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net
REGISTERED: JK NP-222/SKGPO-2020-2023

INSIDE ORPHANAGES
As a sting operation involving Covid19 orphans shocked Kashmir society and the government,
Minhaj Masoodi visited orphanages only to find that all the pandemic orphans are home and no
orphanage in Kashmir has ever given a child in adoption, not even to childless local couples
: DIPR-JK
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE

02 BRIEFING

DELHI
In Agenda AajTak, which a Delhi based channel hosted last week, Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha said his
administration is working on “demolishing the whole terror ecosystem.”He said there are people
including scribes and intellectuals, - some of whom having “great standing and reputation in foreign
countries” who are involved in terror funding. He said the era of flying people, who were threat to peace
in Kashmir, to Delhi has ended. Sinha said the period of talking to people with “soft separatist tenden-
cies” is over, and from now on, talks will only be held with those who believe in the idea of India and its
tricolour. Asked about the additional deployments, Sinha said: “If one killing happens, everyone says
that we are not able to tackle militancy. If we say that we will secure the places which did not have the
dominance of forces and which supplied oxygen and fertilisers to terrorism, are we committing a crime
by demanding five companies of forces? What is wrong in that?”
On the same show, interestingly, Mehbooba Mufti said the new India belongs to Godse and not to
Gandhi. “And the Naya Kashmir that is being created is also Godse’s Kashmir, where I am not allowed
to talk, where my gate is locked twice a week,” she said. Appreciating the “wonderful job” of the security
grid, Ms Mufti said that they should not be used to further political ends. She called for a “political
process, a dialogue process, a reconciliation process if you really want to make a Naya Kashmir”, insisting
“that won’t happen by showing a snow-covered Gulmarg.” She said Kashmir has been converted into
a laboratory.

COONOOR
In one of the worst air crashes in recent years, India’s first Chief of Defence
Staff, General Bipin Rawat, the only 5-star General, was killed along
with his wife, Madhulikha and 11 others when his Mi-17V5 helicopter
crashed barely minutes before it could have landed at Willington. The
air crash was reported in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor area.
The first CDS, General Rawat would talk in unambiguous terms on
Pakistan, China and the situation in Kashmir. Some of his statements
would trigger controversies but the outspoken General would never
compromise on what he believed. A highly decorated soldier, General
Rawat became the army chief in December 2016 and took over as the
CDS in 2019, a day after he completed his term.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the crash is has revived the memories of a
similar chopper crash on November 22, 1963, that killed Lt General’s
Daulat Singh, and Bikram Singh, Air Vice Marshal EW Pinto, Major Gen-
eral KND Nanavati, Brigadier SR Oberoi and Flight Lieutenant SS Sodhi.
As Lt General, Rawat had survived a helicopter crash in 2015. Those killed
in the Coonoor crash along with the CDS and his wife include Brigadier
LS Lidder, the military adviser to the CDS, and staff officer Lieutenant After 2400 schools were merged in 2015 to improve
Colonel Harjinder Singh.
In Kashmir, the commander of the Srinagar based 15 Corps, Lt Gen the pupil to teacher ratio (PTR), 2000 more – one
Devendra Pratap Pandey accompanied Kashmir Police Chief to Baram-
ulla where they attended a memorial event. They later joined a candle-
thousand each in Kashmir and Jammu, are being
light event in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. merged in coming days

LEH
After waiting for a few years, the Jammu and Kashmir government has finally accorded sanction to the
continuation of payment of a pension and family pension to 26 former lawmakers who belong to the
Ladakh region. This payment was withheld after Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir as a
separate Union Territory in 2019. The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir will make these payments
as the administration in Ladakh expressed its inability to pay it. Those lawmakers who would be benefitted
by the decision include former minister, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Feroz Ahmad Khan, Asgar Ali Karbali, Tsering
Samphel, Deldan Namgial, Syed Muhammad Baqir Rizvi, Skalzang Angdoo, Nissar Ali, Ghulam Raza, Narboo
Gialchan, Aga Syed Ahmad Rizvi, Togdan Rimpochey, Anayat Ali, Tsetan Namgyal, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Sonam
Gyalson, Sonam Wangchuk Narboo, Chering Dorjay and many others. The list includes many others whose
families will get the family pension. The decision of payment of pension from the erstwhile legislative
assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was taken after the MHA studied the issue and clarified it.
 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021

03
SRINAGAR
An employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government cannot in any way be a
critique of the government actions, even if it is the issue of service delivery, one
instance surfaced recently explains. An employee of the forest department had
used social media to give vent his feeling overload shedding as a result of which
he alleged the students are unable to attend online classes. Within days, he got
a show-cause notice asking him to explain his position or face the consequences.
His conduct was seen as a violation of Section 18 of Jammu and Kashmir Govern-
ment Employees (Conduct Rules) 1971.

BANIHAL
The Northern Railway achieved a major milestone by completing a tunnel near
Bankot. The completing of this tunnel on the Katra-Banihal section will improve
the implementation of various other tunnel projects on the 272-km long line
connecting Udhampur with Baramulla. The tunnel completed last week is almost
2-km long and would eventually cost Rs 300 crore.
The 110-km Katra-Banihal section of the prestigious railway line is one of the
most challenging parts as 96 per cent of the 53-kilometre-long railway line in the
mountainous Ramban district passes through underground tunnels. This tunnel
section was implemented by Kashmir based Beigh Construction Company (BCC)
that used a road-header machine, perhaps for the first time in any tunnelling
project in Jammu and Kashmir. This machine prevents blasting in the fragile
mountains.
Meanwhile on the upcoming 14-km Zoji La tunnel, the National Highways and
Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) connecting Sonmar-
gwith Drass, will continue during the winter. From the Baltal side, so far, about
390 metres of the tunnel stand completed. From Minamarg, NHIDCL has achieved
almost about 675 meters.
JAMMU
In order to counter the use of drones in the trafficking of arms into Jammu and Kashmir,
the BSF, NSG and DRDO have started a tie-up with some foreign companies to develop
an anti-drone technology. Once ready, it will be installed at various locations between
Amritsar, AboharFazilka, Hiranagar and Akhnoor. MHA is reportedly funding the entire
project. Jammu and Kashmir has 198 km of international border with Pakistan and in
Punjab, it is 553 km. After these two areas are tackled, the technology will be deployed
in Rajasthan and Gujarat. On LoC, however, the army has already installed certain types
of equipment to check drone flights. So far the security grid is physically managing the
drone physically which is cumbersome.
Of the Rs 31000 crore industrial investment
proposals received, the Jammu and Kashmir
government has approved proposals worth
Rs 15,000 crore

KULGAM
Though not for the first time, residents of Begamin Kulgam came out in hoards
to manage the last rites of Lajwanti Devi, 75. A Kashmiri Rajput Hindu, her family
had stayed put and not migrated out of Kashmir in the 1990s. Though some of
her family members were around but the locality came out and participated in
the funeral. Her family has said that they have lived together and the attendance
of the majority population members was part of the tradition the two communi-
ties have evolved with for generations.

