SRINAGAR: Congress leader and Member Parliament Rahul Gandhi Friday accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration of a big security lapse at Jawahar Tunnel stating that police were missing to control the crowd that had come to his reception.
“When we crossed Jawahar Tunnel, there was a huge crowd for my reception. But there was not a single police man to manage or control the crowd. My security guards advised me not to go ahead,” Rahul said addressing a press conference at Khanabal, Anantnag, as per news agency KNO. “It is very difficult for me to go against what my security guards advise me.”
He said that he was hopeful that security arrangements would be elaborate for his future programs that includes his culmination rally at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office in Srinagar where he is supposed to unfurl the tri-colour on January 30 and address a mega rally.
Speaking on the occasion, senior Congress leader Jai Ram Ramesh said that Rahulw as supposed to walk 16 kms today but he could walk only 4 kms due to breach of security. He said that administration must ensure proper security for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the days ahead especially when it reaches Srinagar.
He said due to the wrong policies of BJP and RSS, India as a nation is falling apart and the Yatra is an effort to bring the folks together. Ramesh said that BJY has nothing to do with the election politics as of now. “We keep on stating that there are two ways: one that of BJP and RSS and another that of Congress which is the Gandhian way.”
SRINAGAR: The Anti Corruption Bureau on Friday said it caught a Patwari red-handed while demanding and accepting bribe in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
Quoting an official the news agency KNO reported that Tariq Ahmad Shah, posted as Patwari Halqa, Hathbura, Ganderbal was caught red handed by sleuths of ACB of CBI Srinagar in a well laid trap while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 50,000 from a complainant.
He said the amount was recovered from the accused Patwari on the spot in the presence of the independent witnesses.
He said the ACB Srinagar has registered a formal case FIR .No.01/2023 under section 7 of the Prevention of corruption act, 1988. ( as amended in 2018).
The official said the accused Patwari was arrested on spot and taken into custody.
SRINAGAR: Weatherman on Friday said that ‘mainly dry weather’ was expected in 24 hours and isolated to “widespread” light rain and snow forecast thereafter for subsequent two days in Jammu and Kashmir. Also most parts of J&K recorded a drop in minimum temperature.
Quoting a meteorological department official news agency GNS reported that Srinagar recorded a low of 1.2°C, the same as on last night’s. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 2.2°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 0.6°C against minus 0.4°C on the previous night and it was 3.5°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of minus 4.3°C against minus 2.4°C on the previous night and it was 1.8°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.9°C against minus 0.6°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C above normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 8.6°C against minus 10.4°C on the previous night and it was 1.1°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 3.7°C against minus 1.7°C on the previous night and it was above 1.2°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 5.5°C against 6.3°C on the previous night. It was 3.2°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal recorded a low of 0.6°C (below normal by 0.4°C), Batote minus 0.1°C (below normal by 1.8°C), Katra 6.0°C (0.9°C below normal) and Bhadarwah minus 0.4°C (0.4°C below normal).
Ladakh’s Leh recorded a low of minus 11.2°C, the official said.
While mainly dry weather has been forecast for the next 24 hours, the MeT said that light to widespread rain and snow was likely from January 29th night-30 ( 60%).
He said in the last 24 hours till 0830 hours, Qazigund received 5.0cm of snow, Pahalgam 3.3cm and Kokernag 1.0cm.
Kashmir is under the grip of Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21. It does not mean an end to the winter either. It is followed by a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’ that occurs between January 30 and February 19 and a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
Amarjit Singh Dulat is one of the many Kashmir specialists. He has handled Kashmir in the capacity of a senior IB officer and later as RAW Chief. Even later when he was in the Vjapyee’s PMO, he was one of the Kashmir-literate officials. In his memoir, the top spook has not revealed much barring upholding a strong case against the muscular policy in action, writesMasood Hussain
A S Dulat
Amarjit Singh Dulat has the distinction of operating from Srinagar at a time when Kashmir was, what he said, “unlivable”. The situation was changing very fast and the morning news would be a stale piece of information around noon. The interesting facet of the situation was that nobody had predicted the eruption of militancy.
