Can Geelani, Mirwaiz, Abdullahs, Muftis, et al agree to agree?
DATELINE SRINAGAR
By: Arjimand Hussain Talib
A few days back, The New York Times reproduced a power point image of a stakeholder analysis done by the United States in Afghanistan. The image was bizarrely complex, making it beyond normal human comprehension. US political and military analysts shared jokes about the image. They saw it the most apt description of ‘a complexity called Afghanistan’, and also the reason why the US was not winning the war there.
The image had hundreds of stakeholders – political parties, jirgas, militias, drug cartels, civil services, police, local army, foreign armies, central government, local governments, media, religious groups, tribal chiefs, NGOs, et al - denoted as points in the image. The points were joined by a complex web of lines, which crossed, crisscrossed and double crossed across the image, sending brains into a state of tizzy.
Now imagine if we were to do a similar stakeholder analysis for J&K state, what would be the end product? Would a power point image depicting our situation be really different than that of Afghanistan?
Quite likely, our image will also be a complex web of varied actors, joined and separated by relationships, shared visions and disagreements. Lines would also show alignments. Some would symbolize disagreements. Some points and lines would show multiple visions, multiple relations and multiple loyalties.
In a nutshell, we may have to refer to the standard stakeholder analysis guidebook, which has a disclaimer: stakeholder analysis is not a helpful tool in understanding stakeholders and their stakes when the subjects - barring a few exceptions - are a free floating lot!
To have a complex stakeholder analysis image is bad in itself. A simpler image is a depiction of how simple and less complex our life is - as simple as that. An image to the contrary, obviously, refers to the contrary.
Jammu & Kashmir’s problem is that its stakeholder analysis gets all the more complex with each passing year. Every year there is a new addition of stakeholders, stakes and their relationships. Our collective catastrophe is aggravating. Kashmiri people are losing their spirit. There is a strong feeling that it is time to make a new beginning. There are some irreparable losses too. Some will take a long time to overcome.
We have talked a lot about the economic and social costs of the raging conflict and political instability J&K is in since decades. That is a colossal loss, we all know. But can we quantify the spiritual and psychological loss we are suffering?
Living a life of uncertainty and darkness for sixty long years – even longer than that – is a human catastrophe. A lack of certainty about the future is breeding sick minds in Kashmir. A lack of direction is breeding a strong sense of pessimism.
Perpetual insecurity is breeding newer kind of disorders, which are impacting people’s genes. Psychological disorders are manifesting in physiological problems – which no research has been able capture or seek to fix so far. And it has not something to do with one generation or two alone; we are passing on adapted abnormalities through our genes to our coming generations too. It is a kind of epidemic which we need to talk about now.
Lately, the Muftis have been calling the pro-azadi groups to join hands for a ‘common cause’. The latter have shrugged off the suggestion. Mirwaiz Umar asked Geelani to come along. The latter too chose to take own path. Looking broadly, there are hardly any alignments or broad agreements to see in Kashmir today. People, groups and parties are disintegrating. A chain reaction of sorts is making the larger political goal look fuzzy. The irony is that Kashmir now has so many political voices, often working at cross purposes, that achieving political goals has become difficult. It is a party time for the foreign ruler.
In an environment where the mighty ruler can’t be overcome by force or by self ruin (like hartals) can disparate political voices help achieve political justice? Is there nothing in political terms that Geelani, Mirwaiz, Abdullahs, Muftis, Yasin, Sajjad, Shabir, Nayeem etc. can agree on? Is their vision for their land so disparate that they can’t even begin from one point?
Thinking of the impossible, sometimes, isn’t too naïve. The situation in Jammu & Kashmir - in particular the Kashmir Valley and the Muslim majority districts in Jammu – has reached a point which demands an honest introspection by the state’s key political players. And, finally, action.
What are the hurdles that come in the way of realizing the common dream of a politically free and economically sovereign Jammu & Kashmir? Between the extremes of political positions, are in-between political tangibles impossible to conceive? And what are the differences, by the way? Political? Personal?
What are the complexities? Are they fixations? Obsessions? Clash of ideologies? Clash of egos? Or a mix of these?
Disagreement of thought and approaches is a natural trait of the human race. There can be no utopia where all the people agree with each other all the times in all the circumstances. Disagreement is but natural.
Agreements over a broad range of issues amongst a broad spectrum of political thought are easier said than done, but not impossible.
Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah’s long struggle to reclaim J&K’s lost political sovereignty came to naught for many reasons. One reason had, of course, some thing to do with his political ambitions. Second was the polity itself. Whenever he was imprisoned by New Delhi, replacements were always handy. Did Sadiq, Mir Qasim, Ghulam Muhammad Shah and others come from the moon? Is today’s political environment any different?
If we deeply analyse J&K’s political environment, we realize the political status quo is entrenched as never before. There was a time when finding a replacement to a particular political formation in Srinagar wasn’t that easy. Today there is a wide array of political forces to choose from.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s vision of a political utopia is not bad in itself. But do today’s circumstances support overnight shift to such a political system? What about application of hikmah, which has been applied since ages by Muslim scholars, conquerors and leaders? The political system which the Abdullahs and the Muftis are part of can’t be a recipe for stability. The unjust political status quo in J&K can’t be a solution. An idea for political utopia doesn’t work in today’s world of acute interdependence and softer borders either.
A time has come when Kashmiris’ decades-old suffering must go. A time has arrived when its people desperately need a life of political freedom, dignity, friendship and a mutually beneficial engagement with its neighbors. There has to be a new relation based on shared visions and interests.
(The columnist is Online Editor with Greater Kashmir/Kashmir Uzma. Feedback at arjimand@greaterkashmir.com)
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Shabby Srinagar!
Issues PWD, SMC, UEED, ERA, etc. need to address
ARJIMAND HUSSAIN TALIB
A sensitive look at Srinagar city today makes you sad. Despite a lot of hoopla about making it green, clean and ‘developed’, it doesn’t get any better, it seems. Worse, it is losing its pristine aesthetic charm quite fast. Some of its grand historical landmarks are degrading. Some have been totally lost. Others have simply disappeared.
Srinagar’s ‘Venice of the East’ sobriquet seems little too far fetched today. The city lives mostly with the landmarks of the Maharaja and Bakhshi eras. It is true that the raging conflict has taken its toll on investment and existing landscape, but that cannot be an infinite excuse.
Shabby roads, bad drainage system, no traffic signal system, poor traffic management, lack of trees, poor sewerage and solid waste management system - all reflect poorly on this city. The reason the city is so dusty or muddy is that its soily patches are not grassed.
It is not that some good things are not happening with Srinagar. The problem is that they are too little in comparison with what is going wrong. Today, if compared with other cities of its stature in poor countries in Africa and Asia, this city looks shabby, rather primitive. That is what I can say, at least, after having traveled across some three dozen countries in these continents over the last few years.
At its soul, Srinagar has a special distinction: despite being one of the world’s oldest surviving cities, it retains a traditional touch. Not many cities in the world have been able to retain their organic character due to the onslaught of modern architecture. Srinagar retains that character, by and large. Things are going wrong somewhere else.
Let us begin with some good things first. The Mufti government’s initiative of beautifying the banks of the River Jhelum from the Zero Bridge up to Maisuma seems to be the best and a well executed project the city has seen in decades. Looking at the work engineers have done, it looks something to feel proud about. J&K Bank’s development of the dilapidated Iqbal Park and Badam Wari are some other good examples. We must replicate this model of development and commercial use of public spaces in other places as well.
Similarly, maintenance of Eidgah in Srinagar, renovation of Aali Masjid, fencing of Malkhah graveyard, development of Nigeen Club, Children’s Park at Hazuribagh and the under-construction Zanana Park near Rajbagh are some other good things that have happened to the city.
Lately, the introduction of Kashmiri architecture – thanks to INTACH’s heritage and cultural crusade in Kashmir – to our new buildings also gets 100 out of 100. The Sangarmal Shopping Mall and the new Tourist Reception Centre are surely two landmarks which look very native, yet modern too.
When it comes to Kashmirisation of the Ganta Ghar at Lal Chowk – though much belated – it could have been better planned. Its Kashmiri look is good, but the manner Lal Chowk’s ‘beautification’ is being executed is cynical. It chocked a commercial space.
If the idea was beautification, why didn’t we plant Chinars there? Is there anything as beautiful in the city as the Residency Road ahead of the Polo View straddled with Chinars?
Lately, we are getting fond of using our knowledge of Computer-Aided Designing (CAD) in creating good architectures. But our own imagination and the artificial intelligence of our computers are missing an important point: that is the greenery.
Our native trees – poplars, willows, deodars etc – are almost extinct from our public spaces in Srinagar now. And what is creeping in is the rather non-native ‘cypress’ tree, which has become a darling of our engineering departments. The recent cypress tree plantation on the Bypass Road is a disaster.
