the first suicide attack

took place.”Seven Taliban attackers wearing bomb vests cut through a wire fence to gain entry to the school, before launching an attack on an auditorium where children were taking an exam.

Gunmen then went from room to room at the military-run school, shooting pupils and teachers where they found them in a siege that lasted eight hours, survivors say.

Who are the Pakistani TalibanA look at the Pakistani Taliban, a militant organisation that has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar:

WHO ARE THE PAKISTANI TALIBAN? The extremist group is made up of fighters who largely have been based in North Waziristan, a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. They have been battling government troops in the north-west since Pakistan aligned itself with the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. But the Pakistani Taliban didn’t officially form until 2007 as an um-brella organisation that included various militant factions, all aligned against the government. In recent months, the organisation has frac-tured amid a Pakistani military offensive and U.S. drone strikes that have raised tension in the ranks. Known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, it is headed by Mullah Fazlullah, a militant com-mander who claimed responsibility for trying to kill education activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012. The teenager survived the shooting and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

WHAT ARE THEIR GOALS? The TTP has vowed to overthrow the government and install a harsh form of Islamic law. The extremists are aligned with the Afghan Taliban a group fighting U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan as well as al-Qaeda militants who also live in the rugged northwest. They have frequently attacked Pakistani troops, government targets and civilians to help carry out their goals. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the violence, but Tuesday’s school assault was one of the deadliest in more than a decade of fighting.

WHAT HAS PAKISTAN’S GOVERNMENT DONE TO STOP THEM? Pakistan’s military has carried out numerous operations in the tribal areas over the years, and more than 4,000 soldiers have been killed, with thousands more wounded. But many Pakistanis are tired of the operations and question their effectiveness. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, elected in 2013 partly on a platform of promising to negotiate an end to the violence, has tried for months to talk to the militants with little result. When militants attacked the Karachi international airport in June, the violence shocked the country. The government began an offensive in the militant hub of North Waziristan the last remaining tribal area where the military had not launched an operation. Pakistan says it has killed more than 1,000 militants in the operation, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Pakistan Urges Afghans to Help Find Taliban Leaders Behind Massacre

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s army and intelligence chiefs traveled to Afghanistan on Wednesday to seek help locating the Pakistani Taliban commanders responsible for the massacre of students, officials said.

The trip, by Gen. Raheel

Sharif and Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, the head of the Inter-Services In-telligence spy agency, was described by officials of both countries as an effort to find common ground. The two neighbors have for years had an uneasy relationship, and tensions have frequently flared over cross-border attacks by mil-itants A senior security official here, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the meeting in Kabul on Wednesday, said Pakistan possessed hard evidence that Taliban commanders hiding on Afghan soil had coordinated Tues-day’s attack.

KASHMIR CONDEMNS THE ATTACK;

Absentia funeral prayers, Candlelight vigil heldSrinagar: Amid widespread condemnation, funeral prayers in

absentia were held at several places in Kashmir. Prayers were led by different religios leaders. Mirwaiz molvi Umar Farooq led prayers at jamia Masjid Nowhatta while Syed Ali Shah Geelani led the prayers at Jamia Masjid Hyderpora. On social media youth from Kashmir expressed condemnation of attack and solidarity with victims.

YES holds Candle light vigil in Baramulla

Baramulla: The Youth Empowerment Service (YES) ,a non-govern-mental organisation organised a candle light sit in protest in Baramulla.

The candle light sit in protesters expressed solidarity with the be-reaved families who have lost their dear ones in massacre inflicted by terrorists in Peshawar Pakistan. While condemning the innocent killings ,the Youth Empowerment service president , Sahil Dar said, “we strong-ly condemn the innocent killing of children of Pakistan .Such an act is inhumane and un-Islamic and such heinous crimes must be stopped at any cost”

Global youth foundation coordinator Abid Salaam also expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and expressed deep concern for such heinous act.

“I express solidarity with the bereaved families who have lost their children and such heinous acts should not be repeated in the history,” he added.

Mushtaq Kirmani, General secretary writers forum Baramulla said that Islam condemns terrorism.