RAJOURI
It was quite unusual for the residents of Rajouri and Poonch to see such a glittering long
object on Delhi. Well before the panic would takeover, the authorities somehow clarified
that the huge line of bright stars moving in a direction smoothly was neither the sky-lab nor
the elusive UFOs. They were actually a constellation of Starlink Satellite owned by Elon
Musk’s SpaceX, these satellites in low earth orbit are providing satellite internet facilities.
The company has launched 1892 satellites of a total of 42000 it has planned. The satellite
train covers the entire globe but the service can be availed in 21 countries. India is expected
to get this service in 2022.
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
04 SPECIAL REPORT
Chief Secretary Dr A K Mehta who chairs JKUTLBC distributing certificates among the beneficiaries of banking schemes.
BANKING
CLEARLY STAGNANT
I
f the figures tabled at the last bankers
meeting for the first half of fiscal
2021-22 are any indication, the econ-
omy is at a slow pace in Jammu and
Data revealed about the banking Kashmir. The deposits were slightly low-
operations in Jammu and Kashmir er than the end of the fiscal 2020-21 and
the growth in the loan book is modest. The
in the last six months suggests an accounts under stress have increased in
improved credit off-take by the the last six months.
Though the Jammu and Kashmir Bank
corporate and gradual depletion of continues to be the key player in manag-
advances and low credit appetite in ing Jammu and Kashmir’s deposits and
credit, in the last six quarters the State
local markets, Masood Hussain reports Bank of India (SBI) is exhibiting an
unprecedented growth trend in its cred-
it owing to the huge uptake of the corpo-
rate loans. These major companies that
mostly operate from outside Jammu and
Kashmir, have evolved their business
interests in Jammu and Kashmir in
recent years. This could be linked to the
new industrial policy of the Jammu and
Kashmir government that is keen to
bring in a huge investment.
The banking sector had set a target of
extending credit of more than Rs 44980
crore for the current fiscal under priority
and non-priority sectors in Jammu and

