Srinagar, Apr 16 (GNS): The University of Kashmir said on Sunday that it completely dissociates itself from allegations leveled by some students regarding alleged paper leak of Kashmiri subjects in the National Eligibility Test (NET).
A KU spokesperson said in a statement to GNS that the NET is conducted by the National Testing Agency, and not the University of Kashmir, and hence all the examination-related domains including confidential setting of question papers, conduct of examination and evaluation etc. fall solely within the jurisdiction of the conducting authority.
The University, the spokesperson said, strongly condemns that its name is being dragged into the alleged paper leak claim when the University, as an institution, is not even remotely connected with the process.
“We inform one and all to refrain from trying to harm the reputation of the University with baseless claims and allegations. The University reserves the right to take appropriate legal recourse in such situations since it concerns the institution’s reputation and prestige,” the spokesperson said. (GNS)
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has conducted raids on the premises of jailed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his associates, following which it seized Rs 75 lakh in cash along with some documents pertaining to nearly 200 bank accounts and 50 shell entities.
The ED said that cash transactions worth more than Rs 50 crore were also detected during the searches.
The raids were conducted at 15 locations.
According to a source, the raids were conducted at the premises belonging to chartered accountant Sabeeh Ahmed, Asif Jafri, Seetaram Shukla, real estate developers Sanjeev Aggarwal and Deepak Bhargav, advocate-cum-accomplice Saulat Hanif Khan and other aides Khalid Zafar, Asad, Vadood Ahmed, Kali and Mohsin.
“Atiq Ahmad and his aides were laundering the extortion money and the money which they collected through illegal activities. The documents seized during the raids confirm this. We seized papers of around 100 properties which are in the name of Atiq Ahmad’s close aides and other shell firms being run by them. These properties are suspected to be Atiq’s benami properties,” the ED said.
Bengaluru: Incumbent BJP ministers Murugesh Nirani, Dr K Sudhakar, S T Somashekar and V Sunil Kumar were among those who filed their nomination papers for Karnataka Assembly polls on Thursday.
The poll process for the May 10 Assembly elections formally began today, with the issuance of gazette notification paving the way for candidates to file their nominations.
Nirani is contesting from Bilagi in Bagalkote, Sudhakar from Chikkaballapur, Sunil Kumar from Karkala in Udupi and Somashekar from Yashwanthapur constituency in Bengaluru.
Similarly, S S Mallikarjun, who is trying his luck from Davangere North on a Congress ticket, too filed the papers.
According to the Election Commission, 27 Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, 26 Congress, 12 Janata Dal (S), 10 Aam Aadmi Party and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party filed the papers. There were 100 nominations by unrecognised parties and 45 independents.
In all, 221 nominations were filed on the day the notification for the Assembly elections was issued, the Election Commission statement said.
According to the EC schedule of events, the last date for filing nominations is April 20. The papers will be scrutinised on April 21 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 24.
Meanwhile, as of Thursday, the cumulative seizure since March 29 when the model code of conduct came into force touched Rs 144 crore.
The total seizure comprises cash of Rs 57.37 crore, freebies worth Rs 17.93 crore, liquor worth Rs 32 crore, drugs worth Rs 13.2 crore, gold worth Rs 21.27 crore, and silver worth Rs 2.56 crore.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday accused the Delhi government of forcing teachers to write “answers on blank exam papers” of Class 9 and 11 students and demanded a probe into the allegations.
Lashing out at the city government, the Delhi Congress’ communications department chairperson Anil Bhardwaj alleged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former education minister Manish Sisodia created a “false narrative” about the “Delhi model of education”.
“The truth is, the education standard in government schools deteriorated terribly. Kejriwal had promised in his manifesto for the assembly elections nine years ago that, if elected to power, he would create 500 new schools and 20 new colleges but he could not fulfil those promises,” the Congress leader claimed.
He alleged that the administration “failed to develop” Delhi despite making a “budget allocation of over Rs 5 lakh crore” in the past nine years.
“Despite making a budget allocation of over Rs 5 lakh crore in the past nine years, the Kejriwal government failed to develop Delhi.