“Islam never allows Muslims to carry out the terror acts but it stops us from acts related to terrorism”, he added.

Nazir Bonyari a prominent writer, Shiekh Hameed social activist, Ravendar Singh President Human Rights Committee for Protection for North India also expressed grief over this inhumane act of terror.

Funeral Prayers in Absentia led by Mirwaiz molvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani in srinagar.

Candle light Sit in Protest organised byYouth Empowerment Service (YES) in Baramulla.

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/4COVER STORY

Ground Report By Noor-ul-Haq

Calling Sopore a town without administration will never be im-proper to say – Heavy rush of traf-fic without proper management, lack of parking lots, absence of civic-sense among local business community and public, who park vehicles on roadside without caring about pedestrians and commuters. All this provides a grim look of the Apple town, once known as Chota London! Dusty roads and heaps of garbage welcome you to this town. Constructions on agri-cultural land with due help of cer-tain departments of administration is another problem which this town is going through. Administration is nowhere. Is it apathy of admin-istration towards local residents, lack of civic sense, or step moth-erly behavior with people of this town known for its contribution towards resistance movement! And, no one is ready to take responsibil-ity for this mess. But everybody questions as who is responsible?

Sopore, is known for its apples that drive the state’s largest Rs

4,000 crores (annual) apple indus-try. But irony is that the town is bereft of all basic amenities. Res-idents complain that the town has always been discriminated when it comes to any developmental ac-tivity for one reason or the other.

In absence of any proper traffic management, Sopore town is wit-nessing massive traffic jams, es-pecially during the office hours. A cursory look at the College Road, Iqbal Market, Main Chowk portrays the overall picture of traffic mis-management in this apple town! Not a single traffic policeman is visible at these important junctions to manage the traffic at rush hours. Heavy vehicles enter and leave the town at will, with buses, mini buses and hundreds of cars, sumos, autos creating more problems for pedestrians and commuters. Even tonga wallas are not behind to add misery to the commoners. Being

stuck for hours in the traffic jam is a normal thing for the people of Sopore. According to officials 1.5 lakh passenger vehicles enter and exit the town on an average every day. But to manage such a huge rush not a single traffic policeman is visible in this whole town. Peo-ple are that much busy, and without any civic sense that at times am-bulances ferrying patients to hos-pitals are stuck in traffic jam for hours together; the government is equally responsible for this mess.

Failure of the traffic department to ensure smooth f low of traffic has evoked strong resentment among the commuters and locals.

Tanveer Ahmad, a college stu-dent said that “Frequent traffic jams drastically affect our lives. The employees and the students are un-able to reach their destination in time.

Chief Executive Municipal Coun-cil Sopore, Ab. Rashid Shah while showing resentment towards the responsible departments to regulate traffic in town said that he has kept his men for regulation of traffic at Main Chowk, which otherwise is

not duty of Municipal Council. “It is the duty of traffic police

and the concerned departments to manage the traffic, not of Munic-ipal council. I have no authority to seize a vehicle; municipal coun-cil can’t do anything about this. But if given ample support from law and order agencies, I can han-dle this mess”, he added.

The sumo drivers take luxuary in parking their vehicles as they wish. Most often they do it on road-sides, adding to the traffic jam; there is no specific stand for them. They park either outside the Ma-ternity Hospital or outside Girls Higher Secondary School, and at times they park a sumo, a new stand is there! Residents blame that nei-ther the traffic police, nor the As-sistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) is taking any solid steps to curb this menace – allot sumo drivers any specific stand, which

will help to minimize the chances of traffic jams at peak hours.

“There is no space for us to park the vehicles. From last ten years we hear that some state-of-the-art bus stand will be there for Sopore

town. And we are still waiting for that”, says Bashir Ahmad a Sumo driver evoking a laughter among the fellow drivers.

“There is not a single parking slot in the town. People have no option but to park their vehicles aside randomly,” said a shopkeep-er Bilal Khuroo.

