http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6382734302578308142
S. D. Singh Jamwal
Channel: 1 File: 1
On-screen appearance: 1
On-screen time: 00:24 Period: 01.01.2007 - 16.11.2009
Police seize huge cache of arms and ammunition in Indian Kashmir.
keywords: "ooh egg love 'em said you assume don't think area scull flit billion well we're parliament elections just could have many exposes lovely dickey couldn..."
Video details: Police seize huge cache of arms and ammunition in Indian Kashmir.
Channel: Reuters-WNE reuters-200903231018SE-INDIA-ARMS_SEIZED-1237785416.mpg
On screen: 00:24, Length: 02:01, Date: 2009-03-23
1
Monday, November 16, 2009
Rock carvings of Ladakh Himalayas
http://www.highasialadakh.com/index.php?Itemid=9&id=48&option=com_content&task=view
Rock carvings of Ladakh Himalayas
Written by Administrator
Friday, 15 September 2006
By: SD Singh Jamwal, IPS
Ladakh is an ancient land. River Indus cuts across Ladakh and forms one of the biggest river systems of the world. Civilizations have developed along this river since time immemorial.
Scattered throughout this vastness of Ladakh are the unique rock carvings which were made by ancient people who used the glazed surfaces of huge magnetite rocks and boulders as canvas to carve out various pictures depicting an array of activities of their day to day life- economic activities, religion, culture, beliefs, and customs. Most of these rock carvings date back to 8th - 5th century BC. Some of them even are from 2nd century BC.
Though Ladakh has an enormous amount of rock art, much of the terrain is inaccessible; the climate is cold and harsh, there is a very short working season. Perhaps, this is the reason that very little field research has been done until now on the Ladakh rock carvings, although there are some reports by travelers, missionaries or foreign scholars.
Rock carvings or Petroglyphs are the main documents about the prehistoric history and cultures of Ladakh. They were first recognized in the mountainous region of Himalaya by August Herman Francke in 1902, in his paper: Notes on rock carving in lower Ladakh. This pioneer study was followed by others like Gordon. Recently, we have some reports by scholars like Rohit Vohra, Snellgroove and Skorupski, Franckfurt et.. In the areas of Gilgit, Baltistan, Skardu and Chilas of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, detailed work was done by scholars like Karl Jettmer, Dr. A.H Dani, and Prof. Harald Hauptmann. Most of this work has been done since 1980 only as a part of joint Pakistan-German project to explore rock art sites along the Karakoram Highway. Studies have been done on the Tibetan side too but there are very fewer reports about them.
Working on the Ladakh rock carvings project since 2001, I along with a friend of mine Tashi Ldawa, have tried to make an inventory of rock carvings in Ladakh. The study was a team effort, particularly helped by the district police network under its police civic action programme.
The project made thorough searches of all the areas of the Leh district and some parts of the Kargil district, stretched thousands of kilometres, including the Nubra region to the North, the Changtang region to the East, the Sham region to the West and from Nemo to Chilling to the south. It documented thousands of petroglyphs that vary enormously in time period, subject and distribution. Few of the carvings were previously reported.
Interestingly, it was by sheer chance that I came across few rocks carving in Ladakh while on tour in the area in the year 2001.It so happened that my official vehicle broke down near village Taru, some 20 kms from Leh on Leh-Kargil road. While the driver took a few minutes to set the engine right, I just looked around the rocks and boulders. What I saw was amazing. I couldn’t believe that this form of rock art had remained hidden for all these years. The Petroglyphs-the images carved on rock surfaces- aroused my curiosity and after returning to Leh, discussed these with Tashi Ldawa, my college and university colleague and now a lecturer in Zoology who already had some photograph collection of such rock carvings. Thereafter, we started looking for such more rock carvings on their travels together in Ladakh.
As extensive traveling in Ladakh was a part of my job, I always carried cameras and other equipment required for this research work on rock art. But soon the realization dawned that something needed to be done urgently for recording these rock carvings and their conservation. The reasons were many.
Since most of these carvings have been found along the ancient foot tracks and the present day roads have been constructed along these tracks, such construction works spell doom for these rock carvings.
While recording rock carvings in Ladakh, we faced a major problem. As none of us were trained archeologists or geographers, we approached the Archeological survey of India (ASI) office in Leh. It however proved to be a futile exercise. The ASI didn’t know much about Ladakh rock carvings and since these artifacts were not covered under ancient monuments, there destruction didn’t amount to any offence technically.
As rock carvings in Ladakh are under constant threat of getting lost for ever, the endeavour was also to educate local people about their importance. But still not satisfied with all these things including making several presentations in a number of exhibitions and seminars, the realization occurred that unless some drastic interventions were not made, many of these treasures of history would be lost to mankind for ever. In spite of all these actions, we realized that rocks were being destroyed every passing day. The situation was really alarming. It was clear that unless some drastic interventions are made, these masterpieces of human history would be lost forever.
But before that, we needed a detailed data as to where all these rock carvings were located. And to locate these rock carvings in the vast cold desert and rugged mountains was a really uphill task.
What followed was gigantic task taken up by our team which included adopting various means to get information about rock carving, clicking some photographs and sending copies of these photographs to different police stations and police posts in Leh and Kargil districts where these could be shown to Village Chowkidars and Nambardars, who could regularly inform the police station about any related knowledge.
These photographs were also shown to villagers, monks, shepherds grazing their cattle and laborers working on construction works so as to find whether they have seen rocks with such carvings. Miles were trekked on foot looking for such rocks. The efforts bore fruits when in just two months; a collection of about 1000 photographs was made.
Sleeping over it for many nights, ultimately a decision was taken to occupy a large chunk of land near village “Taru” , about 20 kms from Leh on the Leh- Kargil National Highway. This particular site was selected because many rock carvings naturally existed there. The spot was near Leh town and right on the National Highway, therefore, excess of the tourists and art lovers to the site could be very easy.After talking to the local people and the district administration, 55 hectares of land was occupied and rocks bearing petroglyphs which were in immediate danger of being lost for ever relocated. A temporary police post was established there to ensure the rocks remain safe from human vandalism. Original location of the rocks was marked by GPS for future reference before relocating. To date, more than 20 boulders have been transported to this new location, which we propose to develop as a heritage rock garden. Flag posts have been put next to petroglyph boulders for easy identification from a distance. Placards next to each rock describe the carvings and places from where they were brought. Finally, an NGO- “Upper Indus Rock Art Society”- (UIRAS) with its headquarters at “Central Institute of Buddhist Studies” (CIBS), Leh has also been started. This has been done to ensure interest and involvement of local communities from all parts in the exploration and documentation of Petroglyphs so that the project will attain a satisfactory outcome.
In this work, the team has got the guidance of Professor Harald Hauptmann of Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Germany who is associated with us for providing technical and expert guidance. Prof. Hauptmann is a world-renowned authority on rock art and besides his numerous works, is working in Northern Areas of Pakistan on a similar project.
He and his wife Salwa, also an archaeologist, traveled to Ladakh twice and now they are helping us in for systematic exploration, documentation and conservation of Rock Art sites of Ladakh documenting and doing our work on scientific lines. The entire work of conservation and documentation of rock carvings is being sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir police under civic action program.
Rock carvings of Ladakh Himalayas
Written by Administrator
Friday, 15 September 2006
By: SD Singh Jamwal, IPS
Ladakh is an ancient land. River Indus cuts across Ladakh and forms one of the biggest river systems of the world. Civilizations have developed along this river since time immemorial.
Scattered throughout this vastness of Ladakh are the unique rock carvings which were made by ancient people who used the glazed surfaces of huge magnetite rocks and boulders as canvas to carve out various pictures depicting an array of activities of their day to day life- economic activities, religion, culture, beliefs, and customs. Most of these rock carvings date back to 8th - 5th century BC. Some of them even are from 2nd century BC.
Though Ladakh has an enormous amount of rock art, much of the terrain is inaccessible; the climate is cold and harsh, there is a very short working season. Perhaps, this is the reason that very little field research has been done until now on the Ladakh rock carvings, although there are some reports by travelers, missionaries or foreign scholars.
Rock carvings or Petroglyphs are the main documents about the prehistoric history and cultures of Ladakh. They were first recognized in the mountainous region of Himalaya by August Herman Francke in 1902, in his paper: Notes on rock carving in lower Ladakh. This pioneer study was followed by others like Gordon. Recently, we have some reports by scholars like Rohit Vohra, Snellgroove and Skorupski, Franckfurt et.. In the areas of Gilgit, Baltistan, Skardu and Chilas of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, detailed work was done by scholars like Karl Jettmer, Dr. A.H Dani, and Prof. Harald Hauptmann. Most of this work has been done since 1980 only as a part of joint Pakistan-German project to explore rock art sites along the Karakoram Highway. Studies have been done on the Tibetan side too but there are very fewer reports about them.
Working on the Ladakh rock carvings project since 2001, I along with a friend of mine Tashi Ldawa, have tried to make an inventory of rock carvings in Ladakh. The study was a team effort, particularly helped by the district police network under its police civic action programme.
The project made thorough searches of all the areas of the Leh district and some parts of the Kargil district, stretched thousands of kilometres, including the Nubra region to the North, the Changtang region to the East, the Sham region to the West and from Nemo to Chilling to the south. It documented thousands of petroglyphs that vary enormously in time period, subject and distribution. Few of the carvings were previously reported.
Interestingly, it was by sheer chance that I came across few rocks carving in Ladakh while on tour in the area in the year 2001.It so happened that my official vehicle broke down near village Taru, some 20 kms from Leh on Leh-Kargil road. While the driver took a few minutes to set the engine right, I just looked around the rocks and boulders. What I saw was amazing. I couldn’t believe that this form of rock art had remained hidden for all these years. The Petroglyphs-the images carved on rock surfaces- aroused my curiosity and after returning to Leh, discussed these with Tashi Ldawa, my college and university colleague and now a lecturer in Zoology who already had some photograph collection of such rock carvings. Thereafter, we started looking for such more rock carvings on their travels together in Ladakh.
As extensive traveling in Ladakh was a part of my job, I always carried cameras and other equipment required for this research work on rock art. But soon the realization dawned that something needed to be done urgently for recording these rock carvings and their conservation. The reasons were many.
Since most of these carvings have been found along the ancient foot tracks and the present day roads have been constructed along these tracks, such construction works spell doom for these rock carvings.
