This is in response to Latief Bazaz's letter. I live in North East USA. The fact that he has not faced any discrimination is because he has not traveled to the interiors of USA, the mid western states and also upstate New York and Pennsylvania which are pure white places where KKK ( Ku Klux Klan) are very much racist. Thousands of racial  attacks happen in USA every year. Yes, Srinagar is Kashmir but most people in Srinagar city are bilingual while as kids in villages of Kashmir usually speak only Kashmiri during their day to day conversations, but people who I was referring to go to so called Elite schools ( Read Missionary schools) run by Church of North India, established for a specific mission, i.e to spread Christianity. People who studied in these schools know well that Bible was read to them at the morning assembly. The question is why people send their kids to these schools even if their names clearly mention that they are missionary schools. The main reason is the importance these schools give to English way of life, you wear a tie, listen to Bible during the morning assembly, take part in English dramas, speak only English etc. Most of them get jobs because of their good English communication skills as English is the international language. I am not saying it is wrong, but people who want to call themselves real Kashmiris and pretend that they love Kashmir so much that they want their kids who are in USA to stick firmly to their Kashmiri language and culture are fighting a lost war. Why worry about Kashmir now when the main reason for leaving Kashmir was the dislike for this place. I don’t think a real Kashmiri who wants his kids and grandkids to have Kashmiri language and culture in their blood will ever leave their homeland. It is a well known fact that you start loving a thing when you know you have lost it. I am sorry to say that unless your kids get married to people from Kashmir, your wish to keep Kashmir alive in USA is difficult.
Here in USA parents lose the control on their kids when they turn 18 years old, there is no guarantee that they will marry the person you want them to. So Mr Bazaz rather than complaining about Kashmiris not speaking Kashmiri or having a poor standard of life, you should appreciate the courage shown by the people in Kashmir in living their life everyday. A person who spends one day among his people even though he is poor and doesn’t have an i phone or laptops is far better than a person who counts days left for making a short trip to Kashmir to meet people who seem alien to him.
Rabia Shora
USA

Lying vacant 
Apropos your recent story on the ad hocism in various departments of the state, I want to draw your kind attention towards the situation in Fisheries department. Ad hocism in the department prevails for the past six years. No one is interested in the confirmation of the various gazetted cadres of the department. This time, posts of four joint directors, 8 deputy directors, 22 assistant directors and 18 fisheries development officers in the department are vacant. The officers working on these posts are not being confirmed.
Mushtaq Ahmad Peer
Qamarwari Srinagar

Strengthening SHRC
This refers to the rejection of bills to strengthen SHRC. On one hand the government is promising that there will be no human rights violations and on the other it does not consider the recommendations made by the SHRC. And when bills are moved to strengthen the Commission, they are rejected without even having a discussion. When NC was in opposition it was favouring its amendment. But now when it is in power, its leaders are opposing it for unknown reasons. Can the government come clean and explain this double standard?
Riyaz Ahmad
MCA Student, Shopian
darreyaz@gmail.com

Category reservation
It is an appreciable decision by the state government to enforce the implementation of category professional placements in letter and spirit. This bold initiative, which was until now opposed by politicians and bureaucrats, needs to be implemented as early as possible. It may seem difficult initially, but in the long run it is going to benefit people in a big way. It has been so far observed that people at the helm of affairs would misuse this concession for personal interests, much to the dismay of those living in far flung areas.
Inhas Ashraf
B.Tech (5th Sem, I.T)
N.I.T, Srinagar

Studying Kashmir
This refers to the article titled “Studying Kashmir” by Taufiq Wahidi (GK 2 September). The author has made two important demands in his article; that teaching of Kashmir history and Kashmiri language must be part of the curriculum right from the primary school level. If the students of Kashmir are taught history of India, they have every right to know about the history of their own place. One can never make good suggestions or comments on different political issues if one is deprived of knowing about history. Besides science and mathematics subjects, history has an important role to play in shaping the future of children and make them academically vibrant. Let the government of J&K think about the issue and act without any delay.
Waseem Elahi
MCVP 1st year
Varmul

Selfish teachers
This refers to the article titled “Why Insult?” by Bhat Sameer Rashid (GK-03-09-2009). The author has stressed upon maintaining the dignity of teachers and recommended pay-hike for them. No doubt teachers are the builders of a nation and sacrifice their lives to enlighten others, but there are some teachers who have made education a farce. Their only interest is to mint money from the poor students. I think such teachers should be paid less than the deserving ones.
Azeem Mehmood
E-mail
azeemmehmood@gmail.com 

Respect them
This refers to the article titled “Why Insult Teachers?” by Dr. M. Maroof Shah.  Teachers are the persons with versatile talents. They are the pillars of a nation where every pillar has a strong foundation. They are the builders of nation and treasure-houses of knowledge. We must always respect them in whatever the way we can.
Khursheed A Wani
Research Scholar
JIWAJI University, Gwalior, MP

I disagree
This refers to the assertions by Dr M S Khuroo [Do’s and Don’t Message for Rahmadhan] that the use of inhaler during Fasting was allowed. I don’t agree with that. As per the fiqah, use of inhaler for asthma where drug is being used is not allowed.
Aftab Badri
aftabb@rediffmail.com 

Detaining leaders
This refers to the continued detention of pro-freedom leaders by the state government. One wonders what the policy of the government is! Before the elections, different political leaders promised that the political prisoners would be released. But after the elections, more leaders were arrested. Let people take a note of this and understand the intentions of the government.
Owais Majid
Burn Hall School
owais_majid@yahoo.in 

Historical fact
This is in response to a chain of articles regarding Reading Room in Greater Kashmir. I would like to refer to the article by Dr.Chitra Kachru (Sept 2, 09). Except Dr Kachru, none of the writers of these articles had mentioned the fact that late Moulavi Vakeel Sahib later embraced the Bahai Faith.  Dr. Kachru has rightly pointed out this historical fact.
Nemat Sabet
nematsabet2008@gmail.com

Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 Sep 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 6 Sep 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 7 Sep 2009 00:00:00 IST