While rebuffing the concept of traffic management, ARTO Sopore Jamshed Choudhary finds fine no solution to the erring drivers. “People need to accept reality; Administration is not always wrong! Only this year my department has generated a whopping revenue of 24 lakhs as fine from erring driv-ers”, he says.

“Fine is no solution to this prob-lem; Civic sense is! We need to inculcate that it is our duty not to park vehicles on roadside, not to err while driving. There are no

such traffic jams at places outside valley, because they follow traffic rules. Without a certain degree of civic sense, we can’t get rid of traf-fic jams”, says Chaudhary.

Even the Mobile Magistrate So-

pore, Mohd Iqbal Masoodi seconds ARTO that f ine is no solution.

Masoodi says that judiciary has nothing to do with execution part. There is a separate wing of police for managing the traffic on roads. Besides people are also equally responsible for this.

“ It is the job of traffic police and RTO to manage the traffic; allot them the stands and fine the erring drivers. We help them in solving the cases”, he added.

The roads in town remain blocked by hundreds of street vendors. Ton-gas plying in the town is also a reason for traffic chaos. Few years back the government imposed a ban on the Tongas in main town but the ban proved short lived for one reason or another. Nobody is going to take responsibility for this traffic chaos. But who will bell the cat?

SOPORE :

Main Chowk Sopore: No Traffic cops at sight

Iqbal Market: Road occupied by Vendors

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/5COVER STORY

Superintendent of Police Sopore Ab Qayoom while showing his willingness to sort out this problem says that All the concerned depart-ments – traff ic police, ARTO, Municipal Council or the local business communities – it is our collective duty to solve this prob-lem of traffic jam, and illegal park-ing.

“Though traffic management is not the job of police but we will provide all the necessary measures, if the concerned departments will take any positive step towards solv-ing the problems of this town,” he added.

Significantly, near the College Chowk few policemen can be seen managing the traffic which other-wise is not their job, which in turn does help in the smooth plying of traffic.

President Traders Federation Sopore Haji Mohammad Ashraf Ganaie, while expressing his anger towards the government officials said,” Administration is nowhere in Sopore town. We don’t have any parking lots. So where will the people, the businessmen park their vehicles. There is no one to regu-late the traffic chaos. I requested the officials many a times to tem-porarily open the RTC yard for parking services, so as the business community of this town will use that for parking their vehicles and minimize the chances of traffic jam. But here no one listens to you.”

Residents say that the entry and exit of heavy load vehicles during the day hours, the deliberate delay in Sopore bypass bridge is also one of the main reasons for this mess in town. Unfortunately 23years have passed after the construction on Sopore-Bypass Bridge was ini-

tiated, the completion of this 226-meter-long bridge is still a dream.

“We have requested the author-ities not to allow heavy load ve-hicles during the day time. But I can’t understand despite knowing that reason for traffic jams why aren’t the authorities stopping such entries or exits at rush hours,” said Haji Mohd Ashraf.

Rebuffing the claim of few of-

ficials that militancy is the main hurdle in the underdevelopment and traffic mismanagement citing the example of killing of a traffic policeman few years ago, Haji said, “It is a lame excuse. They don’t want to work honestly and to hide their incompetency such officials seek help of lame excuses.”

A traffic police official said that vendors in Sopore town have oc-cupied not only footpaths but they have encroached main roads as well.

“Our job is to regulate traffic but without the help of other con-cerned departments we can’t regulate the traffic smoothly,” he said

Haji Mohd Ashraf on being asked why the shopkeepers oc-cupy the footpaths, which is also a reason for traffic mess said, “Occupying footpath is illegal. Both the people and government are responsible for this. But gov-

ernment should take stiff action against the erring shopkeepers. Isn’t it their duty?”

Besides traffic jams, encroach-ments by shopkeepers and incom-petency of administration, heaps of garbage at various places add to the miseries of local residents besides the stinking surroundings and dogs feeding on that garbage, which a big nuisance for pedes-trians. These dogs don’t even spare the bikers. Every day around 40 tonnes of solid waste is gener-ated in the town. Residents say that plague is not far from this town.

