The Lone loser
Sajjad Lone may have considered the option of losing elections, but was unprepared for losing his face with his security deposit. Haroon Mirani looks at the ramifications of Lone’s loss on him and on the separatist camp.
A week after the results of parliament elections 2009 were out, separatist turned unionist, Sajjad Lone appears unable to come out of the shock - of his defeat. The media savvy politician with a flair for television chat shows is skipping media since.
Accused of fielding proxies in previous elections, some of whom won with his backing, Sajjad had to hide his face after losing his security deposit.
Last month when the reluctant separatist announced his foray into electoral politics, a confident Lone then had remarked that his defeat would be “only his own”. He had justified what he called his “change of strategy” by the huge turnout of people in 2008 assembly elections.
A week after the results of parliament elections 2009 were out, separatist turned unionist, Sajjad Lone appears unable to come out of the shock - of his defeat. The media savvy politician with a flair for television chat shows is skipping media since.
Accused of fielding proxies in previous elections, some of whom won with his backing, Sajjad had to hide his face after losing his security deposit.
Last month when the reluctant separatist announced his foray into electoral politics, a confident Lone then had remarked that his defeat would be “only his own”. He had justified what he called his “change of strategy” by the huge turnout of people in 2008 assembly elections.
Leelakaran dumped
While election results in Kashmir were surprising, Jammu parliamentary constituency shocked one and all. But the underlying reasons are not hard to find. Majid Maqbool reports.
As Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) entered poll fray in 2008 assembly elections, the Amarnath land controversy had polarized voters in Jammu. The Hindutva card was the best this right wing party could have played. BJP played the card and grabbed 11 seats in J&K’s legislative assembly.
Leelekaran Sharma, who led the Amarnath Sanghrash Samiti during protests in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts of the state, entered Parliament election fray on a BJP ticket hoping to cash on the polarization once again. But the land controversy had already boiled down and Sharma was shooting his foot by joining politics.
Before the elections, Leelakaran had publicly announced that his mission was completely apolitical. By jumping into elections, he was actually making his intensions of a career in politics clear. This annoyed many voters who had earlier seen a selfless leader in Sharma.
In vortex of crime
From a society which believed that skies turn red when a murder is committed, Kashmir was made
Daring Challenges, Creating Hope
A physiotherapist who sidelined his career to work for the physically challenged, Sami Wani, in collaboration with a international NGO has given new life...
Newsmakers
APPOINTED: Congress’s crisis manager, Ghulam Nabi Azad, was appointed a minister by Dr Manmohan Singh. A Rajya Sabha member from J&K, he returns to...
Tale of Empowerment
Ameen, once a student of History and Commerce, has moved far ahead of the times when he would vend dress materials cycling through the...
CDI introduces course in craft industry
The handicraft sector is the third largest employment provider in valley with a potential of engaging five lakh artisans. However, with the rise in...
Wishes on the walls
SHAZIA YOUSUF Free Kashmir, written in big bold letters was visible from a distance. As I went closer, I could see hundreds of wishes,...
Ghulam Ali Majboor (1952 – 2009)
by Zubair A Dar
On Friday, May 15, when Ghulam Ali Majboor breathed his last, it was not the death of an artist alone, it...
Represent J&K, not party
By the time you read this editorial comment, the results of the election to the Indian
Ballot in India – a platter-full of lies
Arshad Malik
India is hot these days, with mercury jumping degrees with every passing day and the heat of the ongoing elections further firing up the emotional thermodynamics of the nation. In India, like elsewhere in democracies, “election” or the exercise of the right to vote is the highest and most extensive form of civilizational discourse that majorly alters the contours of the nation society. But over the decades, long since India gained independence from the British, elections in this country have attained the character of a gambit, where the initiative of the common man – the citizenry – to exercise the ballot power least attributes to the whole process of electing the so-called “representatives of the masses”. Nowadays, it is more about personal vendettas of political parties who have locked horns over power and less about the pure practice of electing a representative government to power.
India is hot these days, with mercury jumping degrees with every passing day and the heat of the ongoing elections further firing up the emotional thermodynamics of the nation. In India, like elsewhere in democracies, “election” or the exercise of the right to vote is the highest and most extensive form of civilizational discourse that majorly alters the contours of the nation society. But over the decades, long since India gained independence from the British, elections in this country have attained the character of a gambit, where the initiative of the common man – the citizenry – to exercise the ballot power least attributes to the whole process of electing the so-called “representatives of the masses”. Nowadays, it is more about personal vendettas of political parties who have locked horns over power and less about the pure practice of electing a representative government to power.
Frozen in time
Popular Kashmiri serial of 80’s, Hazaar Dastaan depicts the golden era of its lead actor Nazir Josh and of Doordarshan Srinagar. Haroon Mirani analyses...
From paper to glass
CDI is introducing glass painting among Papier Machie artists. Haroon Mirani reports.
Aiming to diversify the skill of Papeir Machie artists in Kashmir. Glass painting is...
Global meltdown and Islamic financial systems
Zamir Ahmed
Now that the dust of the fallen financial empires has settled, the reasons behind this cataclysm have become common knowledge: inadequate discipline in the financial system resulting from the absence of profit and loss sharing (PLS); the mind-boggling expansion in the size of derivatives, particularly Credit Default Swaps (CDS); and the belief of the banks that central banks will come to their rescue.
Excessive and irrational usage of derivatives was the prime cause of this multi-faceted crisis. Derivatives are financial instruments that allow the transfer of risk about the value of the underlying asset from one party to another. George Soros—of the South Asian Crisis fame—calls them Hydrogen Bombs while as Warren Buffet, the famous investor and businessman, has named them financial ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’.
Now that the dust of the fallen financial empires has settled, the reasons behind this cataclysm have become common knowledge: inadequate discipline in the financial system resulting from the absence of profit and loss sharing (PLS); the mind-boggling expansion in the size of derivatives, particularly Credit Default Swaps (CDS); and the belief of the banks that central banks will come to their rescue.
Excessive and irrational usage of derivatives was the prime cause of this multi-faceted crisis. Derivatives are financial instruments that allow the transfer of risk about the value of the underlying asset from one party to another. George Soros—of the South Asian Crisis fame—calls them Hydrogen Bombs while as Warren Buffet, the famous investor and businessman, has named them financial ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’.
Rather Readies For Budget
With the parliamentary polls over, J&K government has started resuming normal activity. On top of the agenda is the state budget that government is planning to present formally for seven months of the fiscal 2009-10.
To begin with, sources said, finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather will have detailed interactions with trade leaders, industry chieftains and individuals with know how of the subject. “The government has some hard ideas in mind and they would be laid on the table as part of the budget,” a source informed.
To begin with, sources said, finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather will have detailed interactions with trade leaders, industry chieftains and individuals with know how of the subject. “The government has some hard ideas in mind and they would be laid on the table as part of the budget,” a source informed.