While recording rock carvings in Ladakh, we faced a major problem. As none of us were trained archeologists or geographers, we approached the Archeological survey of India (ASI) office in Leh. It however proved to be a futile exercise. The ASI didn’t know much about Ladakh rock carvings and since these artifacts were not covered under ancient monuments, there destruction didn’t amount to any offence technically.
As rock carvings in Ladakh are under constant threat of getting lost for ever, the endeavour was also to educate local people about their importance. But still not satisfied with all these things including making several presentations in a number of exhibitions and seminars, the realization occurred that unless some drastic interventions were not made, many of these treasures of history would be lost to mankind for ever. In spite of all these actions, we realized that rocks were being destroyed every passing day. The situation was really alarming. It was clear that unless some drastic interventions are made, these masterpieces of human history would be lost forever.
But before that, we needed a detailed data as to where all these rock carvings were located. And to locate these rock carvings in the vast cold desert and rugged mountains was a really uphill task.
What followed was gigantic task taken up by our team which included adopting various means to get information about rock carving, clicking some photographs and sending copies of these photographs to different police stations and police posts in Leh and Kargil districts where these could be shown to Village Chowkidars and Nambardars, who could regularly inform the police station about any related knowledge.
These photographs were also shown to villagers, monks, shepherds grazing their cattle and laborers working on construction works so as to find whether they have seen rocks with such carvings. Miles were trekked on foot looking for such rocks. The efforts bore fruits when in just two months; a collection of about 1000 photographs was made.
Sleeping over it for many nights, ultimately a decision was taken to occupy a large chunk of land near village “Taru” , about 20 kms from Leh on the Leh- Kargil National Highway. This particular site was selected because many rock carvings naturally existed there. The spot was near Leh town and right on the National Highway, therefore, excess of the tourists and art lovers to the site could be very easy.After talking to the local people and the district administration, 55 hectares of land was occupied and rocks bearing petroglyphs which were in immediate danger of being lost for ever relocated. A temporary police post was established there to ensure the rocks remain safe from human vandalism. Original location of the rocks was marked by GPS for future reference before relocating. To date, more than 20 boulders have been transported to this new location, which we propose to develop as a heritage rock garden. Flag posts have been put next to petroglyph boulders for easy identification from a distance. Placards next to each rock describe the carvings and places from where they were brought. Finally, an NGO- “Upper Indus Rock Art Society”- (UIRAS) with its headquarters at “Central Institute of Buddhist Studies” (CIBS), Leh has also been started. This has been done to ensure interest and involvement of local communities from all parts in the exploration and documentation of Petroglyphs so that the project will attain a satisfactory outcome.
In this work, the team has got the guidance of Professor Harald Hauptmann of Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Germany who is associated with us for providing technical and expert guidance. Prof. Hauptmann is a world-renowned authority on rock art and besides his numerous works, is working in Northern Areas of Pakistan on a similar project.
He and his wife Salwa, also an archaeologist, traveled to Ladakh twice and now they are helping us in for systematic exploration, documentation and conservation of Rock Art sites of Ladakh documenting and doing our work on scientific lines. The entire work of conservation and documentation of rock carvings is being sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir police under civic action program.
Secular shrine of Jammu
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine/09aug02/
Secular shrine of Jammu
S D Singh Jamwal
They belong to different religions; one is Muslim while the other is Hindu. Yet they go to the same shrine to offer the prayers. The shrine has been held in high veneration by them for ages now. Popularly known as “Satwari Wale Peer Baba”, this Dargah of Baba Budan Ali Shah Peer, situated in south Jammu across the Tawi river, is held in high esteem among all, irrespective of caste, creed or colour. The shrines of mystic saints are place of national integration but the Shrine of Peer Baba Budan Shah presents a spectacle, not seen elsewhere in the country.
Devotees believe that if ‘Bawe Wali Mata’ is the presiding deity of Jammu, the Dargah of Peer Budan Ali Shah or Peer Baba as it is known, protects the people of this city from mishaps and evil spirits.Baba Budan Ali Shah was born at Talwandi in Punjab, and it is said that another shrine of this Peer is located at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. Throughout his life, he took the milk of goats that were guarded by a tiger, it is said.
The Dargah, about 10 kms from the city towards the City airport at Satwari, is thronged every Thursday by hundreds of devotees who visit the shrine to make their offerings including oil for lighting lamps. People also offer Chaddars and flowers at the shrine as they believe that all their wishes are fulfilled at this place.
One often sees hundreds of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims gather at the Shrine on every Thursday.
This Dargah of Peer Baba is very famous and is also associated with two Sikh Gurus.
Once Guru Nanak Dev went to meet the Baba Budan Ali Shah.He told the Guru that his tiger had gone to graze the goats and thus he be aware of the beast. The Peer said, “Our lion is out to graze the goats. We fear he might not eat you on return.” Guru Nanak replied, “When he does not harm you, how can he harm me?” And when the tiger came back from the jungle, it bowed before Guru Nanak. The Baba then ordered the Tiger to fetch goat milk and give it to the Guru. The tiger obeyed, milked the goats and offered it in a new pot to Guru Nanak who did not drink it and said, “I will drink it during the sixth Padshahi” (The reign of the guru). At this, the Baba said that he might not live that long and would die at any time because he was so aged that even his eyebrows were falling loosely on his eyes. Guru Nanak prophesied that he would have a long life, so he should keep the milk for him. Guru Nanak said, “I bless you that you would live. Keep my trust with you.” Upon which the Peer Baba asked how he would identify him.Guru Nanak replied that he would shake his right hand thumb with Baba.
During the period of the sixth Padshahi, Guru Hargobind ji came to the Baba and asked for the milk which had been kept by the Peer. Peer Budan Shah asked for the identification. In reply he pressed the thumb of his right hand. Peer sahib insisted on him to appear in the form of Guru Nanak. The Guru did it. He offered him fresh and warm milk.
Years ago, Sai Bagh Hussain used to manage the affairs of the shrine. He once told me that nobody goes empty handed from this place. People, he said, who come here yearning for something, tie threads on the mulberry tree that has grown inside the Ziyarat and their wishes are granted. It is also said that the Peer Baba also comes in the dream of the people who have faith in him.
The Ziyarat of the saint is also thronged by thousands of people on the occasion of the annual Urs which takes place on the first Thursday of Ashad. Another Urs is held in the middle of “Pousha”. Both attract a large number of devotees from far-off places.
The devotees of Peer Baba have many interesting stories to share. As the shrine is adjacent to the Jammu airport, it is said some officer ordered the demolition of the shrine as it obstructed the runway. To his surprise, difficulties began to surface. The planes that took off from the runway developed some problem. Hurdles were observed in the landing and the take-off the planes. Engines did not start for any valid reason, and if ever a plane took off it was forced to land soon after.
The authorities were disturbed at these incidents. The problem stopped when Baba appeared in the dream of this officer who then took the orders back and later became a great devotee of the Baba. The authorities left the portion of the shrine and built the runway away from it. The accidents ceased.
While taking off from Jammu airport, all the passengers can see this Sufi shrine clearly from their windows of their aircrafts. Late Indira Gandhi also used to visit the Shrine despite her busy schedule whenever she visited Jammu.
The Baba’s Samadhi is at Gurudwara Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. He spent the last days of his life there and died at the age of 500 years.
Secular shrine of Jammu
S D Singh Jamwal
They belong to different religions; one is Muslim while the other is Hindu. Yet they go to the same shrine to offer the prayers. The shrine has been held in high veneration by them for ages now. Popularly known as “Satwari Wale Peer Baba”, this Dargah of Baba Budan Ali Shah Peer, situated in south Jammu across the Tawi river, is held in high esteem among all, irrespective of caste, creed or colour. The shrines of mystic saints are place of national integration but the Shrine of Peer Baba Budan Shah presents a spectacle, not seen elsewhere in the country.
Devotees believe that if ‘Bawe Wali Mata’ is the presiding deity of Jammu, the Dargah of Peer Budan Ali Shah or Peer Baba as it is known, protects the people of this city from mishaps and evil spirits.Baba Budan Ali Shah was born at Talwandi in Punjab, and it is said that another shrine of this Peer is located at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. Throughout his life, he took the milk of goats that were guarded by a tiger, it is said.
The Dargah, about 10 kms from the city towards the City airport at Satwari, is thronged every Thursday by hundreds of devotees who visit the shrine to make their offerings including oil for lighting lamps. People also offer Chaddars and flowers at the shrine as they believe that all their wishes are fulfilled at this place.
One often sees hundreds of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims gather at the Shrine on every Thursday.
This Dargah of Peer Baba is very famous and is also associated with two Sikh Gurus.
Once Guru Nanak Dev went to meet the Baba Budan Ali Shah.He told the Guru that his tiger had gone to graze the goats and thus he be aware of the beast. The Peer said, “Our lion is out to graze the goats. We fear he might not eat you on return.” Guru Nanak replied, “When he does not harm you, how can he harm me?” And when the tiger came back from the jungle, it bowed before Guru Nanak. The Baba then ordered the Tiger to fetch goat milk and give it to the Guru. The tiger obeyed, milked the goats and offered it in a new pot to Guru Nanak who did not drink it and said, “I will drink it during the sixth Padshahi” (The reign of the guru). At this, the Baba said that he might not live that long and would die at any time because he was so aged that even his eyebrows were falling loosely on his eyes. Guru Nanak prophesied that he would have a long life, so he should keep the milk for him. Guru Nanak said, “I bless you that you would live. Keep my trust with you.” Upon which the Peer Baba asked how he would identify him.Guru Nanak replied that he would shake his right hand thumb with Baba.
During the period of the sixth Padshahi, Guru Hargobind ji came to the Baba and asked for the milk which had been kept by the Peer. Peer Budan Shah asked for the identification. In reply he pressed the thumb of his right hand. Peer sahib insisted on him to appear in the form of Guru Nanak. The Guru did it. He offered him fresh and warm milk.
Years ago, Sai Bagh Hussain used to manage the affairs of the shrine. He once told me that nobody goes empty handed from this place. People, he said, who come here yearning for something, tie threads on the mulberry tree that has grown inside the Ziyarat and their wishes are granted. It is also said that the Peer Baba also comes in the dream of the people who have faith in him.
The Ziyarat of the saint is also thronged by thousands of people on the occasion of the annual Urs which takes place on the first Thursday of Ashad. Another Urs is held in the middle of “Pousha”. Both attract a large number of devotees from far-off places.