As head of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Kashmir, they had a DySP rank officer, Sapru deputed to the IB. When the bombs started exploding here and there, Dulat once asked Sapru, what was happening around them. The response was interesting: “This is nothing really, all this going and coming is a routine in Kashmir. Nothing for you to worry about.”
Subsequently, it proved beyond a point that Kashmir has changed fundamentally. Even the IB lost some of Dulat’s subordinates in targeted and pinpointed killings within and outside Srinagar. This triggered a crisis. One day the IB staffers assembled on the lawns of the Gupkar office and sought his permission to leave Kashmir. As was expected, he refused the permission point blank.
“I absolutely understood their panic,” Dulat wrote in his memoir, A Life In The Shadows. “Loneliness can drive you to do and say all kinds of things, and out in the field, whether you are undercover or not, situations develop fast and teach you lessons that no amount of time on the desk can.”
Despite the fact that he heading the key intelligence agency at a time when Kashmir was changing and Kashmiri Pandits migrated en mass, he is willing to give Jagmohan – who hated his guts – a benefit of the doubt. “..I will say that he had nothing to do with it,” Dulat wrote. “In the midst of all the bloodshed he witnessed when he returned, he did not want the Kashmiri Pandits to be targetted – and hence, he was equally happy to see them leave.”
Picking The Game
Though Dulat was a senior officer and had many postings within and outside the North Block-run Bureau, he gives Kashmir the credit for offering him real training. He admitted that Kashmir taught him the “real game of intelligence”. It was on basis of his understanding of Kashmir that he has been able to create his own doctrine that revolves around talking and building bridges and not violence.
A S Dulat’s Memoir, A Life In Shadows (2023)
It was on the ground that he felt the net difference in seeing Kashmir from Delhi. Areas like Kashmir cannot be seen in the black and white as Delhi used to see it because the valley is “mostly grey and constantly in need of empathy, compassion and compromise”. That explains why “Kashmiri leaders talk a different language in Kashmir and a different language in Delhi.”
Talks, he believes, is the only way out. “I see no better way to gather intelligence than by talking to people,” he wrote. Kashmir taught him that “the gun is the most counterproductive means to an end,” an observation that eventually crystallised his line of thought: “We will all die by the gun, so why not talk?”
Dulat’s memoir has many references to anonymous Kashmiris who would meet him off and on, sometimes even without a formal appointment. Some of them, according to him, were scoundrels, Pakistani agents, who would come to him with stories. Rascals, Dulat has written, are the best agents. “My point is – yeh Pakistan ke liye kaam karta hai might be true – but does not that make him all the more important to us?”
Not May Revelations
When a former spook wrote a book, he runs the risk of compromising security. That is why there are no impressive anecdotes of his days in Kashmir as IB top man and with Kashmir as RAW chief.
The book has confirmed yet again that Rajesh Pilot as the central minister was routinely talking to JKLF in Srinagar and continued to keep the windows open even though the governor General (retired) K V Krishna Rao disliked him and his activities. Later, when he failed to settle Kashmir, Dulat wrote, Pilot wanted to depute Punjab DGP, KPS Gill to Kashmir, an idea Dulat and many others discouraged.
The book reveals that he was, as is already known in touch with almost all the separatist leaders. However, Yasin Malik disliked him. Once when he met him at a safe house, Dulat wrote, Malik leaned back in his chair, swinging his boots up onto the table.
That, however, was not the case with Hurriyat leaders who even met Ajit Doval, now NSA, at Dulat’s residence. He has mentioned an interesting anecdote. “Once, there were two guys on opposite sides of the Hurriyat spectrum who showed up at the same time and were, understandably, rather miffed at seeing each other. One of them asked me, in an aggrieved fashion: Iske samne mujhe kyun bulaya? I said: I did not call you; you came yourself. And I did not invite him either; he too came on his own. Now you manage.”
The book has many references to his meetings with Shabir Shah, whom he describes as the “cult figure” and “people’s hero” in the 1990s. Then, he wrote the top priority was to arrest him and it took the IB a year to locate his whereabouts and finally arrest him at Ramban in August 1990 when he was on his way to Poonch and cross over, Nayeem Khan accompanied him. When Dulat rang Dr Farooq Abdullah, who had resigned earlier in the year, he said: “Yeh toh Kamaal ho gaya.”