“The AAP government only made (Delhi) number one in pollution, the liquor scam and squandering taxpayers’ money for publicity and advertisements,” the former MLA said.
SRINAGAR: In a first of its kind initiative that aims to further ease the varsity’s postgraduate and undergraduate examinees, the University of Kashmir has started the process of framing new guidelines for setting of question papers to bring about greater clarity in the content and better conceptualisation of questions.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Nilofer Khan has given her go-ahead to a proposal mooted by the Controller of Examinations to constitute a broad-based committee of academics from the main and satellite campuses to formulate a policy document on setting of question papers for various UG and PG examinations.
The larger idea, according to officials, is to have the question papers set strictly in accordance with the syllabus and have their language and content enriched for easy comprehension by the examinees.
“Setting a question paper involves more than merely asking questions. It is important to see how rich a question paper is conceptually and whether its standard is good enough to evaluate a student holistically. Additionally, it is also about ensuring that the academic level of students is kept in mind while framing the questions,” Controller of Examinations, KU, Dr Majid Zaman, said.
He said the committee is also mandated with framing a proper set of instructions for paper setters, including use of proper vocabulary and punctuation marks, appropriate assembling and ordering of the questions, besides spelling out clear instructions for the examinees.
“Sometimes a comma can change the whole dynamics of a particular question. We want to ensure that students do not have to find themselves caught up in a situation where they need more clarifications regarding questions in the examination hall,” Dr Majid said.
Added emphasis is being laid on ensuring that question papers do not encourage routine memorisation by the examinees, while special focus will be on setting question papers which facilitate an evaluator to evaluate a student on the basis of holistic and applied knowledge rather than going by a purely all-bookish approach.
The Committee which held its maiden meeting on Thursday has been asked to submit its recommendations within a month’s time.
“The Vice-Chancellor was keen enough to have this reform initiated in the larger interest of the students. We are very hopeful that the committee recommendations will prove to be highly beneficial for examinees,” Dr Majid said, adding that the process for necessary Statutory amendments by the competent bodies will be initiated soon after the committee recommendations are finalised and approved.
Dr Majid said that they are also planning to rope in academics from some GMCs as well as affiliated colleges of KU in the committee for a larger representation in the panel.
Hyderabad: Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikarmarka on Saturday called for the resignation of all concerned ministers and the entire board of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) from their posts immediately following the leakage of questions papers of recruitment exams conducted by the TSPSC. He also demanded that the TSPSC refund the fees paid by students who took the exams and compensate them for the mental agony caused by the leak.
Bhatti Vikramarka, who is conducting the People’s March in the Khanapur constituency of Adilabad district, as part of the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ Yatra, said that the ministers, TSPSC Chairman and all members must resign. Else, the President of India must intervene to ensure their removal. Further, he demanded that all officials and non-officials responsible for the leak of question papers must be punished severely.
“We achieved statehood for Telangana to cater to the needs of the unemployed youth and to provide them with good jobs. Unfortunately, BRS Govt is not doing that. The job notifications were issued after a long wait. However, the leakage of question papers has shattered the students and their dreams. The recent paper leak has only added to the disappointment felt by many young people in the state who have been struggling to find employment,” he said.
Bhatti said that the TSPSC has cancelled the exams whose papers were leaked and assured to re-conduct those exams. However, it also needs to take responsibility for the expenditure which students have incurred for writing those exams.
“The TSPSC has to return the money which candidates have spent towards fees, transportation and other preparations. They are unemployed youth. Each applicant must have spent thousands of rupees. Therefore, a minimum amount must be calculated and paid to all the candidates. The State Government or the TSPC should also pay compensation for the mental agony they have caused to the candidates and their families,” he demanded.
Bhatti also blamed the BRS govt for the suicide of a jobless youth Chitikena Naveen Kumar (32) of B Y Nagar in Sircilla town. He said that the State Government has failed to provide jobs to lakhs of youth which cause so much disappointment that they are resorting to extreme steps. He demanded that the government pay a compensation of Rs. 1 crore to the victim’s family. Further, he appealed to the youth not to get disheartened and take extreme steps. He said that the Congress party was returning to power soon and the next government would address the problem of unemployment.