Kashmir. In the first six months, the
achievement is stated to be forty per
cent, more in commercial loans than
in the priority sector. In the last fiscal,
2021-21, the banks have achieved only
69 per cent of a credit plan of Rs 44630
crore. Interestingly, the personal loan,
interestingly, has exhibited a huge
appetite.
DEPOSITS
By the end of September 2021, the banks
operating across Jammu and Kashmir
have Rs 148539 crore in their vaults.
This is slightly less in comparison to
the end of last fiscal when it was Rs
148677 crore. This essentially means
that people either are spending their
earnings or they have nothing much
to keep parked with the banks. The
figures at the end of the fiscal are usu-
ally up in case of deposits, a situation
that hugely alters in the rest of the year.
The banks, however, said that the Sep-
tember 2021 deposits are 6.34 per cent
more than they were a year ago in
September 2020, at Rs 13984 crore.
What is interesting is that JK Bank
continues to hold the major chunk of
deposits – Rs 93722 crore, which is
63.09 per cent of the entire saving
vault in Jammu and Kashmir. It is
followed by the SBI with Rs 20008.39
crore, PNB by Rs 9925.16 crore and
HDFC Bank by Rs 5492.80 crore.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman during her visit to UT taking review of Banking schemes and products along with LG Manoj Sinha.
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
ADVANCES
Jammu and Kashmir’s entire loan
book at the end of the first half-year
of the current fiscal stood at Rs 82085.18
crore, a figure marginally improved
from Rs 77867.37 crore at the end of
March 31, 2021, by Rs 4217 crore. Data
suggests that the credit off-take
improved by 16.59 per cent in 12 months
but in the last six months, the improve-
ment has been quite thin indicating
a low credit appetite.
Of the entire loan book, JK Bank
manages 69 per cent, followed by SBI
with 14 per cent. All other banks have
a credit share of not more than four
per cent of the overall loan book.
What is interesting is that SBI is
emerging as a major player in corpo-
rate finance, a status that was earlier
with the JK Bank. By the end of Sep-
tember 2021, SBI has advanced Rs 4717
crore as corporate advances, which
is almost three times more than Rs
1758.22 crore that it had advanced to
corporate a year earlier. JK Bank’s
corporate advances are at Rs 486 crore,
slightly less than that of PNB.
Banks, however, said that the growth
in advances on a year-on-year basis
is more than 16 per cent which is not
bad. What is interesting, however, is
that the net addition in the loan book
for the year ending September 2021,
is Rs 11681 crore of which Rs 5743
DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
crore is the corporate advance leaving
less than half (Rs 4238 crore) that was
advanced to non-corporate in Jammu
nd Kashmir.
CREDIT DEPOSIT RATIO
Normally the ratio of credit to depos-
its is seen as a basic indicator of the
functioning of the banking sector in
a particular space. The overall CDR
of the sector is at 56.58 per cent. Usu-
ally, the JK Bank used to have a bet-
ter ratio but the advancing of a good
amount to the corporate sector has
phenomenally improved the tally for
SBI. Right now the CDR for SBI is
75.42 per cent and that of JK Bank is
57.04 per cent. Even PNB has a CDR
of 24.31 per cent.
CREDIT APPETITE
The Kashmir and Jammu regions
have traditionally exhibited a contrast
in the credit appetite. While Jammu
has low hunger for credit, it is com-
pletely reversed in Kashmir. Kashmir
has less money in bank vaults in com-
parison to Jammu; thanks to the
operations of the major businesses
from Jammu including the central
public sector. That is exhibited by the
credit deposit ratio.
In Jammu, for instance, banks hold
overall deposits of Rs 88989.27 crore
and the total credit off-take by the end
05
of September 2021 was at Rs 33058.50
crore. This makes a modest CDR of
37.15 per cent. The banking sector has
only Rs 1840.52 crore as gross NPA in
the region.
Kashmir is a different story. It
has only 55806.09 crore in deposits
against which the advances stand
at Rs 41545.67 crore thus taking the
CDR to 74.45 per cent. Obviously,
the stressed assets are also in that
proportion. The gross NPAs in Kash-
mir are at Rs 3161.51 crore.
There is yet another interesting
trend. For many years, it was the tiny
Shopian district that would top the
credit chart across Jammu and Kash-
mir. It continues to be so. Against
deposits base of Rs 1138.34 crore, the
advances stand at Rs 1831.69 crore at
the end of September 2021, which makes
a CDR of 160.91 per cent. The fascinat-
ing addition is that it is one of the
lowest NPA districts with a gross NPA
at Rs 51.52 crore, which is 2.81 per
cent. This means the people are seek-
ing bank help and repaying as well.
The emerging trend is that it is
Kupwara that is chasing Shopian.
Against a deposit base of Rs 2871.84
crore, the overall advances were at
Rs 3304.42 crore. While its CDR is at
115.06 per cent, the border district is
unable to manage its stressed asset
properly. The gross NPA in Kupwara
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
06 SPECIAL REPORT
The Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta today chaired the 5th UT-Level Bankers' Committee meeting and reviewed achievements of banks and financial institutions operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
stands at Rs 141.90 crore which is 4.29
per cent.
The district to be seen by the end
of this fiscal would be Budgam, in
central Kashmir, which currently
has a CDR of 98.78 per cent. However,
Budgam is managing its assets bet-
ter as it has gross NPAs at Rs 101.16
crore, which is only 3.06 per cent.
While in the case of Shopian, apple
is the prime driver, it could be real
estate that is driving the credit appe-
tite in Budgam.
No district in Kashmir has less
The overall gross than 50 per cent of CDR. The lowest
nonperforming assets credit deposit ratio, it is interest-
ingly to mention here, is the capital
for the banking sector Srinagar city which has a ratio of
in Jammu and Kashmir 53.88 per cent. Against the deposit
base of Rs 26686.46 crore, the advanc-
stand at 6.62 per cent es stand at Rs 14379.42 crore. Of this
of Rs 82085 crore. assets worth Rs 2120.15 crore (14.74
per cent) are under stress. This essen-
The NPA was at 5.98 tially means the Srinagar business
per cent in September is seriously compromised and it is
paving way for peripheral districts
2021, which means it to take over.
has gone up by 2.01 In the Jammu region, Doda is top-
ping in credit appetite (CDR 55.77 per
per cent. Compared to cent), followed by Ramban with 49.91
March 2021 when the per cent. Jammu city, the erstwhile
winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir,
gross NPA was at 6.47 is moving at a snail’s pace. Against
per cent, seemingly a deposit base of Rs 51517.74 crore,
advances stand at Rs 16240.5 crore,
it has gone up by a which makes a CDR of 31.52 per cent.
marginal 0.15 per cent The gross NPAs stood at Rs 1404.67,
which is 8.64 per cent of the overall
only in the last six advances. Most of Jammu business
months is hugely linked with Srinagar in
particular and Kashmir in general.
The situation in Srinagar might be
somehow linked to a low business
situation in Jammu too.
This essentially means that most
of the income that the banking sector
generates is from Kashmir because
banks earn from loans only.
PRIORITY V/S NO PRIORITY
At the start of the current fiscal, the
banking sector had set a target of
advancing an amount of Rs 44,980.57
crore in 12 months ending March
2022 in both priority and non-prior-
ity sectors. Cumulatively in the first
six months, the achievement has
been of the order of 40 per cent. But
the analysis suggests that achieve-
ment in six months has been 88 per
cent in the non-priority sector and
only 27 per cent in the priority sector.
Priority sector lending is fundamen-
tal to banking operations because
they have a government focus and
in certain cases, the government
pays part of the interest.
The sub-sector that has shown
massive growth in both the prior-
ity and the non-priority areas is the
personal loan. Rs 5,309.48 crore is
the amount that has been dispend-
ed in the personal loan category. It
is higher than the key priority sec-
tor, agriculture, which has taken
Rs 5037 crore only. Housing, educa-
tion, industry – all sectors are show-
ing stagnation, if not negative
growth. Overall non-priority loans
are exhibiting a doubling trend in
comparison to the non-priority sec-
tor. the massive surge in personal
loans is being seen as an indicator
of increasing indebtedness at the
individual level, possibly dictated
by low growth in the economy.
STRESSED ASSETS
The overall gross nonperforming
assets for the banking sector in
Jammu and Kashmir stand at 6.62
per cent of Rs 82085 crore. The NPA
was at 5.98 per cent in September
2021, which means it has gone up by
2.01 per cent. Compared to March
2021 when the gross NPA was at 6.47
per cent, seemingly it has gone up
by a marginal 0.15 per cent only in
the last six months.
The NPA trend is more visible in
the industry which has 9.23 per cent
of overall advances of Rs 19301.52
crore (Rs 1780.57 crore) under stress.
This is followed by agriculture which
has overall advances of Rs 10706.11
crore of which 904.71 crore (8.45 per
cent) is under stress. The banks have
advanced Rs 6947.6 crore under PMMY
(Mudra) of which Rs 235.9 crore is
gross NPA (3.40 per cent).
There is a default in government-
sponsored schemes as well. It is of
the order of Rs 5.03 crore of Rs 254.31
crore in NRLM (1.98 per cent),   Rs
30.20 crore in an overall advance of
Rs 1450.57 crore in PMEGP (2.08 per
cent); Rs 6.26 crore in Rs 97.58 crore
advanced under NULM (6.42 per cent)
and Rs 1.6 crore of Rs 40.66 crore
advanced to SC, ST and OBC (3.94
per cent). The NPA under Kisan
Credit Card is at Rs 261.58 crore (4.45
per cent).
 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021

COVER STORY 07
SOCIETY

INSIDE ORPHANAGES
As a sting operation involving Covid19 orphans shocked Kashmir society and the government, Minhaj
Masoodi visited orphanages only to find that all the pandemic orphans are home and no
orphanage in Kashmir has ever given a child in adoption, not even to childless local couples

Advisor to LG, Farooq Khan visits Rahat Manzil orphanage in Srinagar.