In the subsequent days, the security set-up remained in touch with Shah and gave him “importance”. The book offers sketchy details about how Dulat got the IB to agree to escort Shah to the Nepal border where he wanted to meet Mehmood Sagar. Dulat told his boss: “Let us see what he brings back to us”. However, the IB decided against it at the last moment leaving a furious Shah to sulk in Jammu and later when Dulat met him, Shah complained: “I tell you everything, but you do not trust us. If you do not trust us, how can we have a relationship?”
It was this sentiment that Mirwaiz echoed in one of his interactions with Dulat: “You accuse us Kashmiris of lying, but we have learnt it from you”.
Dulat reveals that Shah was being encouraged to participate in the 1996 elections. The top officer wrote that Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was told that but it, might have happened in 2002, if not 1996. When persuaded, Shah agreed to talk. When Dulat briefed the Prime Minister, he was sent to Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. After hearing Dulat, he asked a simple question: Does Dr Farooq Abdullah knows it?
Dr Abdullah
If Dulat writes or talks, it invariably ends up in Kashmir and in that talk, Dr Farooq Abdullah is always the hero.
In 1986 when Dr Abdullah signed an accord with Rajiv Gandhi, Giani Zail Singh, the then president commented: “This will be the beginning of the end of Farooq Abdullah. He will go the same way as Longwal.”
Dulat’s Kashmir Book, Vajpayee Years (2015)
Later during his posting in Srinagar, Dulat became a friend of Dr Abdullah and that was the reason why he was packed off to Delhi later. Dulat writes that while grooming Farooq for his future role, Sheikh Abdullah had told him: politics is like jumping into the Jhelum and swimming against the tide. “As I was to discover, Farooq decided to go with the flow, instead of swimming against the tide,” wrote Dulat, who added that when Dr Abdullah was a member of Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet – the man who shelved talks with Shabir Shah in 1996, he was never asked about Kashmir. In 1990, Dr Abdullah had told Dulat: “I have not gone into politics to spend my life in jail. Whoever is in power in Delhi, I am with them. We will remain with Delhi”
Disliked by Mufti Sayeed, Dulat has written that the PDP was reported to have been set up with the help of Doval and with the blessings of Delhi, especially Advani. However, he sees it just as a story.
Now, Dulat argues against the naysayers that PDP is finished. “I have always felt that she is still relevant” and has advised his friend, Dr Abdullah, the PAGD boss: “Do not let her go”.
Dulat was the only top person who was flown to meet Dr Abdullah and found him missing his golf. “Remove him from the political arena and all you will have left are pygmies, we might regret that one day,” argues Dulat.
Muscular Policy
It is against the backdrop of his understanding of Kashmir that Dulat argues against the muscular policy. Building his argument that it was the pro-engagement policy in Delhi, which he supported, that led to at least two rounds of formal talks with the separatists. In 1994, a group of erstwhile militant leaders had agreed to engage with the government and to meet them Home Secretary flew to Srinagar. Later, in 2003, the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee met the Hurriyat leaders so his Deputy, Lal Kishan Advani.
“I cannot imagine, for instance, an Atal Behari Vajpayee or a Manmohan Singh implementing this policy,” Dulat believes. “But now, it is a different ball game, and one sometimes gets the impression that the IB is out of it”. Interestingly, he has written that when he was RAW chief, he retained Kashmir and it upset the IB. He told the then IB Chief: “As long as I am in the RAW, Kashmir will stay with me.”
Admitting that this was not the first time when the muscular policy is in vogue, Dulat sees the abandoning of the idea of engagement as preventing the mainstreaming of Kashmir and denying the security set-up the hardcore information. “Today’s more muscular policy hampers the process of engaging with separatists or, indeed, with the possibility of using militants as potential agents.”
Dulat sees the muscular policy as the paranoia of Pakistan. “So, what is happening in the face of this new muscular policy is the radicalisation of Kashmir. I would call that a failure of our policies in Kashmir.”
Kashmir Situation
The former RAW chief sees the Kashmir situation as a response to this policy. “The nightmare in the Kashmir mind has changed. It is the nightmare of being reduced to a minority in their own land. It is not something that is openly said, but it is a fear that hangs over them like a shadow,” Dulat wrote. “What the collective Kashmiri psyche fears most is chaos. Hence it is always pleading for India-Pakistan peace.”