The devotees of Peer Baba have many interesting stories to share. As the shrine is adjacent to the Jammu airport, it is said some officer ordered the demolition of the shrine as it obstructed the runway. To his surprise, difficulties began to surface. The planes that took off from the runway developed some problem. Hurdles were observed in the landing and the take-off the planes. Engines did not start for any valid reason, and if ever a plane took off it was forced to land soon after.
The authorities were disturbed at these incidents. The problem stopped when Baba appeared in the dream of this officer who then took the orders back and later became a great devotee of the Baba. The authorities left the portion of the shrine and built the runway away from it. The accidents ceased.
While taking off from Jammu airport, all the passengers can see this Sufi shrine clearly from their windows of their aircrafts. Late Indira Gandhi also used to visit the Shrine despite her busy schedule whenever she visited Jammu.
The Baba’s Samadhi is at Gurudwara Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. He spent the last days of his life there and died at the age of 500 years.
Interaction on 'Rock art of Ladakh'
http://www.kashmirtimes.com/archive/0710/071020/JRegion.htm
Interaction on 'Rock art of Ladakh'
KT NEWS SERVCIEJAMMU, Oct 19: The tourism club of Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Management (CHTM), University of Jammu organized an interaction session on 'Rock Art of Ladakh' with Dr. S D Jamwal, SSP, vigilance, Jammu.Dr. Jamwal in his address laid stress on the preservation of this valuable rock art and motivated the student community to come forward to preserve the precious rock art. Prof. Deepak Raj Gupta, Director, CHTM said that as the region is already attracting in bound tourists so rock tourism can be an additional interest. He further appreciated the initiatives taken by the tourism club towards creating awareness regarding various issues of tourism and said that the creation of the club is a step ahead towards realizing the dream of vice-chancellor of making CHTM a one of the leading tourism institutions of the country.A large number of the students and faculty members attended the session. DR. Vinay Chauhan presented the vote of thanks.
Threat of biological weapons
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=4&id=181348&usrsess=1
Threat of biological weapons
SD SINGH JAMWAL
Since 11 September, 2001, Al-Qaida has risen as the chief terrorist organisation in the international arena. Never before in history has the world seen a terrorist group displaying the same level of universal reach, cadre motivation, training, financial power, insensitivity towards human life and contempt towards democracy and freedom of the world. Though investigations have shown the involvement of Al- Qaida in terrorist activities all over the world - attack on the US military housing complex in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American soldiers on 25 June, 1996, attack on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on 7 August 1998, resulting in the death of 220 people and attack on US warship USS Cole in Yemen on 12 October, 2000 which killed 17 American sailors - the attacks of 9/11 in the United States can be termed as the epitome of awe and terror in living human history. Given the fact that the geopolitical situation in various parts of the world, mostly in the Persian gulf and West Asia, is still tense and the “war on terror” is still going on without much hope of ending in the foreseeable future, the threat of Al- Qaida resorting to another round of attacks cannot be ruled out. Given the history of Al-Qaida, this time the attacks might even include use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Though strategic and terrorism experts think Al-Qaida might use an “improvised nuclear device” or a dirty bomb on some strategically important target or even target civilian areas, the chances of Al-Qaida using a biological weapon for its sinister designs is far more because of various reasons. Firstly, making, concealing and using a biological weapon is far easier than a nuclear device. Technology required for a bio-weapon programme is closely related to that required for the production of various antibiotics, vaccines, foods, and beverages, etc. The delivery systems such as spray devices from an aeroplane, boat or car are commonly available. The natural lead-time provided by the organism’s incubation period would allow for the terrorists to escape before any investigation starts. In addition, the use of an endemic infectious agent may cause confusion because of the inability to differentiate a biological warfare attack from a natural epidemic. And on the top of it, revelations that Al-Qaida was pursuing a well-defined bio-weapon programme should come as an eye-opener for the international community, including our own country. Way back in 1998, Osama bin Laden spoke of acquiring weapons of mass destruction a “religious duty”. During operations in Afghanistan, coalition forces came across at least six sites where suspected Al-Qaida activities in chemical and biological weapons were in progress. Traces of ricin and anthrax were found in these sites. In 2001, CNN obtained a cache of 64 Al-Qaida videotapes containing gruesome evidence of experiments using an apparent nerve gas against dogs. In a document, “Encyclopedia of Jihad” circulated by Al- Qaida among its cadres, which deals with training terrorists in various aspects of military training and tactics, the eleventh volume is entirely devoted to chemical and biological weapons. In December 2001, 11 books and 21 professional journals were found at an Al-Qaida site near Kandhar which contained information that could be used to produce biological weapons. More importantly, documentary evidence showed that Al-Qaida BW initiative included recruitment of individuals with PhD level expertise on the subject which showed the seriousness with which this programme was planned to be carried out. Most of the literature recovered was about deadly microorganisms like bacillus anthracis, clostridium botulinum, yersinia pestis and Hepatitis A and C. There were handwritten letters on the subject and letterhead of one of the letter read, “Society for applied Microbiology”, which is the UK’s oldest microbiological society. This document showed that the author had access to this institute. There were also letters accompanying hand written notes suggesting the layout of a laboratory and the equipment required in it, and “programme requirements”, including the time needed to train the manpower working for the programme. The author was later identified as a Pakistani microbiologist, who was writing to Dr Al-Zawahari, an Egyptian and Osama bin Laden’s deputy. The individual was being supplied funds by Al-Qaida to procure biological material, equipment, personnel protection kits and vaccines, etc. There was evidence of his visiting a bio-safety level 3 (BL-3) facility in the UK and attending various European conferences dealing with pathogens, including one on anthrax. However, all identifications about the author and his activities have been kept classified by the US authorities. The report of the September 11, 2001 Commission includes the name of another Al-Qaida operative. The well-organised and expanded Al-Qaida network of highly educated and trained cadres is yet again evident from Yazid Sufaat, a Malaysian and member of Jemiyah Islamiah, a terrorist group active in Malaysia. Interrogation of Sufaat, who was arrested in Malaysia in December 2001, yielded important information about the bio-weapons programme of Al-Qaida, which was further, corroborated by the interrogation of two more Al-Qaida terrorists. The first one was Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, a Pakistani national who was arrested on 1 March, 2003 in Rawalpindi from the house of a fugitive Pakistani bacteriologist, Dr Abdul Quddis Khan. Search of his house yielded handwritten and computer hard drives which showed Al-Qaida had completed plans and obtained materials required to manufacture two biological toxins - botulinum and salmonella. Mohammed also told his interrogators that Sufaat had taken lead in developing biological weapons for Al-Qaida until he was arrested by the Malaysian authorities. Sufaat had obtained a bachelors degree in biological sciences, with a “clinical laboratory concentration” from California State University in Sacramento in 1987. He then served as a laboratory technician in the Malaysian military before starting a company to test blood and urine of foreign workers and state employees for drug use. His company and another one owned by his wife was also suspected in money laundering operations as also purchase of ammonium nitrate for producing explosives on behalf of terrorist groups affiliated to Al-Qaida, which are active in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. More information about the activities of Yazid Sufaat came from the interrogation of Hambali (Raduan Isamuddin), the Indonesian operative of the Al-Qaida affiliated organisation, Jemiyah Islamiah, who was responsible for the Bali bombing attack in August 2003. After his capture, Hambali revealed that he along with Sufaat was working on opening an Al- Qaida bio-weapons branch plant and that Sufaat was “working on the Al-Qaida anthrax programme” in Kandhar, Afghanistan. After the US attack on Afghanistan, the duo had planned to move the programme to Indonesia. Most of the equipment for the programme was purchased by the “Wafa Humanitarian Organisation”, whose US assets were frozen after it was banned due to its support to terrorism. The equipment was purchased from companies in United Arab Emirates and sent to Afghanistan. Investigations in United States also revealed a serious security lapse on the part of authorities when they found that the US Department of Defence had been selling surplus equipment that could be used to produce BW pathogens and some of the equipment purchased by the middlemen in United States was resold to unknown buyers in other countries like the Philippines, Malayasia, Egypt, Dubai and United Arab Emirates. There is every possibility that a part of this equipment might have found its way to the Al-Qaida BW programme. Evidence also showed Al-Qaida acquiring some equipment from countries of eastern Europe and the Ukraine. On 19 April, 1999, Ahmad Salamah Mabrouk, a top terrorist from Islamic Jehad, a radical group of Egypt with close links with Al-Qaida, admitted before his sentence hearing in an Egyptian court that Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri had access to chemical and biological weapons. Interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, operations chief of Al-Qaida, in March 2003 and subsequent evidences seized showed surprising technical sophistication, with production timetables and manufacturing specifications for bio-chemical agents, especially weaponised anthrax. Meanwhile, attempts by Al-Qaeda to seek familiarity with biological weapon agents and their attempted use have come from many parts of the world. In 2002, police in Italy foiled a plot by nine Moroccans to poison the water supply of the US Embassy in Rome. The men involved had ties with Al-Qaida. In January 2003, a reported plot by six Algerians to use ricin against civilians was uncovered in a London apartment. One of the six arrested had attended Al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan and the others had received training in Chechenya and the Pankisi Gorge region of Georgia. Though there is no evidence of the presence of Al-Qaida in India, there are confirmed reports of linkages between Al- Qaida and certain terrorist groups operating in this country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. The Lashkar-e-Taiyaba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) are two such main terrorist groups. Apart from various terrorist acts against security forces and civilians, especially minorities in Jammu and Kashmir, LeT is suspected to be involved in the attack on the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bangalore on 28 December, 2005 in which one top scientist was killed, serial explosions in New Delhi on 29 October, 2005 which resulted in the killing of at least 62 persons, the Varanasi attack on 7 March, 2006 in which 21 civilians died, the attempted attack on the RSS headquarters at Nagpur; and the 7/11 serial bombings in Mumbai in which at least 200 people were killed. JeM has been responsible for various terrorist activities, mostly fidayeen attacks on security forces and the minority Hindu population in Jammu and Kashmir. Its most sensational activity outside Jammu and Kashmir was the attack on Parliament on 13 December, 2001. Though it would be too alarming to say that India is under threat of a biological weapons attack from Al-Qaida or the terrorist groups with which it is linked, keeping in view the history of operations of these outfits, its possibility cannot be totally ruled out either. The best way to deal with the situation is to keep our intelligence, security and medical agencies alert so that appropriate action can be taken well in time. (The author is a J&K cadre IPS officer and is pursuing his PhD in Bio-terrorism. He can be reached at sdjamwal@yahoo.com)
AMML organises SD Jamwal’s talk on Rock Art of Ladakh
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/04apr04/state.htm
AMML organises SD Jamwal’s talk on Rock Art of Ladakh
Need for people’s movement to preserve heritage: Experts
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 3: How an individual’s initiative can become a first step towards people’s movement in preserving heritage was the highlight of multi-media presentation on Rock Art of Ladakh by S.D. Jamwal, at the Amar Mahal Museum and Library (AMML), here today.