“We use soil to cover the gar-bage as we have no such dumping site as yet. The Tullebal dumping site is still under construction despite opposition from the locals. Until and unless we are not pro-vided a dumping site, we have no option but to dump it at specific sites and cover it with soil “, said Ab. Rashid Shah, Chief Executive Municipal Counsil.

Moreover, this town despite producing a huge revenue from its delicious fruits is nowhere in the list of MLA’s. The road con-necting this town with fruit man-di is in shambles, schools, col-leges, hospitals are in a dilapi-dated conditions, safe drinking water, macadamized link roads are some plans yet to be execut-ed. But who cares? Not the ad-ministration!

THE NEGLECTED TOWN

Entery of Heavy vehicles during rush hours create traffic jam

SRTC yard which could be utilised as Parking Space for vehicles

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/6OP-ED

By Ayesha Pervez

High voter turnout in the first three phases of the ongoing Assembly election in the State of Jammu and Kashmir is being venerated as a sign of “Kashmiris rejecting separatist politics” and “burying the demand for azaadi (independence).” While the Prime Minister has said that the people of Kashmir “have chosen the ballot and have given their reply to the bullets,” a high profile journalist decided to debate the election in Kashmir under the rubric of “Valley Shuns Separatists.” Such convenient equations, often accom-panied by an aggressive nationalist un-dertone, negate the complexities of “choic-es” Kashmiris make in a political conflict theatre that the region is, and often referred to by the media as a flashpoint. In the process, their political agency is obliter-ated and condescendingly declared as being limited in binaries — an acceptance of Indian democracy or submitting to the will of separatist leaders.

Understanding the turnout

It will be erroneous to construe the high voter turnout as a sign of Kashmiris embracing the Indian Constitution. There are varied determining factors, embedded in the political conflict situation of Kash-mir that influence people’s decision to vote. Many in Kashmir assert that it reflects developmental aspirations of a region where local institutions and the economy have been ravaged in the past 25 years of con-flict. The vote is for effective local gov-ernance that will deliver social services. The ballot is being used to resolve day-to-day problems, to address unemployment, towards improved infrastructure like roads, schools, health systems and to fulfil basic needs like food security, water and elec-tricity.

“Jo nahin milega usko vote doonga,” (I will vote for what I am not going to get) was how a 60-year-old man who voted in the Kulgam constituency of south Kash-mir responded to a question on what he would vote for if given a choice between India and independence. The hint was telling. He went on say that he had voted in almost all the elections and added, “kisi ke darr se nahi” (not because I feared somebody). He had voted for development, emphasising that the winning MLA has a responsibility towards ensuring it.

A lawyer from Shopian district court, Habeel Iqbal, echoed similar sentiments. He said that people’s expectations from this exercise stem largely from the need to have a functional local government that is pro-development and pro-people. They do not see voting for their local MLAs as voting for India. Kashmiris do seem to associate themselves with the State elec-tion more than they do with the national elections. Low voter turnout in the par-liamentary election this year, 49.52 per cent, is evident of the disconnect when it comes to voting for “national issues”.

There are multiple dimensions as to how Kashmiris interpret the elections. Some call it political maturity. They see it as a befitting strategy to avoid having a party in power that has no sensibilities about Kashmir. A development profes-

sional from Ganderbal said if Kashmiris don’t vote, then the elected representatives will be more pro-India and less pro-Kash-miri people. Many see it as political lever-age in negotiating for issues such as an immediate and urgent repeal of draco-nian laws in force in Kashmir and the release of youth who have been booked under these laws. Some consider it im-portant for a long-term political solution to the conflict, which they think is only possible through consistent dialogue and negotiation with New Delhi.

Kinship and familial relations have also played a significant role in successive elections. A substantial rise in the number of candidates over the years, especially independent candidates, has led to a pro-portional increase in the number of peo-ple voting. Candidates have been able to leverage their social network in strength-ening their number of votes and support base.