The policy consequences are beyond that. When a muscular policy spills over the boundary between force and sheer harassment, people including politicians prefer self-preservation as it is natural. He admits alienation and hatred in Kashmir. “The boys I speak to on occasions tell me that nobody wants Azadi, but nobody wants Pakistan either. They are currently dying in the name of Allah,” he wrote.
With Geelani, whom he terms as “Pakistan’s last man standing in Kashmir”, gone, Dulat wants engagement, the only way to mainstream Kashmir. “The Hurriyat as it existed is dead, all that remains is Mirwaiz Umer Farooq who was always different from the others and should now be more than ready to enter the mainstream.”
Interestingly, Dulat sees in Kashmir, an exaggerated feeling of oppression and victimhood. On the reading down of Article 370, his argument is simple: “why deprive Kashmir – and the Kashmiris – of their long fig leaf of dignity”. He asserts that Article 370 is done and dusted. “Rhetoric aside, the Kahmsiris are by and large reconciled to it so long as they do not feel a sense of defeat,” he observes.
Dulat has been a frequent Kashmir visitor and one of the many people whose observations matter. On Srinagar streets, he writes he felt murmurs of the two-nation theory. When he met Dr Abdullah, he brought it up with him and was told: “I am aware of it, but it is the same people, those bloody Jamaatis”.
Dulat, in his book, walks the talk that has been there even before 1846. “If you threaten him, a Kashmiri will lie down, he might even play dead. But given the chance, he will rise again,” Dulat wrote. “Often I have observed this curious mix of aggrieved oppression and defiance: you might discriminate against them, you might not give them their due, but in the face of repression, they will get back on their feet again. Of necessity, Kashmir has learned over the years to be devious. It is, for them the key to survival. They will not trust you easily, and they will trust each other not at all. As Brajesh Mishra often used to say – the only thing straight in Kashmir is the poplar tree.”
SRINAGAR: Former chief minister and National Conference vice president, Omar Abdullah Friday joined Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Yatra in Banihal area of Ramban district.
Reports said that Omar Abdullah joined the Yatra at Banihal while several J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leaders are presently waiting in Qazigund to join the Yatra.
Reports said former JKPCC president, Ghulam Ahmad Mir and vice president Raman Bhalla are among the leaders who join the Yatra in Qazigund.
The yatra would enter Kashmir today after it resumed from Banihal this morning and would pass through Vessu area of Anantnag.(KNO)
SRINAGAR: A residential house was damaged in a fire incident in Beerwah area in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Thursday evening.
Quoting local sources news agency KDC reported that a house belonging to Khazir Mohammad Malla, a resident of Peth Malpora in Beerwah area was gutted after a fire broke out, which engulfed the structure.
The reason, as per the initial details, behind the fire, was said to be a purported gas leakage.
A police officer confirmed and said that the cognizance of the fire incident has been taken and further investigation is on.
SRINAGAR: In a move to allow incumbent commissioners of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to continue at their current places of posting, the Jammu & Kashmir government has put in abeyance a legal provision that mandated 15 years’ service experience for officers to be posted as administrative heads of J&K’s two biggest municipal bodies.
In a notification, a copy of which is in possession of news agency KNO, the Housing & Urban Development Department has done away with the statutory requirement of 15 years of service experience for officers to be posted as commissioners in SMC and JMC.
As per sub-section (1) of section 45 of the Municipal Corporation Act, 2000, the government shall, by notification, in the government gazette, appoint a class 1 officer of the government having a service of not less than fifteen years, as the commissioner of the Corporation.
The Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2023 states that the government may appoint any suitable officer as commissioner of the Corporation, irrespective of his service experience, for the smooth functioning of the Corporations.
The legal requirement of 15 years of experience has been put on hold by invoking section 427 of the Municipal Corporation Act, which empowers the government to remove difficulties in the implementation of the Act. “If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act or by reasons of anything contained in this Act to any other enactment for the time being in force, the Government may, as occasion requires, by order direct that this Act shall during such period as may be specified in the order but not extending beyond the expiry of two years from the commencement orders have effect subject to such adaptations whether by way of modification, addition or omissions as it may deem to be necessary and expedient,” reads the provision.