Rock Art of Ladakh, comprises of images, symbols and designs which are found carved on rocks and boulders all over the region. Made by ancient people- especially grazers and nomads, all along old foot and trade routes-these rock carvings are invaluable documents providing a glimpse into the economic, religious, beliefs and customs of those ancient people inhabiting Ladakh right from 5000 years B.C. onwards, as some of the drawings are as old as that and continue in historic period also.
But unfortunately human vandalism and rapid development have emerged as two major threats to this unique cultural heritage of Ladakh. Especially threatened are the rocks situated along the roads which are indiscriminately being used a building material. Though the experts from Archaeological Survey of India like R.S. Phonia and B.R. Mani have written scholarly research papers on Rock Art, but it was left to personal initiative of S.D. Jamwal, to make an extensive inventory of rock carvings and work towards the preservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant heritage.
In today’s presentation Jamwal not only explained the typology of images but also informed about the creating of a Rock Garden as a step towards preservation of these carvings.
S.D. Jamwal who is SSP, Traffic, is the Hon. Convenor of a NGO, Upper Indus Rock Art society, which is solely devoted to the preservation of Rock Art of Ladakh. Prof Harald Hauptmann of Hedeilberg Academy of Sciences, Germany, is helping S.D. Jamwal in his project. Prof Hauptmann is a world-renowned authority on Rock Art and besides his numerous works is working in Northern Areas of Pakistan on similar project.
Jamwal’s presentation was followed by a lively discussion among the audience. Those who participated in the discussion included DG Tourism, Salim Beg, ADG (Arms) Kuldeep Khuda, veteran journalist, Sati Sahni, MTM students, members of Ladakhi community and others.
Earlier Aparna Tandon, curator, AMML, in her welcome address, said that AMML, under the dynamic leadership of its Executive Trustees, Dr. Karan Singh has been informing the public about the issue relating to retaining and managing tangible and intangible heritage of the State. She said that AMML strongly advocates in-situ conservation of Rock Art as removing heritage from its site can result in loss of significance.
AMML organises SD Jamwal’s talk on Rock Art of Ladakh
Need for people’s movement to preserve heritage: Experts
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 3: How an individual’s initiative can become a first step towards people’s movement in preserving heritage was the highlight of multi-media presentation on Rock Art of Ladakh by S.D. Jamwal, at the Amar Mahal Museum and Library (AMML), here today.
Rock Art of Ladakh, comprises of images, symbols and designs which are found carved on rocks and boulders all over the region. Made by ancient people- especially grazers and nomads, all along old foot and trade routes-these rock carvings are invaluable documents providing a glimpse into the economic, religious, beliefs and customs of those ancient people inhabiting Ladakh right from 5000 years B.C. onwards, as some of the drawings are as old as that and continue in historic period also.
But unfortunately human vandalism and rapid development have emerged as two major threats to this unique cultural heritage of Ladakh. Especially threatened are the rocks situated along the roads which are indiscriminately being used a building material. Though the experts from Archaeological Survey of India like R.S. Phonia and B.R. Mani have written scholarly research papers on Rock Art, but it was left to personal initiative of S.D. Jamwal, to make an extensive inventory of rock carvings and work towards the preservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant heritage.
In today’s presentation Jamwal not only explained the typology of images but also informed about the creating of a Rock Garden as a step towards preservation of these carvings.
S.D. Jamwal who is SSP, Traffic, is the Hon. Convenor of a NGO, Upper Indus Rock Art society, which is solely devoted to the preservation of Rock Art of Ladakh. Prof Harald Hauptmann of Hedeilberg Academy of Sciences, Germany, is helping S.D. Jamwal in his project. Prof Hauptmann is a world-renowned authority on Rock Art and besides his numerous works is working in Northern Areas of Pakistan on similar project.
Jamwal’s presentation was followed by a lively discussion among the audience. Those who participated in the discussion included DG Tourism, Salim Beg, ADG (Arms) Kuldeep Khuda, veteran journalist, Sati Sahni, MTM students, members of Ladakhi community and others.
Earlier Aparna Tandon, curator, AMML, in her welcome address, said that AMML, under the dynamic leadership of its Executive Trustees, Dr. Karan Singh has been informing the public about the issue relating to retaining and managing tangible and intangible heritage of the State. She said that AMML strongly advocates in-situ conservation of Rock Art as removing heritage from its site can result in loss of significance.
Endangered heritage
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=16&id=202149&usrsess=1
Endangered heritage
In an endeavour to sensitise students of Jammu University to the priceless heritage of Ladakh, the tourism club of the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Management organised an interactive session last week. Kavita Suri has the particularsThe ancient city of Leh in Ladakh, situated in the Himalayas, should have been included in the 2008 World Monument list of the 100 most endangered historical sites in the world by the World Monument Forum, a New York-based organisation. This valuable heritage site can still be saved if the enlightened community of students of Jammu and Kashmir are roped in to lend a helping hand in the conservation effort. In an endeavour to sensitise students of Jammu University to the priceless heritage of Ladakh and trigger and get them to work actively for its conversation, the tourism club of the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Management organised an interactive session on Rock Art of Ladakh. Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, an authority on the subject, presided over the session.Jamwal, an IPS officer by profession who is presently posted as SSP Vigilance, Jammu, has been working on the subject since 2001. He has made an impressive inventory of the rock carvings of Ladakh and has been actively advocating the conservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant archaeological heritage. Professor Harald Hauptmann, an internationally acclaimed authority on rock art from the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences in Germany, who is associated with the documentation and conservation project spearheaded by Jamwal was also present.Supported by slides, Jamwal presented an overview of the ancient tradition of engraving on rocks in the mountain desert which is still a living art and is practised by Buddhists in Ladakh. Ladakh’s rock art dates back to the eighth century BC and its discovery has since provided evidence of the level of civilisation that flourished in the entire region way back when.Scattered throughout Ladakh, these unique rock carvings were done on glazed surfaces of huge magnetite boulders that were used as a canvas to carve various pictures depicting the day-to-day life of the people, their religion, culture, beliefs, customs and economic life.Identifying human vandalism and rapid economic development as two major threats to the ancient rock carvings of Ladakh, Jamwal emphasised the need to conserve the threatened heritage of the state in his well-attended lecture at Jammu University.While many rock art sites in Ladakh created by travellers along ancient routes are under threat because of road construction which is in full swing along old routes throughout the region, some unattended rocks are threatened by development or vandalism, and in particular by rock cutters looking for material for house construction, said Jamwal. Some of the carvings have been stolen by tourists and the security force personnel who have the ability to estimate their value. Many have fallen prey to vandalism or have been altered by irresponsible people.“Rock carvings in Ladakh are threatened to the extent that some of them could never perhaps be retrieved. Spreading consciousness among the people, therefore, of the artistic value of these rock carvings and the need for their conservation is of utmost importance,” said Jamwal. He asked his students to spread this awareness among the masses.“As future leaders of the tourism and hospitality industry, students need to shoulder an added responsibility to protect this majestic non-monumental heritage site,” he said. Professor Deepak Raj Gupta, director, CHTM, said that Ladakh had already started attracting inbound tourists and, therefore, the conservation effort was all the more significant. Appreciating the initiatives of tourism club, he said that it had been doing an excellent job in creating awareness of the various issues related to tourism.The lecture was followed by a lively session dedicated to a full length discussion of pressing issues such as community involvement in conservation of rock carvings, future stewardship decisions, removing rocks for preservation in a rock garden as proposed by Jamwal, and other related issues of critical import. Several students of the university participated in the discussion.(The author is The Statesman’s Jammu-based Special Representative.)
Endangered heritage
In an endeavour to sensitise students of Jammu University to the priceless heritage of Ladakh, the tourism club of the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Management organised an interactive session last week. Kavita Suri has the particularsThe ancient city of Leh in Ladakh, situated in the Himalayas, should have been included in the 2008 World Monument list of the 100 most endangered historical sites in the world by the World Monument Forum, a New York-based organisation. This valuable heritage site can still be saved if the enlightened community of students of Jammu and Kashmir are roped in to lend a helping hand in the conservation effort. In an endeavour to sensitise students of Jammu University to the priceless heritage of Ladakh and trigger and get them to work actively for its conversation, the tourism club of the Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Management organised an interactive session on Rock Art of Ladakh. Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, an authority on the subject, presided over the session.Jamwal, an IPS officer by profession who is presently posted as SSP Vigilance, Jammu, has been working on the subject since 2001. He has made an impressive inventory of the rock carvings of Ladakh and has been actively advocating the conservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant archaeological heritage. Professor Harald Hauptmann, an internationally acclaimed authority on rock art from the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences in Germany, who is associated with the documentation and conservation project spearheaded by Jamwal was also present.Supported by slides, Jamwal presented an overview of the ancient tradition of engraving on rocks in the mountain desert which is still a living art and is practised by Buddhists in Ladakh. Ladakh’s rock art dates back to the eighth century BC and its discovery has since provided evidence of the level of civilisation that flourished in the entire region way back when.Scattered throughout Ladakh, these unique rock carvings were done on glazed surfaces of huge magnetite boulders that were used as a canvas to carve various pictures depicting the day-to-day life of the people, their religion, culture, beliefs, customs and economic life.Identifying human vandalism and rapid economic development as two major threats to the ancient rock carvings of Ladakh, Jamwal emphasised the need to conserve the threatened heritage of the state in his well-attended lecture at Jammu University.While many rock art sites in Ladakh created by travellers along ancient routes are under threat because of road construction which is in full swing along old routes throughout the region, some unattended rocks are threatened by development or vandalism, and in particular by rock cutters looking for material for house construction, said Jamwal. Some of the carvings have been stolen by tourists and the security force personnel who have the ability to estimate their value. Many have fallen prey to vandalism or have been altered by irresponsible people.“Rock carvings in Ladakh are threatened to the extent that some of them could never perhaps be retrieved. Spreading consciousness among the people, therefore, of the artistic value of these rock carvings and the need for their conservation is of utmost importance,” said Jamwal. He asked his students to spread this awareness among the masses.“As future leaders of the tourism and hospitality industry, students need to shoulder an added responsibility to protect this majestic non-monumental heritage site,” he said. Professor Deepak Raj Gupta, director, CHTM, said that Ladakh had already started attracting inbound tourists and, therefore, the conservation effort was all the more significant. Appreciating the initiatives of tourism club, he said that it had been doing an excellent job in creating awareness of the various issues related to tourism.The lecture was followed by a lively session dedicated to a full length discussion of pressing issues such as community involvement in conservation of rock carvings, future stewardship decisions, removing rocks for preservation in a rock garden as proposed by Jamwal, and other related issues of critical import. Several students of the university participated in the discussion.(The author is The Statesman’s Jammu-based Special Representative.)
