Kashmir - the Paradise on earth

By Nicholas Yong

The Straits Times, August 26, 2009

Nicholas Yong travelled to Kashmir and muses on its contradictions.

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TO have absorbed some of the serenity that is Kashmir is to have snatched a glimpse of nature's wonders out of the turmoil of human strife.

Not my words, but those of former ST reporter Koh Buck Song, who travelled to Kashmir in 1996. His article on the trip lies framed and hanging on the wall of a houseboat in Srinagar where he stayed.

ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

By sheer coincidence, I stayed in the very same houseboat on Dal Lake for a night, during five days of travel in the region bitterly contested by India and Pakistan since 1947.

Abdul, the genial butler who served Buck Song 13 years ago, remembers him as “a very good person”.

A quick glance through the houseboat’s guestbook also revealed a surprisingly large number of Singaporeans who stayed there in August alone.

ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

Our hosts noted that they had entertained many Asian tourists, mainly from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Nevertheless, we attracted curious looks and concealed giggles from locals seemingly unaccustomed to seeing Chinese faces, as we walked around town.

According to our guide, Srinagar largely attracts domestic tourists, with Westerners often staying away due to the ever-present threat of violence. Bobbing on a shikara (river taxi) around Dal Lake and admiring the floating gardens, one wondered how the serenity of the place could ever be disturbed.

Traders haggle at the early morning floating market on Dal Lake. -- ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

But just as Buck Song travelled amid the spectre of unrest all those years ago, so the knowledge that tensions bubbled just beneath the surface was never far away from our minds. Just last month, hundreds were arrested in Srinagar for rioting, amid allegations that Indian troops had raped and murdered two local women. Lonely Planet also advises travellers to check the latest updates on the security situation in Kashmir before venturing there.

But despite the presence of Indian troops with guns everywhere, we were never made to feel unsafe during our stay in Leh and Srinagar. Instead, we pondered the words of the 17th century Mughal emperor Jahangir in praise of the beauty of Kashmir: “If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.”

Walking in the Shalimar gardens that Jahangir had built in honour of his deceased wife, against the backdrop of the spectacular Himalayan mountain ranges, it was easy to see why he had uttered those words. Perhaps it also becomes easier to understand why India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the region, the most recent in 1999.

At the Shalimar Gardens, with the Himalayan mountain ranges in the distance. -- ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

Locals enjoying themselves at the Shalimar Gardens. -- ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

Dileep, our concierge at the hotel in Leh, indignantly told me: “If you look at a map, Kashmir is really the head of India. And Pakistan wants to take it away from us because it is so beautiful.”

I could not help but feel that talking to a Pakistani would only elicit equally heated sentiments about the region’s rightful ownership. But all talk of conflict and dispute were lost amid the peace and serenity of Kashmir. We merely counted our blessings for the opportunity to be amidst paradise on earth, even if it was just for a little while.

Sitting on the edge of the Indus Valley. -- ST PHOTO: Nicholas Yong

Kashmir issue, who cares?

Farhan Qutab

I think both the Pakistanis and Indians have emotional attachments to Kashmir. But this is a question of honouring the Kashmiris' emotions more than those of Pakistanis or Indians.

The problem with Kashmir started immediately after freedom of India and Pakistan from the British. The partition of 1947 has some interesting facts about it but there are two that deserve attention.

The first is known by all that according to the partition plan, the Muslim majority areas would form Pakistan and Hindu majority areas would be included in India.

In Kashmir's case, though the population was predominantly Muslim, the ruler was not and he opted (or was made to) for the Hindu side of the sub-continent.

The second is known by very few; in another case, the state of Hyderabad with a Muslim Maharaja as the ruler, who did not opt for India, was also annexed by India through army action. The Indian army defeated the "Razakar" forces of the Nizam Hyderabad and put an end to its princely status in September 1948.

Though the Nizam went into oblivion and there was no reaction as such from the people, Kashmir became an issue as the Kashmiris did not bow to the Indian aggression.

Pakistan's attempts to help out the Kashmiris were not that successful as amusingly, the then British Army commander disobeyed the Governor General, Ali Jinnah and did not allow Pakistani troops to enter Kashmir, otherwise the story would have ended there and then.

So it was basically the Kashmiris themselves who liberated part of their homeland, now called the free Kashmir or the Azad Kashmir. On the contrary, Indian occupation of Kashmir was largely facilitated by its army as was the case in Hyderabad's annexation. The Kashmiris since then have struggled for liberation from India and in 1989, their struggle assumed massive proportions that is continuing to this day.