When it comes to landscaping and tree plantation, PWD and R&B departments’ performance is dismal. There are many questions. Why isn’t there a dedicated maintenance wing for creating and maintaining tree cover in the city, which is professionally trained and managed? Why don’t we have a green cover under the Jehangir Chowk flyover? Why trees on other roads, barring the Airport Road, don’t grow and provide wide cover? Why does the Landscape Division of R&B trim trees, and make them never to come out of their cost-intensive steel cages?
The logic that trees are a public safety hazard in times of strong winds is outlandish. Trees have similar characteristics in every part of the world, but they don’t just merit to be cut. That is criminal. The city Bypass Road, Ali Jan Road, Soura-Pandach 90-feet Road, etc. need a tree cover badly.
Srinagar needs better road planning. The Rambagh-Exhibition Crossing fly-over, billed to ease traffic on the Airport Road, is going to be a logistical nightmare for at least a decade to come. Given our dismal project execution record – like the Hyderpora Bypass flyover example – it looks improbable that it will be done in time. The traffic mess it is going to create will disrupt Srinagar’s life badly.
Even as some disruption is inevitable, a project almost loses its utility if it throws life out of gear for long periods. Our project planning requires some cost-benefit auditing today, which must factor in lives lost in accidents, time loss in commutation and the financial loss which vehicles incur.
An alternative road along the Flood Channel from Tengpora Bypass to Jawahar Nagar and exploring another bridge near the Convent School could be given a thought. Other Srinagar roads also need attention.
A coordination mechanism – which is in-built in the administrative system - between various departments like UEED, Water Works Department, Power Department, ERA, PWD, SMC, etc. is long overdue. Without it our public utilities suffer badly. Investments often go down the drain.
A time has come when we also need to introduce a law on Floor Space Index (FSI) for Srinagar, and, may be, for other towns and cities of the state. The time of horizontal luxury for us is over.
We all know that horizontal expansion of buildings in the city is eating up green spaces at an alarming rate. Worse, they are consuming our flood plains too. The military garrisons, illegally occupying prime land in the city have to go too. Srinagar’s Master Plan 2000-2021 clearly identifies the Tattoo Ground and the Haft Chinar garrisons to be shifted to other locations. It is sad that despite having been given alternative land else, Army continues to hold these massive spaces. Government needs to act on these now.
Introduction of law on Floor Space Index will ease pressure on our lands. It is true that not all of our lands in Srinagar are fit for vertically expanded buildings due to high water table, but we do have elevated lands.
Srinagar’s solid waste management continues to be a disaster. Now that we couldn’t get an anticipated Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan for developing a proper solid waste management facility, we must look for alternatives. Srinagar deserves to be brought out from its primitiveness now.
(The columnist is Online Editor with Greater Kashmir/Kashmir Uzma. Email:arjimand@greaterkashmir.com)
ARJIMAND HUSSAIN TALIB
A sensitive look at Srinagar city today makes you sad. Despite a lot of hoopla about making it green, clean and ‘developed’, it doesn’t get any better, it seems. Worse, it is losing its pristine aesthetic charm quite fast. Some of its grand historical landmarks are degrading. Some have been totally lost. Others have simply disappeared.
Srinagar’s ‘Venice of the East’ sobriquet seems little too far fetched today. The city lives mostly with the landmarks of the Maharaja and Bakhshi eras. It is true that the raging conflict has taken its toll on investment and existing landscape, but that cannot be an infinite excuse.
Shabby roads, bad drainage system, no traffic signal system, poor traffic management, lack of trees, poor sewerage and solid waste management system - all reflect poorly on this city. The reason the city is so dusty or muddy is that its soily patches are not grassed.
It is not that some good things are not happening with Srinagar. The problem is that they are too little in comparison with what is going wrong. Today, if compared with other cities of its stature in poor countries in Africa and Asia, this city looks shabby, rather primitive. That is what I can say, at least, after having traveled across some three dozen countries in these continents over the last few years.
At its soul, Srinagar has a special distinction: despite being one of the world’s oldest surviving cities, it retains a traditional touch. Not many cities in the world have been able to retain their organic character due to the onslaught of modern architecture. Srinagar retains that character, by and large. Things are going wrong somewhere else.