‘Ladakh rock carvings could be lost forever’
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=4&id=193870&usrsess=1
‘Ladakh rock carvings could be lost forever’
Ladakh, an ancient land located in the northernmost part of India, is the gateway to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the west, Central Asian countries to the north, Tibet and China in the east and the plains of Chenab-Beas-Sutlej and the Ganga in the south. It has, therefore, seen a lot of cultural exchanges and intermixing of people. The vastness of this region has preserved in itself the footprint trails of these civilisations. Scattered throughout Ladakh are unique rock carvings made by ancient people who used the glazed surfaces of huge magnetite rocks and boulders as canvas to carve out various pictures depicting an array of activities of their day to day life - economic activities, religion, culture, beliefs, and customs. The credit of bringing these rock carvings of Ladakh before the world goes to Mr Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, an Indian Police Service officer presently posted as SSP Vigilance, Jammu. He has been working on the subject since 2001. Mr Jamwal has not only made an impressive inventory of rock carvings in Ladakh, but is also aware of the fact that human vandalism and rapid development are two major threats to the ancient rock carvings. Thus, he has been actively advocating the conservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant archaeological heritage. Mr Jamwal talked to KAVITA SURI about his growing passion towards the rock art in Ladakh and the need to conserve it.Excerpts: You have done a commendable work in the field of rock art in Ladakh region. How did it start? I got interested in this art form after my transfer to Leh as superintendent of police. Rock art is scattered through the entire length and breadth of Ladakh but very few people in that region and even outside knew about it. Rock art is basically images and designs on rock surfaces. It is of two types - petroglyphs and pictographs. Petroglyphs are rock carvings or the images carved on rock surfaces by various methods like pecking (striking the rock surface with tools so that the newly exposed outer rock surface forms a design or symbol.), incising (scratching the rock surface by hard tools to form images.), chiseling (cutting the rock surface by chisel and hammer), and drilling (making holes on rock surfaces mostly by metal tools). Pictographs are rock paintings made usually by ancient people in the protected areas like caves, cliffs and hanging galleries using natural colours (coloured minerals) or pigments of plant (plant dyes, chlorophyll) and animal (blood, urine). After my chance discovery of rock art on the Leh-Kargil road when my vehicle broke down and I was wandering in the area, what followed was extensive travelling through the entire length and breadth of Ladakh which was otherwise also part of my duty. I always made it a point to carry cameras and other equipment required for excavation work. And soon I realised that something needed to be done for recording of these rock carvings and their conservation in Ladakh. Was this kind of work done by or even mentioned by someone prior to you in Ladakh? No, nobody had worked on the rock art of Ladakh. And we needed to do something seriously for its conservation. The reason being that at many times, we found that rock carvings we had discovered in our previous trip to a particular area did no longer exist. In Ladakh, rocks are extensively used in construction work in the form of blocks which are made by cutting the rocks. Many unique rock carvings have been lost forever to this activity and they continue to do so each passing day. Another main reason for their destruction is the road construction and expansion work which is taking place throughout the length and breadth of Ladakh. Since most of these carvings have been found along the ancient foot tracks and the present day roads have been constructed along these tracks, such construction work spells doom for these rock carvings. We have recorded many photographs where large number of rock carvings can be seen in the rubble of rocks, broken to small pieces. And finally, when the awareness spreads among the people and especially because of a large number of security forces and tourists, who know about these carvings, there is a tendency of stealing such rock carvings But then how were you able to explore more of this precious heritage? As my interest grew in rock carvings, I started searching literature about them. Though some work has been done in the past by various scholars and researchers (Karl Jettmar, Dr AH Dani, Rohit Vohra, BR Mani and others.), none of these authors had worked in Ladakh. Probably, I and my team were more fortunate than these scholars on one aspect. Being a border area, most part of Ladakh is not open to foreign tourists and research workers. Even for Indian nationals special permission is required from the district magistrate or district superintendent of police for most parts of Ladakh and some areas are totally out-of-bounds for them also. As the district police chief I didn’t have this problem and this proved to be a great advantage for myself and my team. I also had facility of travelling by helicopter and I used this facility for documentation and recording of rock carvings from such far-flung areas which otherwise would not have been possible. How did you and your team record these rock carvings? Well, initially me and Tashi Dawa, my friend who worked with me, faced one major problem. None of us was a trained archaeologist or geographer. A visit to the Archeological Survey of India office in Leh was of no help as they didn’t know much about rock carvings and since these artifacts were not covered under ancient monuments, there destruction didn’t amount to any offence technically. Besides, there is also no legal provision which can be of much help so that I could have prevented the destruction of these rock carvings, being a police officer myself. We felt that if the safety of these rock carvings was to be ensured, the only way it could be done was by involving people in their conservation and spreading awareness among them about their importance and need to protect them. But before that, we needed a data as to where all these rock carvings are located before their conservation is thought of. And to locate these rock carvings in the vast deserts and rugged mountains was a really uphill task. However, we employed various means to get information about them. We clicked some photographs and I sent copies of these photographs to different police stations and police posts in Leh and Kargil districts where they could be shown to village chowkidars and nambardars who regularly report to the police stations. We also showed these photographs to villagers, monks, shepherds grazing their cattle and labourers engaged in construction work so as to find whether they have seen rocks with such carvings. We trekked many miles on foot, and drove all along Ladakh, looking for such rocks, and in about two months we managed to have a collection of about 1,000 photographs. Please tell us in detail about your findings? See, our work was very difficult as these are scattered all over Ladakh, but we were able to do it. Since all these petroglyphs were scattered in different parts of Ladakh, we first divided Ladakh into five different regions. These were Indus Valley (areas of Leh, Sham, Dah-Hanu and Batalik), Nobra Valley (Diskit, Panamik, Sasoma areas), Changthaang (Karu, Chumathang, Kyari, Nyoma and Tangse etc) and Kargil area - Suru Valley, Chiktan, Mulbek, Sanku areas and lastly Zanskar Valley. We made a map of Ladakh and marked the sites where rock carvings were found by our team. We used the “Garmin-120” GPS system to record the exact geographical location of these rock sites. Individual rock carvings were photographed and record was maintained. So far, we have covered only Indus Valley, Nobra Valley and the Changthang area. We covered the Kargil area and Zanskar Valley in the summer of 2004. Your rock art findings throw light on some linkages with Central Asia? Yes, masks found in Nobra have close resemblance with those belonging to the “Okunevo” culture of Mongolia and the Altai region of southern Russia from 2nd to 3rd century BC. “S” patterns of drawings which have mostly been used to fill the bodies of animal figures, as documented from Domkhar, Khalsi and chilling areas in Ladakh have been dated 8th to 9th century BC. How far have you succeeded in your conservation efforts with regard to the rock art of Ladakh? As already mentioned, rock carvings in Ladakh are under constant threat of getting lost forever. Therefore, I, along with my co-workers, tried to educate local people about their importance. We met a cross-section of people to educate them about their importance. We showed our collection in a number of exhibitions and presentations. We took the help of the print and electronic media to spread our message, but soon realised that if drastic steps were not taken, many of these treasures of history would be lost to mankind for ever. During our tours, we would invariably come across many rocks having beautiful carvings destroyed by rock cutters or rock pieces scattered along the roadside, lost to road expansion and construction work. We ultimately decided to occupy a large chunk of land near Taru village, about 20 km from Leh on the Leh-Kargil National Highway. We selected this site because many rock carvings existed there and since the spot was near Leh town and right on the National Highway, tourists and art lovers would have easy access to the site. After talking to the local people and the district administration, we occupied about 1,100 kanals of land at the site and in fact a temporary police post was established there to ensure that the rock carvings remain safe. We also started transporting rock pieces having carvings and such rocks which were in immediate danger of being lost to this rock garden. But before we relocated these rocks, we took the GPS locations of such rocks so that their original location is available which might be helpful for any future reference. Before I was shifted from Leh, we had relocated about 20 boulders to this new location by making use of huge machines and cranes. I would like to mention here that my entire work of conservation and documentation of rock carvings in Ladakh is now being sponsored by Jammu and Kashmir Police under the civic action programme. You have involved an internationally acclaimed rock art expert on this project? Yes, in fact while searching the information on rock carvings on the Internet, we got in touch with Dr Harald Hauptmann of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Germany. The professor is a world renowned archeologist. Beside many other projects that he has done, he is presently doing a similar project on the Pakistan side of the Indus in the northern areas of that country. We sent him some photographs of our collection and he was so much impressed with our work that he visited Ladakh with his wife Salva. Professor Hauptmann and his wife have been to Ladakh twice on our invitation and they are helping us document and do our work on scientific lines. We have also started an NGO, the Upper Indus Rock Art Society with its headquarters at the Central Institute Of Buddhist Studies. We are planning to document more rock carvings from unexplored areas.
