Tag Archives: Nissar Ahmad – Photograper

Municipal councillor, injured in Sopore militant attack, dies

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Martyrs of the Nation, , , , , ,

Sophore,( KASHMIR ), JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Family members mourn as people carry the body of Riyaz Ahmad a Block development Council ( BDC) member who was killed in a militant attack, during his funeral procession, in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, 29 March 2021. Another municipal councillor, Shams-ud-Din Peer, who was injured in a militant attack on Monday in north Kashmir’s Sopore succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.   | Photo Credit: NISSAR AHMAD

So far, two councillors and a policeman have died in the incident

A municipal councillor injured in a militant attack on Monday in north Kashmir’s Sophore succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, taking the toll to three.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said the policemen guarding the councillors “failed to retaliate to the fire of militants”.

The councillor, Shams-ud-Din Peer, who had suffered multiple bullet wounds, succumbed to his injuries at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital in Srinagar during the night, officials said.

Apart from Mr. Peer, another councillor and a policeman have been killed in the Sopore attack.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kumar admitted that the four personal security officers (PSOs) guarding the councillors “failed to timely retaliate and foil the attack”.

“There has been a security lapse. Had the four PSOs retaliated, the militants would not have succeeded in their efforts,” he said.

Four suspended

All the four policemen have been suspended after the incident.

He said there was no additional deployment made because the Municipal Committee chairman, Sopore, “had not informed about the meeting”, targeted by the militants later.

The IGP said an overground worker of the militants had been arrested. “The arrested youth has revealed that the attack was planned by a local Lashkar-e-Taiba and a foreign militant,” he said.

Mr. Kumar has asked all vehicles plying in J&K with non-J&K registration plates to register within 15 days with the transport authority of the Union Territory. “Militants were using such vehicles to target the security forces,” he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Peerzada Ashiq / Srinagar – March 30th, 2021

Kashmir’s papier mache art: Pulp fiction

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , ,

JAMMU & KASHMIR :

PaperMacheMPOs12nov2018

Kashmir’s papier mache art is a story in itself.

The credit goes to the Shia community of Kashmir for keeping alive papier mache art — colourful, exquisite, highly decorative and delicate — in the Valley since the 14th century. “This wealth has been handed down to me by my father who inherited it from my grandfather and so on. The colours and the shapes we carve from paper is what adds meaning to our lives,” says Zahid Rizvi, 40, a papier-mache artisan at Zadibal in Srinagar.

Over the centuries, the Shia community, now forming about 14% of the Valley’s population, has been perfecting the art. Historians believe that papier mache became popular as an art in the 15th century. Legend has it that a Kashmiri prince was sent to a jail in Samarkand in Central Asia, where he acquired the fine art, which is often equated with patience and endurance. The Muslim rulers of India, particularly Mughal kings, were fond of this art and were its patrons.

The process begins with soaking waste paper in water for days till it disintegrates and then mixing it with cloth, paddy straw and copper sulphate to form pulp. The pulp is put into moulds and given shape and form. Once it dries, the shape is cut away from the mould into two halves and then glued together. It is polished smooth with stone or baked clay and pasted with layers of tissue paper. Now, it is completely the baby of an artisan. After applying a base colour, the artisan draws a design. The object is then sandpapered or burnished and is finally painted with several coats of lacquer. The art got a major boost from the government in 2016, when the Nawakadal girls’ college in Srinagar introduced it in the craft curriculum. Saleem Beg, who heads the Kashmir chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, believes the future of papier mache lies in elaborate murals.

(Text by Peerzada Ashiq and photos by Nissar Ahmad)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by Peerzada Ashiq & Nissar Ahmad / November 11th, 2018