Let us begin with some good things first. The Mufti government’s initiative of beautifying the banks of the River Jhelum from the Zero Bridge up to Maisuma seems to be the best and a well executed project the city has seen in decades. Looking at the work engineers have done, it looks something to feel proud about. J&K Bank’s development of the dilapidated Iqbal Park and Badam Wari are some other good examples. We must replicate this model of development and commercial use of public spaces in other places as well.
Similarly, maintenance of Eidgah in Srinagar, renovation of Aali Masjid, fencing of Malkhah graveyard, development of Nigeen Club, Children’s Park at Hazuribagh and the under-construction Zanana Park near Rajbagh are some other good things that have happened to the city.
Lately, the introduction of Kashmiri architecture – thanks to INTACH’s heritage and cultural crusade in Kashmir – to our new buildings also gets 100 out of 100. The Sangarmal Shopping Mall and the new Tourist Reception Centre are surely two landmarks which look very native, yet modern too.
When it comes to Kashmirisation of the Ganta Ghar at Lal Chowk – though much belated – it could have been better planned. Its Kashmiri look is good, but the manner Lal Chowk’s ‘beautification’ is being executed is cynical. It chocked a commercial space.
If the idea was beautification, why didn’t we plant Chinars there? Is there anything as beautiful in the city as the Residency Road ahead of the Polo View straddled with Chinars?
Lately, we are getting fond of using our knowledge of Computer-Aided Designing (CAD) in creating good architectures. But our own imagination and the artificial intelligence of our computers are missing an important point: that is the greenery.
Our native trees – poplars, willows, deodars etc – are almost extinct from our public spaces in Srinagar now. And what is creeping in is the rather non-native ‘cypress’ tree, which has become a darling of our engineering departments. The recent cypress tree plantation on the Bypass Road is a disaster.
When it comes to landscaping and tree plantation, PWD and R&B departments’ performance is dismal. There are many questions. Why isn’t there a dedicated maintenance wing for creating and maintaining tree cover in the city, which is professionally trained and managed? Why don’t we have a green cover under the Jehangir Chowk flyover? Why trees on other roads, barring the Airport Road, don’t grow and provide wide cover? Why does the Landscape Division of R&B trim trees, and make them never to come out of their cost-intensive steel cages?
The logic that trees are a public safety hazard in times of strong winds is outlandish. Trees have similar characteristics in every part of the world, but they don’t just merit to be cut. That is criminal. The city Bypass Road, Ali Jan Road, Soura-Pandach 90-feet Road, etc. need a tree cover badly.
Srinagar needs better road planning. The Rambagh-Exhibition Crossing fly-over, billed to ease traffic on the Airport Road, is going to be a logistical nightmare for at least a decade to come. Given our dismal project execution record – like the Hyderpora Bypass flyover example – it looks improbable that it will be done in time. The traffic mess it is going to create will disrupt Srinagar’s life badly.
Even as some disruption is inevitable, a project almost loses its utility if it throws life out of gear for long periods. Our project planning requires some cost-benefit auditing today, which must factor in lives lost in accidents, time loss in commutation and the financial loss which vehicles incur.
An alternative road along the Flood Channel from Tengpora Bypass to Jawahar Nagar and exploring another bridge near the Convent School could be given a thought. Other Srinagar roads also need attention.
A coordination mechanism – which is in-built in the administrative system - between various departments like UEED, Water Works Department, Power Department, ERA, PWD, SMC, etc. is long overdue. Without it our public utilities suffer badly. Investments often go down the drain.
A time has come when we also need to introduce a law on Floor Space Index (FSI) for Srinagar, and, may be, for other towns and cities of the state. The time of horizontal luxury for us is over.
We all know that horizontal expansion of buildings in the city is eating up green spaces at an alarming rate. Worse, they are consuming our flood plains too. The military garrisons, illegally occupying prime land in the city have to go too. Srinagar’s Master Plan 2000-2021 clearly identifies the Tattoo Ground and the Haft Chinar garrisons to be shifted to other locations. It is sad that despite having been given alternative land else, Army continues to hold these massive spaces. Government needs to act on these now.
Introduction of law on Floor Space Index will ease pressure on our lands. It is true that not all of our lands in Srinagar are fit for vertically expanded buildings due to high water table, but we do have elevated lands.
Srinagar’s solid waste management continues to be a disaster. Now that we couldn’t get an anticipated Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan for developing a proper solid waste management facility, we must look for alternatives. Srinagar deserves to be brought out from its primitiveness now.
(The columnist is Online Editor with Greater Kashmir/Kashmir Uzma. Email:arjimand@greaterkashmir.com)
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