(The interviewer is Special Representative of The Statesman based in Jammu)
GOOD COP
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=19&id=70374&usrsess=1
Having been moved from fighting mujahideen in turbulent Jammu and Kashmir to the more peaceful environs of Ladakh, an IPS officer embraces a project of an equally gruelling nature, writes Kavita Suri FIGHTING terrorists in troubled Jammu and Kashmir was his cup of tea so when the young and dynamic Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal was posted to mystic Ladakh a few years ago he was upset. For most, Ladakh would mean a peaceful place far removed from the maddening “mehman mujahideen” or “guest terrorists” as imported hardware is known in the troubled state, but for this IPS officer it felt like being put out to pasture. But go he did to those freezing temperatures and in a little more than two years as Superintendent of Police, Leh, he worked wonders in calling attention to the rock art of Ladakh, winning accolades from conservationists, art lovers and historians. In fact, Ladakh did more for him than eight years spent as a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir. Scattered throughout Ladakh are unique carvings done by an ancient people who used the glazed surfaces of huge magnetite rocks and boulders to etch various pictures depicting the journey of existence. Most of these carvings date back to the 8th-5th century BC, some as old as the 2nd century BC. Jamwal, now SSP, Traffic, Jammu range, has been working on the subject since 2001 and has made an impressive inventory of rock carvings in Ladakh, advocating the conservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant archaeological heritage. Though some work has been done on Ladakh rock art by a few scholars and researchers like Karl Jettmar, Dr AH Dani, Rohit Vohra and BR Mani, none of them actually did anything extensive. And since most of Ladakh’s rock carvings were headed for oblivion, something serious needed to be done to document their existence and make people aware of this monumental heritage. Enter Jamwal, and by sheer chance.It so happened that his vehicle broke down near Taru village some 20 km from Leh on the road to Kargil and while his driver set about fixing the engine he looked around at the rocks and boulders and saw heritage that made his eyes pop. He could not believe this had remained hidden all these years. The petroglyphs stayed on his mind and when he returned to Leh he discussed these with Tashi Ldawa, a college and university colleague and now a lecturer in zoology who had a photographic collection of such rock carvings. The two of them began to look for more rock carvings on their travels together in Ladakh. “As our interest grew, we started searching for literature about them,” says Jamwal. As SSP, Leh, he had the resources and manpower. And the privacy, since Ladakh, of much geopolitical significance, isn’t open to foreign tourists and research workers. Even for Indian nationals, special permission must be obtained from the district magistrate or district superintendent of police to visit and some areas are totally out of bounds.“At times I also had the facility of travelling by helicopter and I did so to document and record rock carvings from such far flung areas that would otherwise not have been possible,” recalls Jamwal . As extensive travelling in Ladakh was a part of his duty, he always carried cameras and allied equipment.But he soon enough realised something needed to be done to conserve this rock art. And the urgency was spurred by the fact that some rock carvings they’d recorded on previous trips to a particular area no longer existed when they went calling again because blocks are cut from the rock in Ladakh for extensive construction usage. A practice that takes its toll of heritage with each passing day. During their field research, Jamwal and Ldawa would come across many beautifully carved rocks destroyed by cutters or scattered along the road side because of the massive road construction and other expansion work being taken up across Ladakh, especially since the Army is expanding its base there. They have a collection of photographs to prove as much. And given the local awareness of how important these may be, rock carvings are often stolen.While recording their findings in Ladakh, Jamwal and Ldawa faced a major problem. Since neither of them are qualified archaeologists or geographers, they approached the Archaeological Survey of India office in Leh in what proved a futile exercise. The ASI didn’t know much about Ladakh rock carvings and since these artifacts were not covered under ancient monuments, their destruction didn’t officially amount to any offence. “There was no legal provision also which could help me, a police officer, in preventing the destruction of these beautiful rock carvings. Ultimately, we thought that the only way to ensure the safety of these rock carvings was by involving the people in their conservation and spreading awareness about their importance and the need to protect them. But before that, we needed detailed data as to where all these rock carvings were located. And to locate these carvings in the vast cold desert and rugged mountains was really an uphill task,” says Jamwal.What followed was a gigantic task. They adopting various means to get information about rock carvings, clicking photographs and sending copies to different police stations and outposts in Leh and Kargil districts to be shown to village chowkidars and nambardars who might regularly divulge information of any relevene. “We also showed these photographs to villagers, monks, shepherds grazing their cattle and labourers working on construction sites to find whether they had seen rocks with such carvings. We trekked many miles on foot and drove all along Ladakh looking for such rocks. Our efforts bore fruit when in just two months we got a collection of about 1,000 photographs,” says Jamwal. Since all these petroglyphs were scattered in different parts of Ladakh, Jamwal divided Ladakh into five different zones for their research. The first one was the Indus valley area that included parts of Leh, the Sham, Dah-Hanu and Batalik areas. Nobra Valley included Diskit, Panamik and Sasoma areas followed by the Changthang area which covered Karu, Chumathang, Kyari, Nyoma and Tangse. The Kargil area included the Suru Valley, Chiktan, Mulbek and Sanku areas. Zanskar valley was the last in the five zones. “We made a map of Ladakh and plotted on it the sites where rock carvings were recorded by our team. We utilised the Garmin-120 GPS system to record the exact geographical location of these rock sites. Individual rock carvings were photographed and a record was maintained.”So far, says Jamwal, they have covered the Indus and Nobra valleys and the Changthang area. Work on the Kargil area and Zanskar valley is yet to start. Various types of rock carvings recorded by them include animals like the ibex, antelope, yak, leopard, elephant, bison, dog, wolf, stag, horse and camel; birds like the peacock, eagle, duck and the kyung (a mystical bird); celestial bodies like the sun and moon; religious symbols like the trident, swastika, chorten; other symbols like masks, dots, circles, mountains, palms and tamgas; and heraldic signs like the dragon cat. Certain inexplicable symbols involve certain anthropomorphic figures like humans hunting and performing rituals, group dances, duelling, worshipping, mother and child. Besides some carvings have human-like figures of demons or spirits. There are certain weapons and tools that include spears, axes, bows and arrows, swords, shields, daggers and sticks, as also certain inscriptions in the Kharoshti, Tibetan and Chinese scripts. Some of the carvings of masks found in Nobra closely resemble those belonging to the “Okunevo” culture of Mongolia and the Altai region of southern Russia between the second and third century BC. The “S” patterns of the drawings, which have mostly been used to fill in the bodies of animal figures, as documented from Domkhar, Khalsi and the colder areas in Ladakh, date back to the eight and ninth century BC. Jamwal’s efforts to conserve Ladakh’s rock art have been recognised locally, nationally and internationally. He educates the locals about their importance and has held a number of exhibitions and seminars, but he also knows that unless there is some drastic intervention many of these historic treasures will be forever lost.With such dark thoughts clouding his kind, he has decided to occupy a large chunk of land near Taru village where many rock carvings exist. The spot is near Leh town, right on the National Highway. After much talk with the local people and the district administration, he has occupied about 1100 kanals of land at the site and a temporary police post has been established in this “rock-garden” to which the rock carvings are being transported.Jamwal had relocated about 20 boulders to this new location through the use of huge machines and cranes and now has the guidance of Professor Harald Hauptmann of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Germany, a world-renowned authority on rock art and who is working in the northern areas of Pakistan on a similar project. “We sent him some photographs of our collection and he was so impressed with our work that he visited Ladakh with his wife Salwa, also an archaeologist. Both of them came to Ladakh twice on my invitation and they are now helping us in the systematic exploration, documentation and conservation of Ladakh’s rock art sites. We have also started an NGO, Upper Indus Rock Art Society, headquartered at the Central Institute Of Buddhist Studies, Leh, and we are planning to document more rock carvings from areas as yet unexplored,” says Jamwal. The entire project is being sponsored by the Jammu and Kashmir police under a civic action programme.