The third day of the “People’s March” by Bhatti Vikramarka continued from Kondapur of Sirikonda Mandal in Khanapur Constituency of Adilabad District to Dasnapur of Indravelli Mandal and Keslapur Muthunur Indravelli Mandal centre on Saturday. People from several villagers joined the padayatra and briefed the CLP leader about their problems.
Bhatti Vikarmarka raised concerns about the lack of development in the tribal-dominated Khanapur constituency. He pointed out that several irrigation projects in the area, including the Chikuman and Triveni Sangam, had been left incomplete for nine years, wasting both time and money.
He said the Chikuman project, with an ayacut of 12,000 acres, was almost completed by the previous Congress regime. Similarly, the Triveni Sangam’s reservoir and other work were completed. He said even after nine years, the present BRS Govt failed to dig canals for these two projects.
The BRS Govt also failed to initiate Putti and Polimadugu projects in the Khanapur constituency. Consequently, all the Mandals in Khanapur have been facing a drought-like situation. He called on the BRS Govt to prioritize the completion of these projects without further. Stating that the Congress party was all set to return to power soon, he assured that the next Congress Govt would complete all four projects on a priority basis. He promised to bring back glory to the ITDA projects which are being crippled by the TRS government.
Bhatti Vikramarka visited Nagoba Temple, the tribal deity of Keslapur village, Indravelli Mandal. After performing special poojas in the temple, He received blessings in the main mandapam. On this occasion, he inquired about the problems with the villagers. He said that he was doing the padayatra to understand the problems being faced by the people so that they could be resolved after the Congress party comes to power.
Though accessible to people in England, the Government of India continues to restrict access to a set of documents, the Bucher Papers that have a lot of insights into the Kashmir war in 1947 and maybe the politics of that era as well
General Sir Roy Bucher and Lady Bucher at Government House, somewhere in 1947 or 1948
A controversy is raging over an estimated 49-document file that the Government of India is not making accessible to researchers. These are official communications between India’s second and the last non-native Chief of Army Staff, General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher and Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. These especially pertain to the ceasefire between India and Pakistan on July 27, 1949, after the rival armies of the sister nations fought their first war over Kashmir in October 1947. The agreement was signed in Karachi and signatories included Lt Gen SM Shrinagesh (India), Maj Gen WJ Cawthorn (Pakistan) and Hernando Samper and M Delvoie (UNCIP).
Normally, the Government of India declassifies archival documents after 25 years. However, when academics started seeking access to, what is now being called Bucher Papers, they were told that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has kept the documents classified in the national interest. These documents are with the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, a Culture Ministry-run autonomous body.
This has triggered a new controversy. Nobody knows if the contents of these documents would paint independent India’s first Prime Minister in poor light or help justify his actions.
The revelations, if any, can have “significant political ramifications” and may emerge as an issue in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The ruling BJP has maintained that “blunders” by Nehru led to the creation of the Kashmir issue that dominated for more than 70 years till the rightwing party scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and integrated it with the country in August 2019.
Contents of Letters
Titbits’ of the classified documents accessed by certain reporters and academics indicate it includes a communication that Bucher wrote to Prime Minister on November 28, 1948, that explained why a ceasefire was required.
“Army personnel evince two weaknesses, lack of training in the junior leaders, tiredness and ennui in the other ranks … In brief, the army needs respite for leave, training, and vitalising,” the communication said.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Rakumari Amrit Kaur and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of India during the proceedings of the annual meeting of the National Conference at Srinagar on September 24, 1949.
“Nehru, in response, raised concerns over reports that Pakistan intended within weeks to bomb Indian positions from the sky. Meanwhile, Pakistan was building roads to maintain and advance its positions,” British newspaper, The Guardian reported. It mentions Nehru’s December 23, 1948, letter to Bucher saying, “It is clear to me that we cannot rely on Pakistan remaining on the defensive…In the event of Pakistan continuing their persistent shelling and offensive operation and our not being able to check this there, there is every likelihood of war taking place with Pakistan.”