Laura's article (Aug. 25) plainly pinpoints that the issue could be easily decided if the Kashmiris were allowed to exercise their right to self determination. In Timor Leste's case, the people were allowed to do so. Whether it was UN persuasion, or the pressure from world powers, particularly the West, a poll was somehow held.

In Kashmir's case, interest in the UN or for that matter the international community is not there, the West is not at all interested. Yes, if Kashmir had oil wells, natural resources, mineral deposits, it would attract attention. Or at least if it had a majority non-Muslim population it would interest the West.
So in this respect, it is a different case as compared to Timor Leste, which had a majority Roman Catholic population to win the hearts and minds of the West.

So what happened in 1947, 1965, 1971 and then in 1999 between Pakistan and India, formed the basis of all conflicts in Kashmir, and it still does. So if the two stay out and let the Kashmiris decide for themselves under a watchful UN eye, as was the case in Timor Leste, there won't be any cause of cribbing for the two nuclear rivals any more.

-(From Jakarta Post)

Super fast Khan destroys Salita in 76 seconds

NEWCASTLE, England: Amir Khan defeated Dmitriy Salita in just 76 seconds to retain his World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight title here at the Metro Radio Arena on Saturday.




The 22-year-old Briton ended the unbeaten record of New Yorker Salita after flooring the challenger twice before finishing the fight with a left hook to the chin to complete a speedy first title defence.



WBA champion Khan has declared he wants to fight in America in 2010 and this victory once again showed how the 2004 Athens Olympic silver medallist is improving since losing his unbeaten record last year.



Salita, born in Ukraine but who moved to New York in his childhood, claimed he would expose Khan’s punch resistance, but there was no repeat of the bout in September last year when the Briton was blown away in just 54 seconds by Colombian Breidis Prescott.



Instead, it was Salita who was overwhelmed in the first round.



Salita looked mesmerised as Khan launched his ferocious assault and the New Yorker was first dumped on the canvas by a left-right combination.



After taking a standing count of eight, Salita continued but moments later was in more trouble as Khan unloaded a blizzard of punches with the challenger trapped in the corner.



Salita was given another standing count before Khan finished the bout with a sweet left hook that prompted Puerto Rican referee Luis Pavon to step in.



Khan, who captured the WBA title with a commanding points win over Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik in July, spent the prelude to his first world title defence against mandatory challenger Salita saying how much he wanted to box in America, where he prepares for fights at the gym of trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.



Khan have been looking beyond Salita, but he did not look distracted in the ring as he went about his business in quick fashion.



Salita dropped to 30 wins, one defeat and one draw while Khan improved his professional record to 22 victories and one loss.



‘It was very explosive,’ Khan, a rejuvenated boxer under Roach’s guidance, told BBC Radio Five Live.



‘The fight was just what we asked for, what Freddie asked me to do. We had too much power for this guy.



‘I’m a growing young man and developing as a man,’ Khan added.



‘Freddie said to take it easy, pick the right shots and you’ll take this guy out and we did.



‘Freddie is a great trainer, he’s like a father figure to me and to have him in my corner means a lot.



‘Everyone knows I’m a hard-working fighter and if you put the hard work in you’re going to get the benefits.



‘After the first shot I could see his legs buckling and I just had to take my time. I knew he was going.’He added: ‘It was a blessing in disguise what happened against Prescott, I got beat and came back stronger. I’m getting stronger and quicker.’



Roach, asked to rate Khan’s performance, said: ‘I would give him an A+.



‘We’ve been working on that power and the fight was really over after that first punch.’



There were many who feared for Khan’s career after his loss to Prescott but he returned to form with a victory over Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera before defeating Kotelnik.



Earlier on the Khan bill, unbeaten Briton Kevin Mitchell out-boxed Prescott to earn a unanimous points victory, 119-110, 118-111, 117-111 in an eliminator for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) lightweight title.

Pakistan High commision in UK on Secret Mission Exposed by Geo TV

Pakistan High Commissioner in UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan and NAB Senior member Danishwar Malik in Geneva Switzerland on secret mission. Please have a look they way Mr. Wajid and other people face the camera. Again it is you Pakistani People who need to make your mind what to do and who to choose to lead our nation.

Thank You once again Geo TV.

muslim man punched the women who disgraced prophet muhammad(pbuh)

Italian MP attacked the prophet muhammad (P.B.U.H)‏

In Milan, 9 Nov. feminist and former far right-wing MP Daniela Santanche has sparked a controversy after calling the Prophet Mohammed a “a polygamist and paedophile” during a TV debate. Santanche appeared on a television programme aired on the commercial channel, Canale 5 with the president of Milan’s Islamic centre, Ali Abu Schwaima, on Sunday.