Having been moved from fighting mujahideen in turbulent Jammu and Kashmir to the more peaceful environs of Ladakh, an IPS officer embraces a project of an equally gruelling nature, writes Kavita Suri FIGHTING terrorists in troubled Jammu and Kashmir was his cup of tea so when the young and dynamic Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal was posted to mystic Ladakh a few years ago he was upset. For most, Ladakh would mean a peaceful place far removed from the maddening “mehman mujahideen” or “guest terrorists” as imported hardware is known in the troubled state, but for this IPS officer it felt like being put out to pasture. But go he did to those freezing temperatures and in a little more than two years as Superintendent of Police, Leh, he worked wonders in calling attention to the rock art of Ladakh, winning accolades from conservationists, art lovers and historians. In fact, Ladakh did more for him than eight years spent as a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir. Scattered throughout Ladakh are unique carvings done by an ancient people who used the glazed surfaces of huge magnetite rocks and boulders to etch various pictures depicting the journey of existence. Most of these carvings date back to the 8th-5th century BC, some as old as the 2nd century BC. Jamwal, now SSP, Traffic, Jammu range, has been working on the subject since 2001 and has made an impressive inventory of rock carvings in Ladakh, advocating the conservation of this non-monumental yet historically significant archaeological heritage. Though some work has been done on Ladakh rock art by a few scholars and researchers like Karl Jettmar, Dr AH Dani, Rohit Vohra and BR Mani, none of them actually did anything extensive. And since most of Ladakh’s rock carvings were headed for oblivion, something serious needed to be done to document their existence and make people aware of this monumental heritage. Enter Jamwal, and by sheer chance.It so happened that his vehicle broke down near Taru village some 20 km from Leh on the road to Kargil and while his driver set about fixing the engine he looked around at the rocks and boulders and saw heritage that made his eyes pop. He could not believe this had remained hidden all these years. The petroglyphs stayed on his mind and when he returned to Leh he discussed these with Tashi Ldawa, a college and university colleague and now a lecturer in zoology who had a photographic collection of such rock carvings. The two of them began to look for more rock carvings on their travels together in Ladakh. “As our interest grew, we started searching for literature about them,” says Jamwal. As SSP, Leh, he had the resources and manpower. And the privacy, since Ladakh, of much geopolitical significance, isn’t open to foreign tourists and research workers. Even for Indian nationals, special permission must be obtained from the district magistrate or district superintendent of police to visit and some areas are totally out of bounds.“At times I also had the facility of travelling by helicopter and I did so to document and record rock carvings from such far flung areas that would otherwise not have been possible,” recalls Jamwal . As extensive travelling in Ladakh was a part of his duty, he always carried cameras and allied equipment.But he soon enough realised something needed to be done to conserve this rock art. And the urgency was spurred by the fact that some rock carvings they’d recorded on previous trips to a particular area no longer existed when they went calling again because blocks are cut from the rock in Ladakh for extensive construction usage. A practice that takes its toll of heritage with each passing day. During their field research, Jamwal and Ldawa would come across many beautifully carved rocks destroyed by cutters or scattered along the road side because of the massive road construction and other expansion work being taken up across Ladakh, especially since the Army is expanding its base there. They have a collection of photographs to prove as much. And given the local awareness of how important these may be, rock carvings are often stolen.While recording their findings in Ladakh, Jamwal and Ldawa faced a major problem. Since neither of them are qualified archaeologists or geographers, they approached the Archaeological Survey of India office in Leh in what proved a futile exercise. The ASI didn’t know much about Ladakh rock carvings and since these artifacts were not covered under ancient monuments, their destruction didn’t officially amount to any offence. “There was no legal provision also which could help me, a police officer, in preventing the destruction of these beautiful rock carvings. Ultimately, we thought that the only way to ensure the safety of these rock carvings was by involving the people in their conservation and spreading awareness about their importance and the need to protect them. But before that, we needed detailed data as to where all these rock carvings were located. And to locate these carvings in the vast cold desert and rugged mountains was really an uphill task,” says Jamwal.What followed was a gigantic task. They adopting various means to get information about rock carvings, clicking photographs and sending copies to different police stations and outposts in Leh and Kargil districts to be shown to village chowkidars and nambardars who might regularly divulge information of any relevene. “We also showed these photographs to villagers, monks, shepherds grazing their cattle and labourers working on construction sites to find whether they had seen rocks with such carvings. We trekked many miles on foot and drove all along Ladakh looking for such rocks. Our efforts bore fruit when in just two months we got a collection of about 1,000 photographs,” says Jamwal. Since all these petroglyphs were scattered in different parts of Ladakh, Jamwal divided Ladakh into five different zones for their research. The first one was the Indus valley area that included parts of Leh, the Sham, Dah-Hanu and Batalik areas. Nobra Valley included Diskit, Panamik and Sasoma areas followed by the Changthang area which covered Karu, Chumathang, Kyari, Nyoma and Tangse. The Kargil area included the Suru Valley, Chiktan, Mulbek and Sanku areas. Zanskar valley was the last in the five zones. “We made a map of Ladakh and plotted on it the sites where rock carvings were recorded by our team. We utilised the Garmin-120 GPS system to record the exact geographical location of these rock sites. Individual rock carvings were photographed and a record was maintained.”So far, says Jamwal, they have covered the Indus and Nobra valleys and the Changthang area. Work on the Kargil area and Zanskar valley is yet to start. Various types of rock carvings recorded by them include animals like the ibex, antelope, yak, leopard, elephant, bison, dog, wolf, stag, horse and camel; birds like the peacock, eagle, duck and the kyung (a mystical bird); celestial bodies like the sun and moon; religious symbols like the trident, swastika, chorten; other symbols like masks, dots, circles, mountains, palms and tamgas; and heraldic signs like the dragon cat. Certain inexplicable symbols involve certain anthropomorphic figures like humans hunting and performing rituals, group dances, duelling, worshipping, mother and child. Besides some carvings have human-like figures of demons or spirits. There are certain weapons and tools that include spears, axes, bows and arrows, swords, shields, daggers and sticks, as also certain inscriptions in the Kharoshti, Tibetan and Chinese scripts. Some of the carvings of masks found in Nobra closely resemble those belonging to the “Okunevo” culture of Mongolia and the Altai region of southern Russia between the second and third century BC. The “S” patterns of the drawings, which have mostly been used to fill in the bodies of animal figures, as documented from Domkhar, Khalsi and the colder areas in Ladakh, date back to the eight and ninth century BC. Jamwal’s efforts to conserve Ladakh’s rock art have been recognised locally, nationally and internationally. He educates the locals about their importance and has held a number of exhibitions and seminars, but he also knows that unless there is some drastic intervention many of these historic treasures will be forever lost.With such dark thoughts clouding his kind, he has decided to occupy a large chunk of land near Taru village where many rock carvings exist. The spot is near Leh town, right on the National Highway. After much talk with the local people and the district administration, he has occupied about 1100 kanals of land at the site and a temporary police post has been established in this “rock-garden” to which the rock carvings are being transported.Jamwal had relocated about 20 boulders to this new location through the use of huge machines and cranes and now has the guidance of Professor Harald Hauptmann of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, Germany, a world-renowned authority on rock art and who is working in the northern areas of Pakistan on a similar project. “We sent him some photographs of our collection and he was so impressed with our work that he visited Ladakh with his wife Salwa, also an archaeologist. Both of them came to Ladakh twice on my invitation and they are now helping us in the systematic exploration, documentation and conservation of Ladakh’s rock art sites. We have also started an NGO, Upper Indus Rock Art Society, headquartered at the Central Institute Of Buddhist Studies, Leh, and we are planning to document more rock carvings from areas as yet unexplored,” says Jamwal. The entire project is being sponsored by the Jammu and Kashmir police under a civic action programme.
The assassins
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=4&id=52184&usrsess=1
The assassins
The Lone murder case was a sordid tale of intrigue in which six policemen colluded with militants to weave a sinister web. KAVITA SURI reportsFor Shiv Darshan Jamwal, the dynamic young police officer then posted in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district – a highly sensitive area close to the Line of Control, exposing the nexus between officials in his department and militants wasn’t an easy job. But under the able leadership of Gopal Sharma, the new director-general of J&K, Jamwal – who has also won the police medal for his role in fighting insurgency – could lay bare the truth behind the assassination of former National Conference leader Mushtaq Ahmed Lone.It all began on 3 June when a fidayeen, attired in police uniform, came to Lalpora police station, some 20 km from Kupwara. As the Kupwara police had prior intimation, the militant was stopped at the entrance. Identifying himself as a special police officer, he said that he was from Sogam police station. The suspicious guard, however, sought his identity card, by which time more policemen had gathered. Panicking, the militant tried to pull out a grenade. But the other cops pounced on him and, in the resulting scuffle, his rifle was snatched. The militant, however, managed to escape, taking cover behind a group of school children. Luckily, the guard could recall that two days earlier, he had seen the man at the police station with the station house officer of Sogam, assistant sub-inspector Ghulam Rasool Wani. When senior superintendent of police Jamwal learnt this, he sprang into action. Jamwal picked up the SHO, who in turn led to the munshi (a record keeper of sorts) of the police station, Abdul Ahad Rather. And the skeletons continued to roll out…Interrogations revealed that the 12 May fidayeen attack outside the State Bank of India building, Kupwara market – in which two RPF men were killed – was also the doing of these two policemen. But of more importance was the story behind Lone’s murder, which had all the ingredients of an action-packed drama. Mushtaq Lone, then law minister in Farooq Abdullah’s cabinet, was killed on 11 September 2002 while addressing an election rally at Tikkipora Sogam. His brother was killed on 5 December 2002, near his house at Dooniwari in Kupwara. Four militants, seven policemen and one civilian were involved in the killing of the Lone brothers. The four militants and two cops were directly involved in the killing while other four cops provided logistical support including transport and intelligence inputs. For the first time, Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba, Jaish-e-Mohommad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen got together, deciding to eliminate Mushtaq Lone, with the objective of instilling fear amongst the people and candidates who were ready to participate in elections. On 11 September, LeT militant Nazir Kaker, dressed as a woman, managed to smuggle an AK-56 into a rally at Tikkipora, Kupwara, in which Mushtaq Lone was supposed to deliver a speech. When Lone began his address, Kaker stood up and fired at him, killing him and his two bodyguards. Kaker then escaped because of the firing by nine militants who had encircle the area. The munshi’s motive was to earn money, and others – especially Ghulam Rasool Wani – were coerced to help. The munshi, under the name Khalil Bhai, helped militant outfits like JeM in lieu of money. Being a resident of the area, he had excellent knowledge of the place as well as shared a good relation with several important people including the Lone brothers. The other main accused were special police official Muhammad Rustum Lone and a civilian, Gulam Nabi Peer alias Gulla Peer. Rustum’s wife was also arrested for “active participation” in the gang’s operations. The recovery of nude pictures of women from the munshi has, however, added another dimension to the story, though the police prefer to remain tight-lipped.When political rallies began to pick up steam during the last elections in Kashmir, Munshi and gang met in forester Mohammad Shafi Wani’s house, just yards away from Lone’s. Four local youths and two LeT commanders, Usman and Uqab, from Pakistan were also present. Another meeting of the Jaish militants was held in the house of one Khushhal Gujjar. This was attended by Jaish “district commander” Qari Asif, Irfan and two local Hizbul Mujahideen militants, Ghulam Ahmed and Hilal Dar. Nazir Kaker was chosen to kill Lone. And Operation Government Hatao was successfully executed. Encouraged by this assassination, the gang hatched another conspiracy. This time it was to eliminate Ghulam Mohiuddin Lone and Nazir Lone, the brothers of the slain minister. The Munshi obtained information about the brothers’ travel plans from Nazir Lone’s wife. Nazir, who alighted some 300 m before his residence, luckily escaped the bullets. Mohiuddin, however, could not save his life.The munshi also revealed that the militants had turned Sogam police station into a hideout where they