Another dimension is anti-incumben-cy sentiments against the ruling political party. A much delayed and inadequate response from the government to the recent catastrophic floods in Kashmir has re-sulted in widespread public anger and frustration. However, there is a deeper and older resentment, against the Omar Abdullah government whom they accuse of unleashing brutal police force against unarmed civilians during the protests of 2010, and which resulted in the deaths of 112 civilians.

A journalist in Srinagar said that peo-ple know that they can never get justice from the court but they know they can punish him by making him lose this elec-tion.

A free and fair election?

Ahead of the election, separatist lead-ers, who represent political alternatives of self-determination in Kashmir, have been incarcerated. This includes the oc-

togenarian leader of the All Parties Hur-riyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Democracy is all about having a level-playing field and the creation of conducive and threat-free conditions for all to express their political viewpoint, with the right to mobilise people and influence masses. Such spaces and tools of non-violent dis-sent and alternative politics, which have played a constructive role in shaping and strengthening Indian democracy, have consistently been denied to Kashmiris. As a calibrated strategy to circumvent

any possibility of mobilisation against the election, hundreds of youth have been jailed throughout the Valley — not just the stone-pelters but also those who are likely to influence the masses with their speeches and online campaigns. Many have received threat calls to either “dis-cipline” their children or face police cases. Kashmiris say coercion tactics have also “evolved” over the successive elec-tions. In the garb of extending help to secure the release of detained men, fam-ilies are induced to vote. First they get men arrested ahead of the election and then in exchange for getting them released, they force people to vote, said Nasir Pati-garu, a businessman from Anantnag. In Srinagar, a 16-year-old stone-pelter said that workers of a mainstream political party had threatened his friends and him of PSA [Public Safety Act] and said, “‘choose to be with us or get arrested.’” When faced with two years of incarceration without a trial, they reluctantly chose to become campaigners for the party.

Politics of numbers

Branding high voter turnout as a clear settlement of political choice, between the Indian state and separatist sentiments, isolates Kashmiris from their everyday individual and group experiences and strips them of their political aspirations, which are manifested and played out “contra-

dictorily” in a multitude of spaces outside and beyond the polling booths. In 2008, localised demonstrations over the transfer of 99 acres of public land to the Amarnath shrine board gave way to a much larger struggle, to reassert the claim over their land and lives. Lakhs of people poured out on the streets of Kashmir raising anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. Time magazine reported that the largest dem-onstration during that phase saw more than 5,00,000 protesters at a single rally, among the largest in Kashmir’s history. Similarly, the 2010 uprising was marked by pro-independence slogans, a defiance of curfews, attacks on riot police with stones and a burning of vehicles and build-ings.

There are other spaces where people have consistently asserted their politics, even in the absence of calls from separat-ist leaders or being a part of organised demonstrations. Encounters of militants have witnessed a show of solidarity by the people where protests erupt instantly at the news of such killings. Marches to the encounter site, staging pro-freedom demonstrations and anti-India sloganeer-ing mark these protests. They are anything but an aberration in Kashmir. If numbers are the determining factor, then the pop-ular anti-India and pro-freedom protests, with hundreds of thousands of civilians participating, are perceptive of the po-litical aspirations of people, in contrast to the narrative of easy calculations. These protests become an uncomfortable po-litical antithesis to the “democracy of numbers” as defined for Kashmir.

Let’s take a quick peek into the his-tory of Assembly elections in Kashmir. In 1987, followed by a popular uprising and full-fledged guerrilla warfare against India, there was a record voter turnout of 74.9 per cent. During the height of mili-tancy and anti-India sentiments, in 1996, 53.92 per cent voted. In 2008, preceded by protracted anti-India protests, the turn-out was 61.49 per cent. This was followed by the pro-azaadi protests of 2010. There-fore, concluding that huge participation in an election as an absolute verdict on the political will of Kashmiris is not only reductive but renders the act ahistorical.

