WHEN DARKNESS DESCENDS

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Badee Uz Zaman

 

There was a cry outside- a loud agonizing cry. Some uncanny mourning silence fell over the clamorous ambiance of the room. Khan Sahib, who otherwise was a man of cool and compact behavior, immediately got off his fluffy praying rug –his lips were absolutely moisture-less as he peeped into the dark emptiness outside through the crack of the window only to discover a vast stretch of night and nothing else.  His wife- Nasreena was still struggling with the microscopic buttons of the remote control of their brand new television set and her trembling hands were unable to press the red button on it. Then she tried to reach out to the wall socket so that she could pluck out the power lead from it. But as she got up, she staggered and stumbled of asphyxiation before her hands could even move. She was lying there facing towards the roof decked with immaculate designs of ‘Khatemband’. The perennial beads of precipitation were dripping from it. Nasreena started to read the ‘Ayat Ul Kursi’ written in a spherical design around the caricature of Holy ‘Kabba’ crocheted with dark black thread on the green background of a rug- hanging from the wall painted with white synthetic colors.

Qasim, their only son wasn’t home yet and the situation outside was very dangerous and deadly, that’s at least what the white collard guy on TV news channels would continue to speak every evening.

Khan sahib brought her a tumbler filled with water and Nasreena was able to drink only a couple of drops from it, they both stood there frozen no one speaking a world, only their eyes exchanging the words of hope in a language known to them only, and she continued to recite the ‘Ayat Ul Kursi’…

The silence was finally broken by the ringing of the phone. Breathing became impossible for them and the air in the room seemed to be absent for a moment and no one found the courage enough to answer the phone which continued to ring for an eternity. Khan finally managed to put his hand on the receiver but before he could pick it up the ringing stopped leaving the room again in the ambiance of deadly silence. He checked the caller ID, and the call was made from the local dispensary. As he declared this in a creaking voice, Nasreena started to beat her chest and Khan was sobbing with hiccups. He dialed back the number, without will and life and waited for someone to tell them the news. After only two or three rings, someone picked up the phone; breathing became completely impossible for him and he was about to give a loud cry but instantly his eyes sparkled as he heard the voice of his son. “I was coming back to home but Qadir kak’s foot skidded into the pothole and I drove him to the dispensary, I’ll be back in ten minutes ”, said Qassim.

 

Low Class of Higher Education!

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Farzana Mumtaz

A lively and powerful  education system is the cornerstone of a civilized society and a progressive nation. In view of the crucial importance of the higher education sector for the overall development of the country, we find  it very important to highlight the most essential lacunas that are hitting the same in our state especially valley of Kashmir  , which need immediate attention in our effort to improve the status and quality of higher education and to ensure that the steps taken are the right ones.

First and foremost, the quality infrastructure is missing in higher education sector of Kashmir . Recently,  officials in the Higher Education Department stated that  around 41 colleges were sanctioned during the past eight years under various centrally sponsored schemes and state plan, however the construction work is yet to be completed on 23 Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) in the state.

Pertinently, the officials said the government has started different under graduate courses in all these colleges however the students are taking their classes in make-shift arrangements in adjacently located government Higher Secondary Schools (HSS) or rented accommodations, thus making ridicule of higher educational standards.

Lack of quality research and laboratories are also direly impacting the picture of higher education system in our part of the world. We also do not have the compact libraries as well in many higher education institutes .

Vocational Education system which is the crucial aspect of Higher Education is missing . In this regard, the lack of quality vocational courses in the premier educational institutions of the Kashmir Valley is adding to the unemployment problem of Kashmir. Even the top level colleges  of Kashmir lack proper vocational courses. The infrastructure related to vocational courses in the higher educational institutes of valley is also unimpressive and craves for uplifting.

Mehvish Khan, assistant editor Only Kashmir stated – ” The higher education system in Kashmir is in dire straits as it lags desired quality. We do not have vibrant higher education infrastructure in place as a result we are suffering immensely. The quality chain of arts and crafts, engineering , medical colleges is absent in the state especially in the valley of Kashmir. Even the present Government run degree colleges do not have the quality infrastructure that we could Bank upon .The need of the hour is to upgrade the basic infrastructure of higher education and revamp our entire higher Education system.”

Mehvish Khan adds – ” We need a concrete policy and vision to move ahead in the right direction with reference to higher education so as to achieve the desired success .

Ground realities suggest that Higher Education Sector in Kashmir is in dire need of reforms as it currently presents bleak outlook.

 

 

Qatar Crisis

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The Qatar crisis that has erupted few weeks back is taking the politics of Middle East to new crisis and also impacting the global polity with changing equations.

As a matter of fact, The 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis occurred recently as a result of several countries abruptly cutting off diplomatic relations with Qatar. These countries included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt. The severing of relations included withdrawing ambassadors, and imposing trade and travel bans.

 

On ther hand, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other countries have criticized Al Jazeera and Qatar’s relations with Iran, and accused Qatar of funding terrorist organizations. Qatar denied that it supports terrorism, given that it has assisted the United States in the War on Terror and the ongoing military intervention against ISIL.

 

Saudi Arabia’s actions were verbally supported by United States President Donald Trump. Many countries in the region, including Turkey, Russia and Iran, called for the crisis to be resolved through peaceful negotiations.

The move has brought new equations with Qatar, Iran, Turkey and Russia on one side and Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE ,Bahrain etc on the other side of the divide .The Qatar crisis is bound to leave its own impacts on global polity .