would often rest or keep weapons.Wani, a resident of Drugmulla in Kupwara, had been posted in Lalpora before being shifted to Sogam. It was in Lalpora that he developed his links with Maulana Masood Azher’s JeM. Wani had been clandestinely working for the militants for a long time. Operation Government Hatao was a meticulously planned joint venture launched by the three deadliest militant outfits which added a new dimension to the 13 years of Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in Kashmir. It not only led to the killing of Mushtaq Lone but also left the whole security apparatus in the troubled state in a shambles. (The author is the Jammu-based Correspondent of The Statesman.) Black sheep in the forceIn the summer of 1992, a powerful bomb exploded in the office of the then J&K director-general of police, JN Saxena, in Srinagar. Two cops were killed while Saxena and many other senior officers were seriously injured. Investigations revealed that a cop, hand in glove with militants, had planted the bomb. n In January 1993, Riyaz Ahmad, a constable in J&K armed police, was passing by the Hazratbal Shrine on his way back home when the Army mistook him for a militant and shot him dead. This triggered a chain reaction and cops of all the 11 J&K armed police battalions went berserk, marching towards the Srinagar police control room with their weapons. The retaliating cops took senior police officers hostage. The Army then launched an operation and unarmed the cops. Consequently, nearly 50 cops were dismissed from service. Later, some were absorbed in J&K fire services on court orders.n In 1991, security forces arrested Abdul Majid Dar, constable in J&K Police at Kupwara, under the Public Safety Act. Dar was actively involved with terrorists and had even received training in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Despite his tainted past, Dar had joined the police force and worked as constable before being apprehended. On 16 October 1998, a high court division bench stayed the single-Judge judgment, which had directed the police authorities to allow Dar to join duty.These are not isolated cases. Ever since militancy has reared its ugly head in Kashmir, that is, in 1990, militants have had their men in the police department.This time, however, it was after a long gap that policemen were arrested for helping terrorists in a big way. The police-militant nexus had been in the news earlier too. In fact, a few top militant commanders had earlier served as policemen. Police officers also admit that some outfits have managed to plant their men into the ranks of the force. Former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief commander Ali Mohammed Dar alias Burhan-ud-din Hijazi was a cop before he joined the outfit. So was Javed Shah, former Al-Jehad militant who later surrendered and became the top counter insurgent. Shah later joined politics and became National Conference MLC. Despite the long history of the police-militants nexus, the director-general of police minces no words while defending his force. “We are committed soldiers and J&K Police has a success rate of 75 per cent in anti-insurgency operations. J&K Police is one of the finest forces in the country and I am proud of it,” he says.The police simply refuse to accept that the Kupwara nexus, thriving since the last three years, points to their obvious failure. Refusing to buy the theory that militants have managed to infiltrate their men into the force, the former SSP of Kupwara, SD Singh Jamwal, says that the recent incident shows the sincerity of the police force. “There is not much contamination in the police department. There could be a few culprits here and there, but that is an aberration,” he says.DGP Gopal Sharma says, “Such aberrations were possible in certain far-flung localities. The treacherous act of a small section should not be magnified to smudge the 64,000-strong police force in J&K.” Sharma further says, “The process in on…We have also taken action against cops who have shown cowardice…” He has assured that the authorities would plug all security and intelligence loopholes to restore the sense of security among the common people in Kupwara district. The recent exposure has received appreciation from all political parties. Cutting across party lines, J&K Assembly legislators demanded a thorough inquiry into the alleged police-militants nexus, lauding the police for unmasking some “black sheep”. The final word of praise came from chief minister Mufti Sayeed himself who said that he had full faith in the integrity of J&K Police. “One bad fish should not be allowed to malign the entire organisation,” he said.The state police is now planning to adopt a new protective mechanism to keep away militants from entering the force. More manpower and weapons would also be provided to the “extremely vulnerable” police stations all over the state.— KS
The assassins
The Lone murder case was a sordid tale of intrigue in which six policemen colluded with militants to weave a sinister web. KAVITA SURI reportsFor Shiv Darshan Jamwal, the dynamic young police officer then posted in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district – a highly sensitive area close to the Line of Control, exposing the nexus between officials in his department and militants wasn’t an easy job. But under the able leadership of Gopal Sharma, the new director-general of J&K, Jamwal – who has also won the police medal for his role in fighting insurgency – could lay bare the truth behind the assassination of former National Conference leader Mushtaq Ahmed Lone.It all began on 3 June when a fidayeen, attired in police uniform, came to Lalpora police station, some 20 km from Kupwara. As the Kupwara police had prior intimation, the militant was stopped at the entrance. Identifying himself as a special police officer, he said that he was from Sogam police station. The suspicious guard, however, sought his identity card, by which time more policemen had gathered. Panicking, the militant tried to pull out a grenade. But the other cops pounced on him and, in the resulting scuffle, his rifle was snatched. The militant, however, managed to escape, taking cover behind a group of school children. Luckily, the guard could recall that two days earlier, he had seen the man at the police station with the station house officer of Sogam, assistant sub-inspector Ghulam Rasool Wani. When senior superintendent of police Jamwal learnt this, he sprang into action. Jamwal picked up the SHO, who in turn led to the munshi (a record keeper of sorts) of the police station, Abdul Ahad Rather. And the skeletons continued to roll out…Interrogations revealed that the 12 May fidayeen attack outside the State Bank of India building, Kupwara market – in which two RPF men were killed – was also the doing of these two policemen. But of more importance was the story behind Lone’s murder, which had all the ingredients of an action-packed drama. Mushtaq Lone, then law minister in Farooq Abdullah’s cabinet, was killed on 11 September 2002 while addressing an election rally at Tikkipora Sogam. His brother was killed on 5 December 2002, near his house at Dooniwari in Kupwara. Four militants, seven policemen and one civilian were involved in the killing of the Lone brothers. The four militants and two cops were directly involved in the killing while other four cops provided logistical support including transport and intelligence inputs. For the first time, Lashkar-e-Taiyyaba, Jaish-e-Mohommad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen got together, deciding to eliminate Mushtaq Lone, with the objective of instilling fear amongst the people and candidates who were ready to participate in elections. On 11 September, LeT militant Nazir Kaker, dressed as a woman, managed to smuggle an AK-56 into a rally at Tikkipora, Kupwara, in which Mushtaq Lone was supposed to deliver a speech. When Lone began his address, Kaker stood up and fired at him, killing him and his two bodyguards. Kaker then escaped because of the firing by nine militants who had encircle the area. The munshi’s motive was to earn money, and others – especially Ghulam Rasool Wani – were coerced to help. The munshi, under the name Khalil Bhai, helped militant outfits like JeM in lieu of money. Being a resident of the area, he had excellent knowledge of the place as well as shared a good relation with several important people including the Lone brothers. The other main accused were special police official Muhammad Rustum Lone and a civilian, Gulam Nabi Peer alias Gulla Peer. Rustum’s wife was also arrested for “active participation” in the gang’s operations. The recovery of nude pictures of women from the munshi has, however, added another dimension to the story, though the police prefer to remain tight-lipped.When political rallies began to pick up steam during the last elections in Kashmir, Munshi and gang met in forester Mohammad Shafi Wani’s house, just yards away from Lone’s. Four local youths and two LeT commanders, Usman and Uqab, from Pakistan were also present. Another meeting of the Jaish militants was held in the house of one Khushhal Gujjar. This was attended by Jaish “district commander” Qari Asif, Irfan and two local Hizbul Mujahideen militants, Ghulam Ahmed and Hilal Dar. Nazir Kaker was chosen to kill Lone. And Operation Government Hatao was successfully executed. Encouraged by this assassination, the gang hatched another conspiracy. This time it was to eliminate Ghulam Mohiuddin Lone and Nazir Lone, the brothers of the slain minister. The Munshi obtained information about the brothers’ travel plans from Nazir Lone’s wife. Nazir, who alighted some 300 m before his residence, luckily escaped the bullets. Mohiuddin, however, could not save his life.The munshi also revealed that the militants had turned Sogam police station into a hideout where they would often rest or keep weapons.Wani, a resident of Drugmulla in Kupwara, had been posted in Lalpora before being shifted to Sogam. It was in Lalpora that he developed his links with Maulana Masood Azher’s JeM. Wani had been clandestinely working for the militants for a long time. Operation Government Hatao was a meticulously planned joint venture launched by the three deadliest militant outfits which added a new dimension to the 13 years of Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in Kashmir. It not only led to the killing of Mushtaq Lone but also left the whole security apparatus in the troubled state in a shambles. (The author is the Jammu-based Correspondent of The Statesman.) Black sheep in the forceIn the summer of 1992, a powerful bomb exploded in the office of the then J&K director-general of police, JN Saxena, in Srinagar. Two cops were killed while Saxena and many other senior officers were seriously injured. Investigations revealed that a cop, hand in glove with militants, had planted the bomb. n In January 1993, Riyaz Ahmad, a constable in J&K armed police, was passing by the Hazratbal Shrine on his way back home when the Army mistook him for a militant and shot him dead. This triggered a chain reaction and cops of all the 11 J&K armed police battalions went berserk, marching towards the Srinagar police control room with their weapons. The retaliating cops took senior police officers hostage. The Army then launched an operation and unarmed the cops. Consequently, nearly 50 cops were dismissed from service. Later, some were absorbed in J&K fire services on court orders.n In 1991, security forces arrested Abdul Majid Dar, constable in J&K Police at Kupwara, under the Public Safety Act. Dar was actively involved with terrorists and had even received training in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Despite his tainted past, Dar had joined the police force and worked as constable before being apprehended. On 16 October 1998, a high court division bench stayed the single-Judge judgment, which had directed the police authorities to allow Dar to join duty.These are not isolated cases. Ever since militancy has reared its ugly head in Kashmir, that is, in 1990, militants have had their men in the police department.This time, however, it was after a long gap that policemen were arrested for helping terrorists in a big way. The police-militant nexus had been in the news earlier too. In fact, a few top militant commanders had earlier served as policemen. Police officers also admit that some outfits have managed to plant their men into the ranks of the force. Former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief commander Ali Mohammed Dar alias Burhan-ud-din Hijazi was a cop before he joined the outfit. So was Javed Shah, former Al-Jehad militant who later surrendered and became the top counter insurgent. Shah later joined politics and became National Conference MLC. Despite the long history of the police-militants nexus, the director-general of police minces no words while defending his force. “We are committed soldiers and J&K Police has a success rate of 75 per cent in anti-insurgency operations. J&K Police is one of the finest forces in the country and I am proud of it,” he says.The police simply refuse to accept that the Kupwara nexus, thriving since the last three years, points to their obvious failure. Refusing to buy the theory that militants have managed to infiltrate their men into the force, the former SSP of Kupwara, SD Singh Jamwal, says that the recent incident shows the sincerity of the police force. “There is not much contamination in the police department. There could be a few culprits here and there, but that is an aberration,” he says.DGP Gopal Sharma says, “Such aberrations were possible in certain far-flung localities. The treacherous act of a small section should not be magnified to smudge the 64,000-strong police force in J&K.” Sharma further says, “The process in on…We have also taken action against cops who have shown cowardice…” He has assured that the authorities would plug all security and intelligence loopholes to restore the sense of security among the common people in Kupwara district. The recent exposure has received appreciation from all political parties. Cutting across party lines, J&K Assembly legislators demanded a thorough inquiry into the alleged police-militants nexus, lauding the police for unmasking some “black sheep”. The final word of praise came from chief minister Mufti Sayeed himself who said that he had full faith in the integrity of J&K Police. “One bad fish should not be allowed to malign the entire organisation,” he said.The state police is now planning to adopt a new protective mechanism to keep away militants from entering the force. More manpower and weapons would also be provided to the “extremely vulnerable” police stations all over the state.— KS
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