There seems to be an urgency in cel-ebrating the numbers. Should we not be asking, instead, whether this high voter turnout has been able to change the po-litical reality of Kashmir? A series of militant attacks a few days ago further challenges this very democratic feat. The region remains one of the highest milita-rised zones in the world, with draconian laws in force that disregard lives and dig-nity. Human rights abuses and the obsti-nate impunity which the perpetrators enjoy, militant attacks, soldiers of the Indian Army losing their lives, political repression and mass incarcerations are what define the political reality of Kash-mir. Elections have happened and people have voted in huge numbers, but this re-mains unchanged.

(Ayesha Pervez is a writer, social de-velopment professional and human rights researcher. Twitter: @pervez_ayesha)

(Courtesy: The Hindu)

Interpreting the Kashmiri voteIt will be erroneous to construe high voter turnout in Kashmir as a sign of an acceptance of the Indian Constitu-

tion. There are varied factors embedded in the political conflict situation that influence people’s decision to vote

High voter turnout was recorded in first two phases

“Jo nahin milega usko vote doonga,” (I will vote for what I am not going to get) was how a 60-year-old man who voted in the Kulgam constituency of south Kashmir responded to a question on what he would vote for if given a choice between India and

independence. The hint was telling.

The Varmul Post 19-26th December 2014 P/7SPORTS

Big names out in Daredevils revamp

After a disastrous 2014, Delhi Daredevils have opted to overhaul their squad by releasing a total of 13 players including their captain Kevin Piet-ersen and senior Indian pair of Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay

Royal Challengers let go of Yuvraj SinghYuvraj Singh, the most expensive buy of the

last IPL auction, has been released by Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore. Royal Challengers had paid Yuvraj Rs 14 crores ($2.33 million), an amount that consumed a massive share of their auction purse.

Kings XI release Pujara, Balaji and KartikKings XI Punjab have released Cheteshwar

Pujara, Murali Kartik and L Balaji from their squad for the next season of IPL. Kings XI can now add the amount generated from the release of Rs 4.7 crore ($782,000) to their auction purse for the 2015 season

Iqbal Abdulla moves to Royal ChallengersRoyal Challengers Bangalore made another

addition to their squad during the transfer period, signing left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla who was part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise last season. Abdulla played only one game for Royals in IPL 2014, after spending six seasons with Kolkata

Knight Riders where he took 33 wickets in 41 matches at 25.48.

Royal Challengers acquire BislaRoyal Challengers Bangalore have acquired

Kolkata Knight Riders’ wicketkeeper batsman Manvinder Bisla and have released Parthiv Patel to Mumbai Indians. Bisla, who played his first IPL season in 2010 with Kings XI Punjab, has been a part of the Knight Riders squad since 2011 and played a match-winning innings for the fran-chise in the IPL 2012 final. He had been re-purchased by the franchise in the auction earlier this year but played just one game for the side in IPL 2014.

Mumbai release Hussey and Praveen KumarMumbai Indians have bought batsman Unmukt

Chand from Rajasthan Royals and medium-pac-er Vinay Kumar from Kolkata Knight Riders during the first trading window for IPL 2015, which began on October 6. They have also acquired Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

The 2015 season will begin on April 8 and end on May 24. The IPL governing council also announced the windows for the 2016 and 2017 tournaments. IPL 2016 will be played between April 8 and May 29. IPL 2017 will be played be-tween April 5 and May 21.

Player transfers before IPL 2015A list of IPL player transfers before the 2015 season

Mumbai IndiansPragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Ben Dunk, Apurva Wankhede, CM Gautam, Krishmar Santokie and Sushant Marathe

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Amit Mishra, Aaron Finch, Darren Sammy, Irfan Pathan, Jason Holder, Venugopal Rao, Brendan Taylor, P Parameswaran, Anirudha S, Manprit Juneja

Chennai Super Kings Ben Hilfenhaus, John Hastings, Vijay Shankar, David Hussey

Delhi Daredevils

Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay, Jayadev Unadkat, Ross Taylor, Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Rahul Sharma, Wayne Parnell, J Neesham, Siddarth Kaul, Rahul Shukla, HS Sharath, Milind Kumar

Kings XI Punjab Cheteshwar Pujara, L Balaji, Murali Kartik Kolkata Knight Riders Jacques Kallis, Debabrata Das, Sayan Mondal

Rajasthan Royals Brad Hodge, Kevon Cooper, Ankit Sharma, Amit Sharma, Ankush Bains

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Yuvraj Singh, Muttiah Muralitharan, Albie Morkel, Ravi Rampaul, Sachin Rana, Shadab Jakati, Tanmay Mishra

Team Players released

Players released on December 15

Introduction of neutral umpires in Test cricket has led to a drop in the number of Leg Before Wicket (LBW) decisions going in favour of home teams, a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher has found.

