Published November 28th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

Heritage week and conservation

Join hands to guard the precious capital

The present condition of these two structures is a best case study to assess our negligence levels towards our heritage.

World Heritage Week was celebrated from 19th to 25th November to increase the awareness and inspire the people about the conservation and protection of the cultural heritage and monuments inherited from our ancestors. Here in Kashmir at the government level, the activity remains confined to debates, whereas as people we are least bothered about awareness regarding heritage. Except for few stakeholders in the tourism sector, most of the people in Kashmir are unaware of the importance of rich cultural and architectural heritage Kashmir possesses and should have been proud of. Kashmir by every standard is a rich heritage repository and showcasing it is a never-ending process.

Published November 15th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

A looming threat

Is Srinagar waiting patiently for another flood?

The whole Kashmir valley particularly the Srinagar basin with main water carrying (draining) structures passing through its middle is sitting on a ticking ‘flood bomb’ that can explode any time with no or very little warning time.

Srinagar and flood management are the two inseparable subjects and the two can’t be taken in isolation. Instead, the whole Srinagar basin stretched beyond the populated areas and including the adjoining water bodies, waterways and flood spill structures are part of any flood activity in this bowl. Many people believe that Kashmir floods have a fixed cycle and records of last more than a century also convey about a definite time cycle and pattern. However, the ecosystem of the valley was not under such stress, then, the way it is for last half a century. The pace at which our precious ground cover both on mountains and the plains of the valley is disappearing and because of other environmental mismanagements, it seems, in future not only all earlier flood cycle in Kashmir will go wrong but the patterns will be more ferocious.

Published October 30th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

The theatrics of Interlocution!

Kashmir requires a well-defined roadmap with clearly identified parameters and stakeholders to whom the interlocuter should relate.

Optimism can be the only way to counter apprehensions. And at this point in Kashmir when bells of dialogue have started ringing virtually out of the blue, all have to be optimistic but careful. let me also embrace little optimism and hope for a while! Kashmir is an issue and that too a political one and has been acknowledged by almost every political entity in the country. The present political dispensation at the federal level played hide and seek with Kashmir problem for three years of their tenure and tried their best to prove that Kashmir is a non-issue—a simple law and order problem. But after exhausting all armaments in their political arsenal reverted back to the square one— the dialogue (exchange of ideas). Everyone should and positively will welcome the efforts of negotiation. Though, these crucial parleys on Kashmir require a well-defined roadmap with clearly identified parameters and stakeholders to whom the interlocuter should relate. However, the big question is who is negotiating. What are his credentials, attributes, and the credibility?

Published October 25th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

Before it’s too late

Is District Budgam heading towards an ecological disaster!

Now the current falling environmental status of Kashmir is known to almost everyone! We are losing precious forest and other soil covers because of greed and vandalization.

Until a few decades back, the valley of Kashmir was synonymous with untouched lofty mountain ranges, rolling meadows, virgin forest cover, crystal clear melodic streams, and a set of magnificently synchronized mesmeric seasons. Now the current falling environmental status of Kashmir is known to almost everyone! We are losing precious forest and other soil covers because of greed and vandalization. Destabilizing and stripping of mountain ranges is going on unabated in the garb of development and connectivity. Water is getting polluted because of our greed and negligence. However even after huge intrusion and tampering with our ecosystem, if we wish we can stop short of eco-disaster and vigorously initiate restoring ecological normalcy to its virgin glory. Budgam is no different than other parts of Kashmir. It has suffered immensely on the environmental front. And this principle of salvation applies to district Budgam as well.

Published October 20th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

J&K Bank: A bank with a mission

The Bank is not just a department that deals with money, it’s a socio-economic institution

At present it is is one of the prominent banks in the country with huge deposits and investments and has diversified beyond traditional banking operations

The Jammu and Kashmir Bank founded by late Maharaja Hari Singh in 1938 was a watershed in state’s financial and banking sector. Prior to this state-owned public-private partnership banking initiative, the financial scenario of Jammu and Kashmir was dominated by the exploitative private financial institutions and crude moneylenders. Hari Singh was an autocrat and autocrat is an autocrat by all standards and means. But as an administrator and head of the state, he was a visionary. JK bank was his brainchild to cater to the financial requirements of his much-cherished conception of the sovereign state of Jammu and Kashmir—independent of influential neighboring states. JK banks shaping in the late thirties should not be studied in isolation. state subject law promulgated by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927 was his well-thought strategy for greater and autonomous Jammu and Kashmir and so was the JK bank. Anyways, whatever the late Maharaja’s plans—either to have an independent state for his subjects or to secure the interests of his dynastic rule, one thing is clear that Hari Sing not only conceived an idea of the state-centric loyal banking system but implemented it beyond the autocratic protocol by inviting private investors.

Published October 12th, 2017 by Fida Iqbal

The road rage

Deadly driving machines and killer roads!

Our traffic system is not in good and sound shape and mainly four reasons are squarely responsible for gridlocks and never-ending death on roads.

I don’t know what made us so heartless; filming painful death of a budding soul in a traffic accident and uploading it on social media is not sensible! Anyways, today I am not here about the insensitivity of Kashmiri people but the way modern vehicular traffic along with bad roads and our negligence kill the people. A few days back a young student riding his two-wheeler got crushed under a speeding truck at Pantha-chowk and he died an excruciating death almost instantly. And we keep counting! God knows how much more will be swallowed by these deadly driving machines and rash driving by the time these lines get printed.

Fida Iqbal.com