A joyous discovery in a Honda City

Honda's Drive to Discover




Truly, we need to look around our own country to see what it has to offer. And what better way to drive around than in one of the finest cars available? The idea gave rise to Honda's 'Drive to Discover' campaign wherein eight print publications and three television media houses were invited to drive a Honda City from Srinagar to Kanyakumari.



CAR India had the honour to take part in the first leg of the drive from J&K to Punjab. Unfortunately, the recent unrest in Kashmir forced us to shift our starting point to Jammu from Srinagar. A little disappointed, we arrived in Jammu a day before the flag-off and immediately had a taste of the security rules in place there. The entire airport premises are out of bounds for taxi-cabs as well as people waiting to receive passengers unless they have prior permission.



While my Airtel and Docomo refused to catch the network, Sawan's Reliance showed 'emergency calls only'. Pre-paid connections do not work in Jammu. Security reasons once again. Watching men with guns guard the city of temples is an awful sight indeed. What we saw here was that the ordinary man was tired of political feuds and the games played by politicians. All he wants is peace.



Mercifully, the drive thereafter was not all that eventful until Chandigarh, where we had to replace a punctured tyre. Coincidentally, Bhanu, who was driving the backup Honda City, happened to take some other route within the city of Chandigarh and also had a punctured tyre at the same time. It was late evening by the time we reached our destination to finish the first leg of 560 km in the Honda City.

After two decades, Muslim officer to command Srinagar-based 15 Corps

ew Delhi: After a two-decade gap that saw insurgency at its peak in Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim officer is set to command the Srinagar-based 15 Corps that is the nerve centre of the fight against militancy in the state. Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, who is presently commanding the Bhopal-based 21 Corps, is set to take over as the 15 Corps Commander by the end of this year after the incumbent Lt Gen N C Marwah moves on to his next posting.




Lt Gen Hasnain, who has served several stints in the Valley including a recent one as the Divisional Commander at Baramulla, is also the senior-most serving Muslim officer of the Indian Army.

The officer, who is known for his academic leanings in military circles, is the only serving Lt Gen in Army ranks belonging to the minority community and is a second generation Army officer.

Hasnain will be the first Muslim officer to command the 15 Corps after Lt Gen M K Zaki who was in charge of the crucial command from 1989-91. Lt Gen Zaki was also later appointed as the advisor to the Jammu and Kashmir government from 1991 to '93.



Well regarded as an out standing officer, Hasnain has had several stints in Kashmir and has spent a bulk of his over three decades of service in the state. More recently in 2008, the officer was instrumental in maintaining the peace in Baramulla that was badly affected when Jammu and Kashmir was struck by violence over the Amarnath row.

Then a Maj Gen commanding the Baramulla based `Dagger' Division, Hasnain used the concept of what he described as `soft power' to defuse tension by reaching out to the masses.



In his several talks with local leaders, the officer gave his personal example as a Muslim in the Indian Army to drive home the point that the minority community can do well by joining the mainstream.

Besides tackling operational hurdles, the officer has also handled controversies in the Valley and is known to employ a firm hand against malpractices. As a Brigadier in 2004 when cross-border firing was at its peak, the officer was commanding the 12 Brigade that guards the Line of Control at Uri when he conducted a court martial a against a Major who was accused of rape and molestation in the infamous Handwara case. The officer, Major Rehman Hussain of the Rashtriya Rifles, was found guilty and was ordered to be dismissed from the Army.

Source: The Indian Express

Three die in Kashmir violence, toll now 73

Srinagar: Protests and violence continued in the Kashmir Valley on Monday as a protester and a policeman were killed in central Badgam district while a youth died in firing by security forces in Bandipora district, taking to 73 the toll in ongoing unrest in the state.



"A mob attacked a post of the local armed police at Humhama in Badgam district. So, guards opened fire in which one person identified as Gulam Rasool Tantray was critically injured," a police officer said here. "Tantray succumbed to his injuries in the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura (SKIMS)," he added.

In north Kashmir Bandipora, a young man was killed as security forces fired at a mob of protesters. "Nisar Ahmed Bhat, a protesting youth, was killed and another was injured when security forces fired at an unruly mob in Ajas village of Bandipora district today (Monday)," a police officer told IANS here.

img src="http://stbjp.msn.com/i/5E/73FFC1B3C7A7E952696E33F499EE1.jpg" alt="Three die in Kashmir violence, toll now 73" />

Reports said that Bhat and Riyaz Ahmad, the other protester, sustained bullet injuries and Bhat died while being shifted to a Srinagar hospital. In a separate incident in Badgam town, Devinder Singh, a policeman, was overrun by a truck carrying a slogan-shouting mob.

"The injured constable was shifted to Badgam hospital where he succumbed to injuries," a police official said. "The vehicle that carried the constable to hospital was later overturned by another violent mob outside the hospital and set ablaze," he added.



Mobs in north Kashmir Tangmarg town, meanwhile, torched a Christian missionary school, the office of the social welfare department and a police vehicle.

Large crowds also gathered in Shalteng, Ompora, Bemina and other places of Srinagar city, defying round-the-clock curfew imposed here in the wake of widespread violence that followed the separatist march to city centre Lal Chowk, led by moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Eid on Saturday.




Mobs in north Kashmir Tangmarg town, meanwhile, torched a Christian missionary school, the office of the social welfare department and a police vehicle.

Large crowds also gathered in Shalteng, Ompora, Bemina and other places of Srinagar city, defying round-the-clock curfew imposed here in the wake of widespread violence that followed the separatist march to city centre Lal Chowk, led by moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Eid on Saturday.

But as 24X7 curfew continued in major towns of the valley, hundreds of villagers from south Kashmir's Pulwama district took out processions, shouting pro-Quran and anti-America slogans. Such protests also erupted in Shalimar area of Srinagar city.

Locals here said an Iranian television news channel announced late Sunday that a copy of the Quran had been burnt in the US. A pastor in Florida, US, had threatened to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks but later called off the plan.



Pro-Islam and anti-US protests were also held at Humhama, Ompora, Shalteng, Shalimar, Newthead and other places in Srinagar.

An indefinite curfew continued in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley for the second day on Monday.

"Curfew continues to be in force in the entire Srinagar city, south Kashmir's Anantnag, Pulwama, Bijbehera and north Kashmir's Baramulla and Sopore towns. The situation is under control throughout the valley," a senior police officer said here.

Round-the-clock curfew has been imposed for the first time here since the present unrest started June 11.

During the last three months, the authorities would announce curfew or restrictions in vulnerable areas during the day and deployment of police and CRPF were withdrawn with dusk.

"That practice allowed us to buy at least some essentials of life from small shops in the area which would open up for a few hours in the evening. But as the authorities decided to continue with round-the-clock curfew here, nobody has ventured out in our locality," said Abdul Majid, 39, a resident of Bohri Kadal area in Srinagar.

Source: IANS