The findings come amidst renewed debate on whether neutral umpiring is still required in Test matches following the introduction of the Decision Review System (DRS), researchers said.

Dr Abhinav Sacheti and Professor David Paton from Nottingham Univer-sity Business School and Dr Ian Greg-ory-Smith from the University of Shef-field analysed LBW decisions in ex-actly 1,000 Test matches that took place between 1986 and 2012 - nearly half of Test matches ever played in the his-tory of cricket.

Until 1994, both umpires in Test matches were from the same country as the home team. From 1994 to 2002, one of the two umpires was required to be from a neutral country and after 2002 both umpires were required to be neutral.

Researchers found clear evidence of fewer decisions in favour of home teams with neutral umpires.

“Our results suggest that when two home umpires officiated in Test match-es, away teams were likely to suffer on average 16 per cent more LBW decisions than home teams. When the ICC intro-duced the one neutral umpire policy, this advantage to home teams receded to 10 per cent,” Sacheti, lead author of

the study, said. “When two neutral umpires were

required in every Test match, this ad-vantage to home teams disappeared. This result holds even when we control for the quality of teams, the ground where the match was played and so on,” said Sacheti.

The researchers found that the bias by home umpires in favour of home teams had been particularly strong in Test matches played in Australia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A possible explanation for the find-ing is that home umpires were unduly influenced by pressure from local crowds and, indeed, a similar bias towards home teams has been noted amongst football referees, researchers said.

Many cricket fans have long claimed that home umpires are biased towards their own team and the findings of this latest research appear to provide sup-port for such claims.

“The results do not necessarily mean that umpires deliberately favoured their home teams - the bias may have been unconscious. The fact remains though that introducing neutral umpires seemed to get rid of the problem,” Paton said.

Recently, some commentators have suggested that the introduction of the DRS eliminates the need for neutral umpires, said researchers.

The study was published in the Jour-nal of the Royal Statistical Society.

LBW rulings in favour of hosts dropped due to neutral umpires

After humbling big boys Mumbai in their opening encounter, Jammu and Kashmir failed to weave their magic once again as they lost to Tamil Nadu by 277 runs on the third day of the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match.

Chasing a mammoth 409 for a win in the four-day encounter at the NPR College Ground, the Parvez Rasool-led side were shot out for 131 as TN left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas bagged five wickets.

J&K opener Shubham Khajuria top-scored with 60 runs as the visitors could only last 44 overs in their second in-nings.

The match was surely dominated by the hosts from start to finish as the Ramaswamy Prasanna-led side out-played the J&K team in every depart-ment.

TN, who had already got the up-perhand after J&K were skittled out

for 132 in reply to the first-innings score of 254, improved their batting show the second time around to bag six points.

Resuming Tuesday on 199 for one, overnight centurion Abhinav Mukund finally finished on 137 and stitched a second-wicket 124-run partnership with Baba Aparajith (73).

Dinesh Karthik also contributed a valuable 24 not out as medium-pacer Umar Nazir Mir picked up two wickets.

Brief Scores:

Tamil Nadu 254 and 286/5 dec in 69 overs (Abhinav Mukund 137, Baba Aparajith 73; Umar Nazir Mir 2-42)

Jammu and Kashmir 132 and 131 (Shubham Khajuria 60, Ian Dev Singh 31; Aushik Srinivas 5-12, Rahil Shah 3 64).

Ranji Trophy: J&K crash to 277-run defeat

The Varmul Post 12-19th December 2014 P/8