According to the notification , the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2023, shall deemed to have come into force w.e.f 01.01.2023 and shall remain in force for a period of two years or till it is revoked by the Government, whichever is earlier.
The incumbent SMC commissioner Athar Aamir Khan is 2015-batch IAS officer while his Jammu counterpart Rahul Yadav is 2014 -batch officer.
SRINAGAR: Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has claimed that India and Pakistan were on the verge of a nuclear war in February 2019, when India resorted to surgical strikes deep inside Balakot. In his latest book he has claimed that his then-Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj woke him up for a phone conversation to tell him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack and that India too was preparing to retaliate, The Tribune reported.
A 2019 photograph showing Dr Jaishankar with his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo
Writing in Never Give an Inch: Fighting for America, Pompeo claims the phone call came when he was in Hanoi for the US-North Korea summit on February 27-28 and his team then had to work through the night with both New Delhi and Islamabad to avert the crisis.
“I will never forget the night I was in Hanoi, Vietnam, when — as if negotiating with the North Koreans on nuclear weapons wasn’t enough —India and Pakistan started threatening each other in connection with a decades-long dispute over the northern border region of Kashmir,” wrote Pompeo in the book. “I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019. The truth is, I don’t know precisely the answer either; I just know it was too close.”
The book reads: “After an Islamist terrorist attack in Kashmir — probably enabled in part by Pakistan’s lax counter-terror policies — killed 40 Indians, India responded with an air strike against terrorists inside Pakistan. The Pakistanis shot down a plane in a subsequent dogfight and kept the Indian pilot prisoner.”
“In Hanoi, I was awakened to speak with my Indian counterpart. He believed the Pakistanis had begun to prepare their nuclear weapons for a strike. India, he informed me, was contemplating its own escalation. I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out (sic),’’ wrote Pompeo, mistakenly referring to Swaraj as “he”. The MEA has so far not responded to Pompeo’s recollection.
India’s foreign minister speaking to the UN general assembly on September 29, 2018
He went on to say that while the incumbent External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was “competent”, his earlier counterpart Sushma Swaraj was not “important” in the matters of external affairs and he used to directly deal with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Reacting to this, Jaishankar said, “I have seen a passage in Secretary Pompeo’s book referring to Smt Sushma Swaraj ji. I always held her in great esteem and had an exceptionally close and warm relationship with her. I deplore the disrespectful colloquialism used for her.”
Pompeo in his book also claims that “India, which has charted an independent course on foreign policy, was forced to change its strategic posture and join the four-nation Quad grouping due to China’s aggressive actions.” India and China are locked in a lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh for over 31 months.
The bilateral relationship came under severe strain following the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh in June 2020.
India has maintained that the bilateral relationship cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border area.
Pompeo called India the “wild card” in Quad. “The country (India) has always charted its own course without a true alliance system, and that is still mostly the case. But China’s actions have caused India to change its strategic posture in the last few years.”
Pompeo also explains how the Donald Trump administration succeeded in bringing India on board the Quad grouping.
The US, Japan, India and Australia had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad or the Quadrilateral coalition.
“In June 2020, Chinese soldiers clubbed twenty Indian soldiers to death in a border skirmish. That bloody incident caused the Indian public to demand a change in their country’s relationship with China,” Pompeo writes.
Anantnag, Jan 26: A 16-year-old girl from South Kashmir’s Anantnag district has brought laurels to the entire J&K by bagging a very prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP), 2023 award.
Hanaya Nisar, a resident of Kokernag area of Anantnag, has been given this award as she had represented India and won the Gold Medal in the 3rd World SQAY Martial Arts Championship held in Chingju, South Korea in October 2018.
Hanaya, who is an 11th class student while talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that she feels very much honoured to receive this prestigious award and everyone around her including Mir Salma Rashid, whole Sqay federation of India, family and relatives are very much happy.
Hanaya has so far won dozens of gold medals in Martial arts at International, National and state level so far.
She has recently won gold medal in 23rd Sqay National Championship held in Jammu besides that she was given Champion of Champions title by Sqay federation of India.