O
n November 30, 2021, a sting
operation by a Delhi based
media organisation
shocked Kashmir when
two young men representing hith-
erto unknown Global Welfare Chari-
tableTrust and NobelFoundation offered
Covid19 orphans for adoption. Asrar
Amin, one of the Trust managers
sought Rs 75000, a child.
Amin, as per the investigation was
offering the orphans without any
paperwork. Aijaz Ahmad Dar, who
operated his Foundation from Pampore
told on camera that he would involve
doctors in stealing the orphaned new-
borns and claimed to be in contact
with 500-600 orphans in 8-10 years of
age. He demanded Rs10 lakh for such
a child.
The expose brought Kashmir
orphanages into an “unwanted” spot-
light, with many people raising ques-
tions over the manner and conditions
in which these NGOs and orphan-
ages operate. It created a social media
storm, with people making their anger
and outrage known.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
This shocked even the government.
Quickly a series of decisions were
taken and implementation started.
Admitting that they were caught
unawares, Mission Director, Jammu
and Kashmir Integrated Child Protec-
tion Services (JKICPS), Shabnam
Kamili said they acted promptly.
“From the day we got this message
on social media, we activated our
child welfare committee and DCPO
Pulwama,” Kamila said. “By that
evening, we had the FIR’s registered
against both the persons and by the
next day, they were arrested and their
offices sealed.”
One of the two NGOs, Kamila said
had uploaded a post on Facebook in
October 2020. “The person had been
active since last October. He had
posted on Facebook regarding child
adoption,” Kamili said. “We had
alerted the cyber police and SSP crime
and sought action against him.”
The NGO, she said, is not registered.
“It was not an orphanage either - just
a small office.”
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
08 COVER STORY
Orphans at Yateem Khanna, one of the bigggest orphanges in Srinagar.
COVID19 ORPHANS
In a few days after the “expose”,
Kamili said they checked the details
of all Covid19 orphans. “Within three
days, we had physical verification
done of each and every Covid19 orphan
and we have got certificates from all
districts about all of them are fine.
Besides, there was no report about
missing child from anywhere.”
Jammu and Kashmir, Kamili said
has quite a few Covid19 orphans.
Already registered with Bals-
waraj NCPCR portal and PM Cares,
Jammu and Kashmir currently has
about 651 Covid orphans of whom 15
have lost both parents. “This is a
dynamic figure and can go up,” Kami-
li said.
Of the many findings of the quick
exercise, one key outcome was that
not a single Covid19 orphan has been
adopted so far.
“Only 15 are double orphans and
they are being taken care of by their
immediate families, the grandparents,
uncles and aunts,” Kamili said.
“Although they are under our scan-
ner, but they are with their families.”
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
70 GROUPS
But the sting operation has helped
IPCS to revisit the entire infrastruc-
ture including all the organizations
dealing with children. Right now,
there are 54 such groups registered
with them, though around 70 organi-
zations operational currently. Some
of them had not made any effort to
get registered. By January 1, no organ-
isation will be permitted to operate
if they lack registration.
Kamili said the matter was taken
up seriously by the government. “The
Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar
Mehta took a meeting on December
2, and we are being reviewed every
now and then by the higher authori-
ties.” Two committees have been
constituted, one each for Kashmir
and Jammu for a detailed review of
every orphan.
CONFLICT DESTITUTION
The three-decade-long conflict has
resulted in children getting orphaned.
This led to the rise of many orphan-
ages in Kashmir. Destitute manage-
ment is a natural response in societies.
In wake of the sting operation,
authorities have tasked officials
to explore everything about the
vast network of orphanages and
their functioning. Even rules
have been amended to prevent
the exploitation of children. The
social audit is in progress and
the details will be known once
the exercise is complete.
A JKAS OFFICER
However, the people who have spent
their lives in these orphanages and
built their careers are willing to talk
and share details of their stints in
these homes.
Gazi Abdullah qualified KAS
in 2020. Born in 1996 in a Doda
village, Abdullah’s father was
consumed by the raging conf lict
in the region. Abdullah was two
years old at the time of his
father’s demise. After passing
the fourth standard examina-
tion, he was sent to an orphan-
age in Srinagar, Welfare Educa-
tion Institute, located at
Chattabal-Bemina Crossing.
“It was in 2003-04. I was around
nine years old at that time,” said Abdul-
lah, insisting the Institute laid the
foundation for him.
“My basic education and my foun-
dation was laid there. Overall, the
environment was cordial.” Although
he conceded that it wasn’t exactly
homely, nevertheless, “It was good.”
“There are chances you won’t
exactly feel home-like, but you have
to manage things.”
“A vacuum is created in one’s life
after father’s death, that too when
conditions at home are very difficult
and you are financially weak,” he
said.
In such a situation, Abdullah said,
he did not know how he landed at the
orphanage. “There was a link cre-
ated through someone. The situation
was such that I could not study. My
mother deemed it right for me to study
there in absence of my father.”
Abdullah studied at the Welfare
Institute till tenth class and opted to
complete his senior secondary educa-
tion at Iqbal Memorial Institute, Sri-
nagar which was also sponsored by