“I am afraid we cannot take military action to stop every road-building operation by Pakistan,” Bucher wrote back to Nehru on December 28. “May I suggest a political approach to this problem?”
It was only after the series of communication amid the war that a ceasefire agreement was signed at Karachi. In its immediate follow-up, Article 370 was included in the constitution, a status undone on August 5, 2019.
Off late, BJP has been dubbing it Nehru’s “biggest mistake”, with Home Minister Amit Shah asking in 2019: “What was the need to announce a ceasefire when we were about to win the war?” A month after reading down Article 370, he said: “In 1948, India went to United Nations. That was a Himalayan blunder. It was more than a Himalayan blunder.”
Colonial Masters
At the time of the independence of India and Pakistan, two British army officers were the chiefs of the respective armies. Even though they were two separate countries born out of mutual animosities and distrust, two soldiers from their colonial past were holding their key asset, the army. They both operated under the Joint Supreme Commander, Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, also a British.
The Pakistan army was commanded by General Sir Douglas David Gracey. He was Pakistan’s second Chief of Army. Though in October 1947, he was not the army chief, he was in command in absence of his chief. He retired in April 1951 and died on June 5, 1964.
In India, Bucher took over in 1948, replacing General Sir Robert McGregor Macdonald Lockhart, after superseding two seniors. He retired on January 15, 1949, paving way for KM Cariappa to become India’s first Indian Army Chief. It was during his two India visits in the 1960s and 1970s that he handed over the documents to the Nehru Museum. He died on January 5, 1980.
New Details
The files, the reportage of the controversy suggest, hold the answer about whether Nehru acted on his own or he acted on the advice of his army chief. Many believe these documents contain insights into the Instrument of Accession, signed on October 26, 1947, by Maharaja Hari Singh.
A November 1947 photograph showing Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India making his first important speech in Lal Chawk. During the course of his speech, he said “India will never let down Kashmir and the Indian Army will fight on till the last raider is driven out”.
The first war over Kashmir is well documented. Still, a lot of academicians and scholars believe that Bucher’s papers contain a lot of information beyond that. “Roy Bucher suggested a political approach to solve the escalating situation given military fatigue faced by Indian troops due to 13 months of military deployment, including taking the matter before the United Nations,” The Guardian said in an earlier report. “That advice may have influenced Nehru’s decision to grant Kashmir special status.”
The details of the documents in the public domain suggest that Nehru did not wait for the United National Commission to suggest a ceasefire. Instead, he initiated it well before its arrival.
“I do not know what the United Nations are going to propose. They may propose a ceasefire and what the conditions are going to be, I do not know,” the papers suggest Nehru writing in one of his communications to Bucher in 1948. “If there isn’t going to be a ceasefire, then it seems to me that we may be faced with an advance into Pakistan and for that we must be prepared.”
Interestingly, Bucher, during one of his post-retirement visits to India, talked at length to biographer BR Nanda. The Bucher papers include a 20-page transcript of the interview and researchers can copy a fifth of this – not more than four pages. The interview is very important.
“He (Nehru) had become very perturbed about the shelling of Akhnur and the Beripattan Bridge by Pakistan heavy artillery from just within Pakistan; he enjoined me to do all I could to counteract this,” Bucher had told Nanda in an undated interview. “There was nothing which one could do except counter-shell.”
He told Nanda that the documents he had handed over to the Museum “portray his (Nehru’s) great grasp of the military situation in Kashmir and especially how this was influenced by the presence of the UN Commission for Jammu and Kashmir.”
On ceasefire, Bucher detailed the drama when he got a phone call from Sardar Baldev Singh suggested him to ‘go ahead’. “Well it is a jolly difficult job for me as a Commander-in-Chief to tackle and you have the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan in the country,” Bucher responded and later followed up by drafting out a “purposefully short” signal to General Gracey, his Pakistani counterpart, merely stating that “my Government was of the opinion that senseless moves and counter-moves with loss of life and everything else were achieving nothing in Kashmir.” It was sent across only after Nehru read it thrice, signed it and retained his own copy. India ceased fire at the midnight on December 31, 1948.