“I guess the sports infrastructure needs more improvement as the biggest challenge that they have also faced is of Sponsorship that almost every sports person faces and I guess that is something which can create a great impact on your journey,” she said when asked about sports infrastructure in J&K UT.
She said that Martial Arts needs to be prioritised across all the states of India not just J&K.
On asking about her future plans, she said she wants to continue playing Sqay Martial Arts and wants to pursue law as well.
My message to the youth of J&K will be that we should be focused towards our dreams, we should never give up on our dreams no matter what.
It is worth to mention here that the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (‘Prime Minister’s National Award for Children’), formerly called the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, is India’s highest civilian honour for children, awarded annually by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Bal Puraskar is given to children aged five to 18 for their achievements in six categories: Art & Culture, Bravery, Innovation, Scholastic, Social Service, and Sports. Each PMRBP awardee receives a medal, a cash prize of Rs1 lakh, and a certificate.
This year, eleven children from across India were awarded for their outstanding achievements in the fields of art and culture (4), bravery (1), innovation (2), social service (1), and sports (3)—(KNO)
SRINAGAR: A series of functions were today held across Kashmir division with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervour in connection with the celebration of 74th Republic-Day.
Republic Day marks the adoption of India’s constitution and the country’s transition to a republic on January 26, 1950. Every year, the celebrations marking the day feature spectacular flag unfurling ceremonies, inspection of parade by the chief guest and cultural pageantry.
Meanwhile, unfurling of the National Flag was held amid impressive Parades and mega cultural events at all venues of functions organised at district, sub-division, tehsil and block levels across Kashmir.
At Anantnag, the Republic Day was celebrated with great fervor and enthusiasm at GDC Khanabal (Boys) where Chairman District Development Council (DDC) Anantnag, Mohammad Yousuf Gorsi unfurled the national flag and took salute at the parade.
The contingents from CRPF, J&K Police, IRP, NCC among others took part in the march-past.
Addressing the gathering, the DDC Chairman said that the nation is paying rich tributes to the leaders, freedom fighters and martyrs who made countless sacrifices for the freedom of the country. Glorifying their contributions, he said that it is the result of their supreme efforts that we are living in a free country.
Artist performing during Republic Day parade at Sher E Kashmir Cricket stadium in Srinagar on January 26, 2023 KL Image by Bilal Bahadur
Gorsi highlighted the achievements made by the district under various priority areas including education, healthcare, languishing, back to village, district capex, agriculture and allied sectors, women and youth empowerment, MGNREGA, JJM, water and electricity supply to Anganwadi Centers and schools, rural development, macadamization and road connectivity, social welfare, Nasha Mukt Bharat, industries, self employment and creation of durable and sustainable assets.
On the occasion, colourful cultural programmes on patriotic themes were presented by students and artists of the district.
The ceremony concluded with prize distribution for march past and cultural practices. Employees from various departments were also felicitated for exemplary public service.
Among others DDC, DIG SKR, PDSJ, SSP, DDC members, ADDC, BDC Chairpersons, officers from Army, CRPF and other security forces, ADCs, CEO, ACP, ACR, CMO and other officers, besides general public were present during the celebrations.
Prior to the main celebrations at GDC, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Dr Basharat Qayoom unfurled the national flag at DC office complex Anantnag.
The R-Day celebrations were also held at District Court presided by Pr. Sessions Judge Anantnag, Sub Divisional Headquarters, Tehsil Headquarters, Community development blocks and various other public offices.
At Baramulla, Chairperson, District Development Council (DDC) Baramulla, Safeena Beigh unfurled the tricolor, inspected the parade and took salute at the march past on the eve of 74th Republic Day celebrations organised at District Police Lines Baramulla.
The march past was presented by the contingents of J&K Police, CRPF, Home guards, Fire and Emergency services, NCC and students from different schools
Chairperson DDC said that Baramulla district has shown inclusive growth in all the fronts and the need of the hour is to make involvement of all stakeholders in the progress of the district by utilizing their potential.
DIG North Kashmir, Vivik Gupta, Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar, SSP Baramulla, Amod Ashok Nagpure, MCB President, Touseef Raina, DDC members, BDC Chairpersons, Officers of Judicial administration, Officers of Army and Police, District and sectoral officers, heads of different departments were present at the event besides a huge gathering of people and students also showed their enthusiastic participation.