the orphanage. However, all through-
out his senior school studies, he con-
tinued to live at the orphanage.
After clearing his twelfth class,
Abdullah went back his native district
and completed his bachelor’s at Gov-
ernment Degree College, Doda. There-
after he pursued a master’s programme
in Botany from Aligarh Muslim Uni-
versity and consequently qualified
KAS in 2020.
Although replete with instances
of personal struggle, Abdullah said
that his time at the orphanage shaped
him into the person he is today.
“There was an environment of inclu-
sivity. I haven’t seen any discrimina-
tion on the basis of religion, region,
caste, colour, or creed. We were
people from Tanghdar, Kupwara,
Doda, Kishtwar, even Ladakh and
we lived in a very cordial manner,”
Abdullah said. “My personal expe-
rience is that they have played a
great role in shaping lives, at least
my life.”
Talking about the orphanage that
he was raised in, he said, “I can guar-
antee this much, that they treat a
child as their own. Admissions were
done through a proper procedure,
records maintained.”
“When my father died, the villagers
used to say, waen dazzi ni ati naar ti
ghar’as manz (the hearth will go silent
in this home). Such was the condition.”
To come out of that, whosoever
child goes into an orphanage; he has
experienced and matured a lot more
because he has seen all that at a very
tender age.
Delhi based TV Channel, India Today caught members of two Kashmir NGOs on record, offering Covid19 orphans for sale.
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
TAK ZAINGIRI
Ghulam Abbas Shah was also raised
in an orphanage literally. He was ten
years old, a student of the fifth pri-
mary when his father died of some
illness.
“It was 1976. My father died. We
were three siblings and our widowed
mother.” Shah was forced to drop out
of school as his family could not afford
anything due to poverty. “I left school
and was home for three years.”
Then one day, one of our relatives,
who was married to Tak Zainageeri
happened to visit Shah’s village at
Lolab after a long gap of about 30
years. “My grandmother introduced
us and my mother to her, saying that
my mother is widowed and without
any support system.”
It was at this point, she told Shah’s
grandmother, that her husband (Zaina-
geeri) takes care of orphans. He has
established a hostel at Srinagar,
Jammu and Kashmir Yateem Trust.
“Bring your child there,” she told
Shah’s mother.
Shah’s mother took him to Srinagar.
“I was admitted in sixth class. The
hostel was located at Shaheed Gunj
at that time. I got enrolled at Govern-
ment High School Batamaloo. Due to
his hard work and guardianship of
Zainageeri, Shah said he became the
top-most student of the class.
 The hostel was later shifted to Now-
shera and Shah enrolled himself for
his matriculation examinations at
Soura Higher Secondary School. He
completed his Bachelor’s in Science
from Islamia College of Science and
DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
Commerce in 1981. At that time, they
were 50 boys living in the hostel.
“Tak Sahab was raising 50 children
at the hostel from small donations
and a little bit of help from the Social
Welfare Department,” Shah said.
The Yateem Trust had no office.
One of my seniors became a doctor
and was a leading Oncologist at SKIMS.
Today he teaches at GMC Baramulla,
Shah said.
TURNING POINT
Shah then became a teacher and retired
a few months ago. “I feel very proud
to have been mentored by Tak Sahab.
When he mentored me, only then have
I been able to mentor my students and
give back to society. Yateem Trust
was a turning point in my life.”
Yateem Trust is Kashmir’s oldest
orphanage. Founded by Tak Zainageeri
in 1972, the Trust will complete 50
years in 2022. The trust now runs 13
orphanages out of which 12 are oper-
ating in the Kashmir division while
one is in Banihal in the Jammu divi-
sion. It manages about 550 orphans.
Run by a board of trustees, the trust
has a grass root level presence in the
form of 80 units, which look at the
grass-root level operations.
Zahoor Ahmad Tak, the patron of
the Yateem Trust said that the orga-
nization would not have sustained
for so long had any of it been engaged
in the malpractices like the ones that
recently surfaced. “The recent case,
if true, is a sign of moral depravity
and societal failure. It is an unforgiv-
able crime. For those who are involved,
09
an example should be made out of
them. Because neither our society
nor our religion allows it,” Zahoor
said.
“There are countless people who
have studied at our centres, were
brought up here and are at exalted
positions in government and other
allied services. Our motto is serving
the deserving,” Zahoor said.
Among the huge list of people, inter-
estingly, one Kashmiri Pandit wom-
an, who is now an Associate Professor
of Sanskrit at Delhi University is also
one of its pass outs.
THE YATEEM KHANA
Chairman of the orphanage, Jammu
and Kashmir Yateem Khana (JKYK)
that runs Raahat Manzil, where Gazi
Abdullah studied, Moin-ul-Islam said
that they take children under their
guardianship after proper verifica-
tion.
“Our organization is open and
transparent about its dealings.  This
organization is run only by local dona-
tions. Within the union of India, the
money comes, we take it. We don’t
take foreign money,” Moin said. “99.9
per cent of donations come from the
valley.”
Currently, the orphanage has about
294 children enrolled there. “36 have
recently appeared for the twelfth class
exams.”
Sharing a list of inmates of the
Raahat Manzil, established in 1998,
Moin showed names of people who
are now at established positions
within and outside Kashmir. One
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
10 COVER STORY
prominent RJ also featured in that
list. Besides, number of doctors, engi-
neers, government officers, and busi-
nessmen, the list tells the contributions
this home has made to the destitute.
“We test a few grains to get an idea
of how the whole produce of grain is.
That is why I am sharing a few names,”
Moin said.
“The children enrolled in our insti-
tute come from very far-flung areas
and from ignorant and depressed
families. These children are psycho-
logically very down. Our first try is
to boost them psychologically.”
He said that they have incentivized
the success of the children who excel
in studies with cash prizes. “This
gives them self-belief and helps them
come out of that trauma to a certain
extent.”
He added that when kids arrive into
their orphanages without any proper
guardianship, “We try to become
their guardians and try to give them
a good direction.” “This is the reason,”
Moin-ul-Islam said, “Our kids remain
here with utmost comfort and respect
and dignity.”
When a child leaves the institute,
Moin said they give them scholarships
Gulshan Banaat, a hostel for orphaned girls run by Jammu and Kashmir Yateem Trust.
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
for first, second and third year. And
if they want to pursue further studies
and need further help, the scholar-
ships are extended.
Additionally, he said that they cre-
ate recurring deposit accounts in the
name of every child from the time
they enter till the time they leave.
“We put Rs 500 per month in their
account for the time they are here.
And by the time, they leave we give
that money so that they are able to
take care of themselves and their
familial needs when they go home,”
Moin said.
Moin said that they don’t give chil-
dren for adoption to anybody, not even
childless couples. People, however,
can sponsor the orphan children
studying at the orphanage. “We have
a scheme that if someone wants to
sponsor a child, they can do so for Rs
30000 to Rs 40000 a year,” Moin said.
After submitting the money, a copy
of the child’s details such as name,
photograph, the academic record is
kept with them and they can monitor
the progress. He said there is not a
single instance where they have
given children up for adoption.
“We do not believe in this. It is also
not right from an Islamic point of
view.” Raahat Manzil, however, does
not take infants and toddlers. The
minimum age for entry is six and
they have to leave once they are 18.
YATEEM FOUNDATION
Of the various other organisations that
are working on the orphanage front,
Yateem Foundation is a major one. It
runs a huge network within and outside
Kashmir. In the last many years, it has
created a huge network and infrastruc-
ture that enables it to teach the inmates
even within the premises in Srinagar
and other places.
ADOPTION PROCESS
Most of the orphanages operating in
Kashmir discourage adoptions. It,
however, is legal. The hospitals are
opting for the adoption route to man-
age the unwanted babies but their
numbers are quite small.
Kamili said up until now, the adop-
tion in Jammu and Kashmir would
be handled by the Child Welfare Com-
mittee which would recommend chil-
dren to the safe custody of people who
required them, primarily childless
couples.
“There is a whole gamut of formal-
ities that are to be completed and it
is a very time-consuming process,”
Kamili said. “We have to be assured
that children are very well cared for
after they are taken.”
Social audit reports of parents and
the families they will be adopted into
are done and the social worker keeps
on visiting the family. “If the child is
not in good condition, we take the
child back.”
So far Jammu and Kashmir has
not adopted State Adoption Resource
Agency (SARA), Kamili said. “It is a
mechanism that is in progress and it
would be established very soon. It is
in administrative movement, and it
has to assert in various verifications
and all and we have to be very sure
about things. So it is time-consuming
but the ball was set rolling a long time
back.” she said.
Now, with amendments in the Juve-
nile Justice Act, DCs have also been
given the mandate to recommend
adoption.  “This is a process that is
in the formulation. Guidelines would
be out soon. A proper SARA and a
proper adoption centre would be there,”
Kamili said.