“The United Nations Commission was apprised of this, a day or two later; they were told that what they come out for had been achieved two days or so ago,” Bucher said. “I do not think the Commission knew anything about the cease-fire signal before that.”
Held In Secret
Why the Modi government is unwilling to declassify the documents is not known. The Guardian report said the incumbent government describes the cache of documents as sensitive. “It said the papers broadly examined the “state preparedness of Indian armed forces stationed in Kashmir, in the backdrop of the India-Pakistan war (1947-48)”, the report said, and “concerns expressed by Nehru regarding offensive military actions undertaken by Pakistan”.
Interestingly, the same set of papers is also maintained at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London, where they are accessible to all. Nobody, however, is in a position to say if the documents at the two places are the same.
There have been attempts by various people to access these documents. Every time, however, the access was denied. Venkatesh Nayak has been engaged in a perpetual battle with officials since 2019, for the declassification of these documents. In October 2021, the Central Information Commission stopped short of ordering the disclosure of these crucial documents. Instead, it asked the Museum “to take up the matter with higher officials” and “secure the necessary permission” before sharing the information with RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak.
Hamla Awar Khabardaar: Womens Defence Corps in Kashmir, a 1947 photograph
Even the museum authorities have put their weight in support of declassifying these documents. On October 12, 2022, the museum and library top official, Nripendra Misra, is reported to have written to India’s foreign secretary, suggesting the papers may be made accessible to researchers. “We have read the contents of the Bucher papers,” he has written. “Our view is that the papers need not remain “classified” beyond the reach of academicians.”
Full access to the papers may help settle a controversy in Jammu and Kashmir as well. It is being said publicly in Srinagar that the ceasefire took place at the behest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who did not want the army to go beyond Uri. The reason, for the unsubstantiated presumption, is that since he had no huge following among non-Kashmiri-speaking people, he thought they will rebel against him. Whether or not is this correct, only access to these documents will settle this regional controversy. Or maybe it might emerge another angle of the same story.
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SRINAGAR: Aspirants for Prosecuting Officers on Thursday urged Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to cancel both papers instead of the one and conduct a fresh examination to provide “a level playing field” for all.
JKPSC on Wednesday canceled “paper-II” which is qualifying with the further announcement that the examination for it will be conducted on March 16. However, several aspirants called the news agency GNS since the announcement was made close-of-day Wednesday, alleging that the cancelation of only paper II will provide an advantage to those aspirants who have scored better marks in paper-I and that decision “rides roughshod” over others.
“As per the scheme of examination, both the papers have the importance of their own. The paper-I score will count only after one qualifies Paper-II,” the aspirants said, adding, “Had the JKPSC not canceled the paper-II ab-initio, those who are having a better score at present in paper-I would not make it to merit list and selection was to be made among those who qualified by having required numbers in paper-II.” Now that JKPSC has chosen to cancel only paper-II, it was providing undue advantage at the cost of others to some aspirants, they said.
“This is clear injustice and unfair with most aspirants,” they said, adding, “It smacks of arbitrariness or to put it in other words, it is irrational and offends the basic requirement of Article 14 of the Constitution.”
They said that with the announcement, the JKPSC was setting a “wrong precedent.”
“The examination scheme is such that an aspirant has to first qualify the paper-II by getting a score as provided under the notification,” they said, adding, “By allowing somebody who has fared better in paper-I two chances is plain injustice. Does someone who has fared better on paper II and not so good on paper-I, also deserve two chances at paper-I?” This clearly, they said, was “unfair”.
As per the JKPSC, its decision to cancel paper-II followed representations from the candidates through the J&K High Court Bar Association Jammu and others, claiming that the standard of the qualifying paper was higher than the level prescribed in the notification.
“The JKPSC itself has admitted that representations received by it requested for re-conducting the examination, meaning both papers, or allowing the aspirants to appear in the main examination,” the aspirants said, adding, “The JKPSC has chosen to set a wrong precedent and we request the Commission to revisit its decision of only examining Paper-II, thereby allowing two chances to some aspirants and denying same opportunity to others.” (GNS)