Highlighting the importance of R- Day in the history of India, the Chairperson said that the Nation is today remembering the sacrifices of great freedom fighters because of whom we are living in a free atmosphere.
While giving an overview of the achievements made by the district, the Chairperson said that the district has shown a remarkable achievement in all sectors under various priority areas including education, healthcare, agriculture and allied sectors, women and youth empowerment, MGNREGA, JJM, rural development, macadamization and road connectivity, Social Welfare, Nasha Mukt Bharat and self-employment.
Highlighting the progress achieved under different indicators of Aspirational District Programme, Safeena Beigh said that the district has once again achieved a milestone by securing 3rd Position in Agriculture and Water Resources Sector among 115 Aspirational Districts in the country. She said that initiatives are being taken to transform the District from Aspirational to Inspirational.
During the function, a variety of cultural Programmes were presented which depicted cultural diversity and heritage of the region.
At the conclusion of the function, a prize distribution ceremony was held during which various functionaries were felicitated for showing exemplary and extraordinary services in their respective fields.
Meanwhile, similar functions were also organized at Sub-division and Tehsil levels where the concerned authorities unfurled the tri-color.
At Budgam, the 74th Republic Day was today celebrated with much zeal and zest across the district.
The Chairman, District Development Council (DDC) Budgam, Nazir Ahmad Khan unfurled the National Flag and took salute at the march-past during the main function held at Sports Stadium Budgam.
On the occasion, various contingents from JKP, JKAP, CRPF, Home guards, NCC Cadets besides Contingents of education institutions also participated in the march-past parade.
Deputy Commissioner Budgam, S F Hamid, SSP Budgam Al- Tahir Gilani, DDC/ BDC members, ADDC Budgam Dr. Akramullah Tak, ADC Budgam Dr. Nasir Ahmad Lone, ASP, Gowhar Ahmad were present on the occasion.
Besides all district and sectoral officers, officers from police, CRPF and BSF were also present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman DDC in his address extended his Republic Day greetings to the general public of Budgam.
He appreciated the sincere efforts of each citizen for their selfless contribution and highlighted the development works carried out during the year 2022- 23.
Chairman also deliberated on the ongoing development scenario of the district and said that the district Budgam is touching new heights with active participation of people in government initiatives.
On the occasion, various artists and school children presented various colourful cultural programs including Chakri, Rouf, Ladishah, patriotic songs, Bangda, enthralling the audience, present there.
The main event was witnessed by a good gathering of locals, appreciating performances at March past and cultural programmes.
The prize distribution ceremony was also held wherein various officers and officials from different departments were awarded for their meritorious work.
The Flag unfurling ceremony was also held at the DC Office where Deputy Commissioner Budgam, S F Hamid unfurled the National Flag and extended his Republic Day greetings.
The Republic Day functions were also held at Sub Divisional level in Chadoora, and at Khansahab, Beerwah besides at Tehsil, Block levels and Municipal Councils where concerned unfurled the National Flags.
The events witnessed huge public participation, where different cultural performances and March past performances were also held at all venues.
The Republic Day functions were also held at all Colleges and other Educational Institutions, Municipalities, Panchayats, and other offices across the district where Flag Unfurling ceremonies were held.
The Republic Day function was also held at District Court Complex Budgam where the National flag was unfurled by Mohammad Ashraf Malik Pr. District & Sessions Judge Budgam.
The function was attended by All Judicial Officers of District and Taluka Courts of Budgam, Farooq Ahmad Bhat (Addl. Distt. & Sessions Judge Budgam) Noor Mohammad Mir (Chief Judicial Magistrate Budgam), Sheikh Gowhar Hussain (Spl. Mobile Magistrate Budgam), Tabassum Qadir Parray (Sub Judge Chadoora), Massarat Jabeen (Munsiff JMIC Magam) and Fakhur-un-Nissa (Munsiff Charari Sharief), Court Officials, Staff and PLVs of DLSA Budgam.
said that autonomy of Panchayat Raj institutions is among the priorities of the government and these institutions are being strengthened. In this regard, these representatives were also formally trained besides, plans are being prepared for councilors for the autonomy and empowerment of urban local bodies and its implementation is also being done by them.