SHELLING THE NUT
AGRICULTURE
People in the private and public sectors are working overtime to discover the endless opportunities
that Kashmir’s famed walnut offers. If the nut is managed properly, it can fetch more money than
its kernel, Tahir Bhat and Hilal Shah report
W
ith apple dominating
Kashmir’s horticulture
basket, all other fruits
are off the attention. Not
many people know that the major
interventions have taken place in the
Walnut, one of the key dry fruits that
have an estimated turnover of Rs 500
crore, a year.
Jammu and Kashmir continue to
be India’s main walnut producing
regions, with the production of around
2.66 lakh metric tonnes on 89,000 hect-
ares of land. The consumption of
walnut in India is too huge and it is
a major walnut importer from the US
and Chile. At the same time, however,
part of the Kashmir produce is export-
ed to Europe and the Middle East.
The fruit being a major source for
reducing “bad” cholesterol in human
bodies, it is hugely in demand and
that is the key factor for major market
appetite.
ORGANIC FARMING
Walnut continues to be the only
organic fruit that Kashmir produces.
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
Its plantation takes place on land that
cannot be used for any other crop. It
does not require any fertilizer or pes-
ticide. With a longer gestation period,
it takes a long time to bear fruit but
once it does it continues production
till the owners decided to sell its wood,
a prized input for high-end furniture.
The fruit, at the time of harvest,
has three ingredients of which the
kernel is the only edible thing. The
entire economy of Kashmir walnut
is around the kernel though it sells
the walnut and its kernel separately.
The fruit has outer green covering
called juglone and then the shell, or
the husk of it, which needs to be bro-
ken to get the kernel out.
For the last many years the innova-
tors and scientists are working on
the two outer things to make them
usable.
WALNUT CRACKER
However, the major intervention, so
far, has been on breaking the shell
because it takes a lot of time to break
the husk without damaging the ker-
DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
nel. Manual walnut cracking is labour-
intensive, time-consuming and expen-
sive. This intervention came from
the private sector when a south Kash-
mir commoner started working on it
and eventually succeeded in creating
a walnut cracker, a machine that has
the capacity to break 90 kgs of walnut
an hour. For this machine, he got a
patent as well.
Mushtaq Ahmad Dar’s cracking
machine is quite popular and has sold
almost 10 pieces for Rs 35000 each. “It
does require some interventions and
improvement,” Mushtaq Ahmad said.
“Right now, with the support of Nation-
al Innovation Foundation, the Nation-
al Institute of Technology (NIT),
Bangaluru s working on it.” He said
the different size of the fruit is the
major challenge and once this improve-
ment takes place, it will be quite a hit.
Dar’s cracker pushes in walnut
from a hopper to a motorized pulley
system having two rollers running
parallel to each other. These rollers
crack the walnut without damaging
the kernel. The prototype, however,
INNOVATION 11
KL Image: BILAL BAHADUR
damages the kernel in case the nuts
in the process are of different sizes.
Ever since Dar got a patent for his
machine in 2009, he has sold only 10
machines. “We have not marketed it
on a major scale because it has to be
perfect,” Ahmad said. “Once that
happens, it will change the walnut
processing.”
THE HULL TENSION
But before reaching the shell, the
growers have to manage the juglone.
It is equally time consuming and
normally requires a lot of time to
soften it so that it is peeling manu-
ally. “Before de-hulling of walnut the
hull needs to loosen first, so the grow-
ers assemble the walnut and dump it
in heaps,” said Dr Zamir Ahmad, who
heads the Food Science and Technol-
ogy department at the SKUAST. “After
10 to 12 days, the hull gets loosen and
is manually separated.”
Normally they wash the fruit and
then sundry it before cracking to
extract the kernel. Dar intervened in
the same machine and used food grade
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE

12 INNOVATION

aluminium rollers to peel the fruit. 

The process in the two machines is
the same but these are two different
machines that are covered by two
different patents.
As the cracker is undergoing improve-
ments, the peeler is quite a hit.
Dar’s two interventions have reduced
the labour costs by around 70 per cent
and saved huge time. People took some
time to understand the system and
once they understood, the orders are
flowing like water. Dar has entered
into an agreement with an agriculture
marketing company in Srinagar that
sells one of its machines.
“To be honest, the peeler is hugely
popular,” Mushtaq said. “Since 2012
when the prototype was made, we
have sold 66 machines. This year
alone, we sold 50 machines and right
now we have orders in hand for a
supply of 60 more.” Dar’s peeler costs
Rs 20,000.

SKUAST INTERVENTIONS
Once the hull is separated, the wash-
ing process is quite expensive and
labour intensive. SKUAST’s Zameer
Ahmad said they have estimated that
almost three to 3.5 per cent of the de-
hulled fruit is washed away in the
process as the people use wicker bas-
kets for the process.
This led the SKUAST experts to
work on it. “To avoid this loss, we
have discovered walnut de-huller,”
Zameer said. “The machine washes
as well as de-hulls 4 to 4.50 kg walnuts
per hour.” His department has pro-
vided 25 such machines to growers.
The machine, however, is expensive
– it costs Rs 1.5 lakh, a piece.
De-hulling is crucial in the entire
process. If a small amount of the hull
secretions gets into the kernel, the
quality nosedives and fetches less
price. The hull must completely be
cleaned from the shell to ensure the
quality of the kernel.
“In this context, we have standard-
ized a process which is known as
Ethephon process through which we
spray Ethephon 0.3% to walnuts,”
Zameer said. “After the spray, we need
to cover the walnuts and four days
later our jobs get done”. The use of
Ethephon, a plant growth regulator,
advances shell-split.
Traditionally, people opt for sun-
drying. Experts have been advising
that the nutritious kernel is quite
sensitive to heat. They have been
suggesting the use of solar driers that
work at a temperature between 40-45
Walnut De-Huller Machine.
degrees but this would require some
time to get popular. In fact, the absence
of solar driers is the key issue.
THE HULL
The walnut hull that usually is sun-
dried and used as fuel in peripheral
kitchens is a key component, experts
say. It contains a component, 15 hydroxy
naphthalene diode which is techni-
cally known as juglone or dye-juglone.
There are processes that help get
organic dyes out of the hull. In Kash-
mir, it might take time and the pro-
cesses might be expensive but it is
possible.
However, what is new on the walnut
front is the use of the shell in making
activated carbon, a costly material
that is used for various things in indus-
trial processes. “The price of acti-
vated carbon is much higher than the
walnut kernel,” Zameer Ahmad said.
“It is used for filtration of water and
medicine purposes. Its costs around
Rs 6000, a kilogram.”
The activated carbon is used across
the sectors in medical, ecological and
manufacturing processes include meth-
ane and hydrogen storage, air purifica-
tion, solvent recovery, decaffeination,
gold purification, metal extraction, water
purification, medicine, sewage treat-
ment, air filters in respirators, filters
in compressed air, teeth whitening,
production of hydrogen chloride and
many other applications.
While SKUAST is working on the
issue, it remains to be seen how fast will
they be able to offer solutions for use on
a mass scale. If that ever happens, the
walnut might be grown more for shell
than for the kernel. China has stopped
burningmostofthewalnutshells,reports
appearing in the media said.
HARVEST
For Kashmir, however, the harvest
remains untreated. Walnut harvest-
ing is one of the nightmarish exer-
cises for people because every year
not less than a dozen people fall from
the trees. These falls have only two
outcomes – either death or crippling
injury in the spinal cord. The harvest
involves a man climbing up the slip-
pery tree and using laanz, a long stick
to beat the branches as a result of
which the walnuts fall. While manag-
ing a firm grip and beating the branch-
es, a slip costs a life.
SKUAST’s Zameer Ahmad said they
have evolved two options. “Almost four
to 4.5 per cent of the walnuts are lost
every year because they fall and roll
and reach places where they cannot be
retrieved,” he said. “To prevent this
loss, we have suggested the use of a par-
ticular net which is tied under the tree
tocollectwalnutsatthetimeofplucking”.
On the actual harvesting part,
Zameer said they have devised a pro-
cess envisaging the use of vibe rope.
Part of the rope is attached to branch-
es and on the other end, it is shaken
manually or by a tractor. The issue is
that for tying the rope, one still has
to be on the tree!
 WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021

HISTORY 13

Life On Second Bridge: This chromolithograph is by British colourist William Carpenter Junior (1818-1899) who has made three trips to Kashmir starting 1853.

KASHMIR 1835
TRAVEL

Carl Alexander Anselm Baron von Hügel (1795-1870), a prominent naturalist from Vienna spent more than
five years in India. He spent part good time visiting Kashmir in 1835. Though most of his observations and
findings are properly documented in his three-volume book, ‘Travels In Kashmir and the Panjab’, the Austrian
botanist and soldier made various speeches before he sat to write the book. In this speech, Hugel offers some
quick details of Kashmir he saw in Sikh rule

K
ashmir in a political and both ranges run nearly parallel in containing ten towns and 2,200 vil- ly deserted. Chirar (Chrar-e-Sharief)
financial point of view, the first direction, with a great num- lages. Kashmir town contains still town contains now 2000 houses and
has been much overrated; ber of peaks. The height of the passes 40,000 inhabitants; Chupinian (Shop- only 150 inhabitants!
not in a picturesque one. from Bimbar to Kashmir, and that ian), 3000; Islamabad (Anantnag) and Brahmans, the only Hindus in
The valley in its length, from north- from Kashmir to Iscardo (Askardu) Pampur (Pampore), 2000. It was not Kashmir, 25,000 in 2000 families; they
west to south-east by east is little is the same, 13,000 feet; the highest the bad administration of the Sikhs, are Vishnuvaites and Sivaites, divid-
more than 80 miles long; the breadth point of the Pir Panjahl, 15,000 feet but a famine brought on by frost at ed into three divisions, who all inter-
crossing the former line, varying by the boiling point. The city of Kash- the time the rice was in flower, and marry: they are darker than the
from 30 miles to 6. I speak of the mir 6,300 feet. cholera in consequence of it, that other inhabitants, owing to a colony
actual plains: from the eternal snow Population: Four years ago about reduced the population to one-fourth sent for from the Dekhan (Deccan)
of the Pir Panjahl to the Tibet 800,000; now not exceeding 200,000. of the former number by death and about 800 years ago, after the aborig-
Panjihl (Panchal) are 50 to 60 miles: The valley is divided in 36 perganahs, emigration; many villages are entire- inal Brahman race was nearly extin-
 DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
14 HISTORY
guished by the persecution of
the Muhammedans.
There is not in the valley the slight-
est appearance of its having been
drained: the pass-through which the
Jhelum found its way is one of the
most beautiful of the world: its bed
1000-1500 feet deep: I do not believe
more in the traditions of the Kash-
mirian Brahmans than in the fables
of Manethon.
All the remaining temples are Baud-
dha, of a different shape from any
I have ever seen; only one small one
reminds me of the caves of Ellora:
I have observed no Dagoba, Koran
Pandan, near Islamabad, Anantnag
of old, is not only the largest ruin of
Kashmir but one of the splendid ruins
of the world: noble proportions; mate-
rial black marble. I was nearly 1ed
into error at first thinking its form
Grecian. The building had nothing
on a closer examination, which could
justify such a hypothesis. Very few
temples remain in Kashmir in toler-
able preservation, having mostly been
destroyed by a fanatic Musalman,
whose zeal did not succeed in over-
turning them all.
Revenue: Last year very nearly
nothing, Ranjit Singh wishing that
the country should recover: this year
The life on water, a photogrph of 1865.
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
(1836) he asks 23 lakhs from the Gov-
ernor, Mohan Singh, which the coun-
try cannot give. The emigration has
brought to the Panjab and Hindustan
many shawl manufacturers, and
Kashmir will most likely never yield
again what it did a few years ago.
Nurpur, Lodiana, and many other
places can bring to the market shawls
cheaper than Kashmir, where every
article of food is dearer than in the
Panjab and Hindustan.
Access: Twelve passes, Pansahl in
the Kashmir language (from which
Pir
Pansahl of the Musalmans) now
exist; three to Tibet (Iscardo and
Ladakh); eight to the Panjab; one to
the west. In former times, there were
only seven: the defence of which was
entrusted to Malliks with hereditary
appointments: four passes are open
the whole year: one to Ladakh, the
western pass, (Baramulla,) and two
to the south.
The 12 passes are Banderpur Pass,
Kandrihall Pass, Naubuck Pass,
Sagam Pass, Banhall Pass, Kulnarwah
Pass, Schupianka Pass, Ningmaruk
Tera Pass to Prunch (Poonch), twen-
ty-six miles to the highest point of the
pass; Tossemaidan Pass to Prunch,
over the plains of Tasse, twenty-six
miles to the highest point; Ferospur
Pass to Prunch, twenty-eight miles
to the highest point; BaramuIIa Pass,
by Canhorn to Prunch, fifty-two miles
to the highest point; Baramulla Pass,
by Mozufferabad, the Tchikri of old,
to Attock.
All the passes to Prunch are of a
very recent date, and for this reason
no Mallik exist. It is the same with
Baramulla, the now-existing pass
being made by the Patans (Pathans)
eighty years ago; which appears to
throw some doubt on Acber’s (emper-
or Akbar) entering the valley from
that direction. He found, at all events,
the difficulties so great, that he thought
it unnecessary to appoint a Mallik.
All the passes of Kashmir go over
the highest mountains, with the
exception of the Baramulla, or West-
ern Pass, which follows the course
of the Jhylum (Jhelum). It is rather
extraordinary that this river comes
from a part of the valley where no
snowy ranges exist, and runs in the
direction where they rise without
termination one over the other It is
a peculiar feature of the three larg-
est rivers of the Panjab, the Sutlej,
the Jhylum, and the Attock, that
they run for a considerable time in
the direction of the formation of the
highest ridge: the first and the last
having their sources beyond the
highest mountains of it.
Before the Moguls conquered Kash-
mir, seven passes existed leading to
the valley. Acber entrusted them to
hereditary Malliks, allotting them
villages, for which they were obliged
to defend the pass entrusted to them,
and in case of war to appear in the
field with a certain number of soldiers,
varying from 100 to 500, which at this
moment they are unable to do.
Acber gave them power of life and
death; the Patans reduced this to the
power of cutting off noses and ears,
and now their power consists in fines.
The following is a list of them, begin-
ning to the north of the town, and
turning to the east:
2. Dellawer Mallik, Banderpur
Panjahl (pass), by Kuihama to Iscar-
du; the highest point of the pass
thirty-four miles from the town.
3. Rossul Mallik, Kandriball Pan-
jahl, to Iscardu
4. Maredwaderan Mallik, the same
Panjahl to Ladak. This pass divides
when on the highest point of it, fifty
miles from the town.
5. Naubuck Nai Mallik, Naubuk
Panjahl, or Tibet Panjahl, by Islam-
abad and Naubuk to Ladak; the high-