The function concluded with distribution of prizes among students and contingents who participated in March past and cultural programs. Several officers/officials were also felicitated on the occasion for their exemplary work.
The 74th Republic Day was also celebrated at District Court premises Ganderbal where Chairman DLSA (Principal District & Sessions Judge) Ganderbal, Ritesh Kumar Dubey unfurled the National Flag and took Salute at the march past.
CJM Ganderbal, Fayaz Ahmad Qureshi, Secretary DLSA Ganderbal, Nusrat Ali Hakak, JMIC Ganderbal, Mohammad Waseem Mirza, JMIC Kangan, Easarul Nabi, Chairman Municipal Council Ganderbal, Altaf Ahmad, Senior Advocate, Shabir Ahmad Masoodi. Beside officers, public prosecutors, Judicial/DLSA Staff, Prosecution staff, e-court Staff, members Bar and PLVs were also present.
during which awards were given to the best performers in the March Past, Tableaus and cultural programmes. Awards were also given to various Officers and officials of the administration for their good work.
The Republic day functions were also held at Handwara, Lolab and Karnah sub-divisions, where President Municipal Committee Handwara, Masroor Ahmad Banday, SDM Lolab, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat and SDM Karnah, Dr. Gulzar Ahmad Rather respectively unfurled the National Flag, inspected the parade & took salute at March past.
Cultural programmes were also presented by the school children and awards were given to the achievers.
The Republic Day function was also held at all educational institutions, Government offices and Panchayats in the district.
The Republic Day function was also held at District Court Complex Kupwara during which Principal District & Sessions Judge Kupwara, Shazia Tabasum unfurled the National Flag and took salute.
On the occasion, Additional Session Judge Handwara; Additional Session Judge Fast-track Court Kupwara, CJM Handwara, Sub Judge/Secretary DLSA Kupwara, Sub Judge Kupwara, Munsif Kralpora, Munsif Handwara, Munsif Sogam and all employees of Judiciary were present.
past presented by the contingents of CRPF, JKP, JKP ladies police group, Home guard, fresh recruits, NCC cadets, students etc.
Deputy Commissioner Kulgam, Dr.Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, SSP, Sahil Sarangal, President Municipal Council, DDC members, BDC members, MC Councillors besides officers from civil and police administration and people in large numbers participated in the programme.
Addressing the gathering, the Chairperson DDC congratulated the people on Republic Day eve and highlighted the importance and historical background of the day.
Giving a developmental profile of the district, the DDC Chairperson highlighted the overall Developmental scenario of the district and progress and achievements recorded in the district through various schemes and programmes.
Achievements recorded in Agriculture, Health, Social Welfare, YS&S, PHE and other departments were also highlighted.
He also complimented the District Administration for their prompt response in restoration of services during recent snow spells.
On the occasion, Multiple Cultural programs and musical sessions were also held which enthralled the audience.
Later prize distribution ceremony was organized in which officers, officials, academicians, sports persons and police personnel were felicitated.
Zahid Rehman and Rahil Amin who recently qualified Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Exam were also felicitated.
Meanwhile, celebrations were also held across district Kulgam during which the national flag was unfurled in Court Complexes, sub divisions, blocks, tehsils, panchayats, Police stations, Municipalities, schools and all other institutions.
The National-flag was also unfurled by Deputy Commissioner, Dr.Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat at a mini-secretariat, which was attended by officers and officials.
Som Lal, Additional Sessions Judge Kulgam, unfurled the National flag at District Court Complex Kulgam where all Judicial Officers of District Kulgam along with staff members and bar members of district were present.
Judicial Magistrate Bandipora, Chairman, Tehsil Legal Services Committee Bandipora, DySP Bandipora, Additional Public Prosecutor Bandipora, SHO Bandipora, Staff Members of DLSA Bandipora, Subordinate Courts and Police Personnel and Para Legal Volunteers.
Republic Day was also celebrated at Municipal Committee Hajin where Chairman Municipal Committee Hajin, Irshad Ahmad Wani unfurled the National Flag and took salute at the March past.