est point of the pass seventy-four miles
from the town.
6. Shahaabadka Mallik, Sagam
Panjahl nur Banhall Panjahl. Both
to Kishtewar and Jummu; the former
fifty, the latter forty-six miles, to the
highest point.
7. Kulnarwah Mallik. Kulnarnah
Panjahl to Jummu, fifty-four miles
to the highest point.
8. Shupianka Mallik, Pir Panjahl,
sixty miles to the highest point.
The only trace of fossil remains in
the valley is in a limestone, which
contained small shells.
GEOGRAPHY
The valley of Kashmir has on its south
side gently rising hills, the last decliv-
ities of the Pir Panjahl, covered with
the most luxuriant vegetation; and
the eye gradually ascends over their
beautiful forms and colour to the
snowy range with its thousand peaks.
On this side more or less extensive
valleys are formed, in the centre of
which the purest mountain-streams
flow, and form, higher up, innumer-
able cascades.
In this direction the zoologist and
botanist must bend his steps; here
the thickest woods are interspersed
with open plains, and the wanderer
through them finds neither in the
former a tree felled by man, nor in
the latter, the countless flowers bent
by the steps of a living being. Here is
perfect solitude; there, treasures of
vegetation are heaped up without an
eye to enjoy them; and the silence is
only interrupted by the notes of the
blackbird or the bulbul.
The travellers were surprised to
Portriat Charles von Hügel
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE
A William Carpenter lithochromograph showing Sikh Governor, Imam ud Din, who was poisoned to death in 1847.
find the mountains this temperate
climate very cold; with their southern
exposure bare and uncovered; and to
reach the highest point, and to see,
facing north, plains covered with
flowers under the snowline, and then
the richest forests descending to the
valley.
A NOBLEMAN’S PARK
Nature has done much for Kashmir,
art more; the whole valley is like a
nobleman’s park: the villager, being
surrounded with fruit trees, and hav-
ing in their centre immense plane
and poplar trees, form large masses,
having between them one sheet of
Sketch of Bahar Shah, a Kashmiri shawl merchant and
banker from Srinagar, drawn by Austrian painter Rudolph
Swoboda(1859-1914) in 1887 for the Queen of England.
DECEMBER 12 – DECEMBER 18, 2021
cultivation, through which the noble
river winds itself in elegant sweeps.
The botany of Kashmir is not rich,
and is very nearly allied to that of the
Himalaya, between Massuri and Sim-
lah: in the valley itself not a plant is
to be seen of indigenous origin: the
northern declivity of the mountains
is rich in vegetation, the southern
steep and barren. The Chinar is
the Plantanus Orientalis, which so
far from being a native of Kashmir
does there produce no germinating
seeds, and is multiplied by cuttings,
which, since the Moghul Emperor,
have not been kept up. It is a very
extraordinary phenomenon to witness
the Nilumbium Specium growing where
the orange tree is destroyed by
frost. Misri yeleb is not a native of
Kashmir.
THE VOLCANIC FRAGRANCE
The burning gases at Jwalamuki are
of a very extraordinary nature,
nothing of sulphur or naphtha in
them. They have a most delicious
smell, something like a French
perfume with ambergris. The flames,
about 10 in number, come out of a dark
grey sandstone on perpendicular
places: temples are built over them:
I attributed the effect to priestcraft,
until in one of the temples called
Ghurka Debi, I was allowed to try
experiments, and remained alone: I
blew out the flame, which did not re-
ignite from itself: there is nothing
particular on the places where the
15
flame came out: no change in the
colour or substance of the stone, or
in its hardness.
Water in small quantity is, formed
in little reservoirs under the flames,
being the produce of them: this water
takes fire too from time to time, when
enough inflammable matter is col-
lected on the surface. I took a bottle
of it for you, which Captain Wade will
be so kind as to forward to you for
examination: it has, however, now
undergone a terrible alteration by
putrefaction, and I am afraid that
you will not be able to analyse it. The
taste of it when fresh can distinguish
nothing of its composition: it is not
unpleasant to drink, and of a milky-
greenish colour. No traces of volcanic
matter near it.
I have picked up many coins, which
appear to me new; of some I am certain:
those of the Kashmirian kings, of the
Bauddha time, found near the town
Bij Bahara (no doubt a corruption
of Vidya Vihara, temple of Wisdom,
if my Sanscrit does not forsake me):
I intended sending them to you, but
they found their way in one of my tin
boxes: I cannot guess in which, and
for thin reason do not open them:
whenever I come to
Them, I shall send you them, or
their exact likeness.
(This write-up is based on a speech
of the author soon after his Kashmir
travel that was secured from two
different sources and edited enough
to avoid repetition.)
 Printed, Published and Owned by Masood Hussain | Editor: Masood Hussain | Published from: 9 - Press Enclave, Partap Park, Lal Chowk Srinagar 190 001 | Printed at: KT Press Pvt Ltd, Rangreth, Budgam

RNI No. JKENG/2009/32003 | Registered: JK NP-222/SKGPO-2020-2023 | Contact at: 0194 - 2477387 | +91 941 908 8042 | E-Mail: kashmirlife@gmail.com
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