Historical crisis.

Recalling my years in my high school, I thought about my history curriculum. History is the study of the human civilizations, the actions of our ancestors and the consequences of their actions. Thus, we got an idea how our world was shaped.

I think that I’m doing enough justice if I say “Kashmir was a world in itself”. I firmly believe that most of the scholars who have studied Kashmir would agree with this statement. The excavations of Burzahama, Srinagar; the riverside civilizations in the Himalayan regions, the monasteries of Ladakh and the strategic position of Kashmir on the Silk Route all point to the same idea. The history of Kashmir has glorious as well as shameful chapters. It has the memories of golden days as well as of the days of misery.

My concern is the syllabus prescribed by the JKBOSE which does not mention even a single Kashmiri ruler. The only mention is of Maharaja Hari Singh, one of the most hated monarchs who had ruled this Holy Land. The curriculum is set extraordinarily, the histories of all the major civilizations- Roman, Greek, Mesopotamian, Harrapan and Egyptian. Even the histories of all major revolutions like the Bolshevik, French and American are included. Renaissance and Industrial revolution are discussed thoroughly. In depth study of Indian history is done. The Indian struggle for freedom is discussed twice, in eighth standard and the tenth class. But there is not a single mention of any King or Governor of Kashmir. The only paragraph on Kashmir is about the “accession of Kashmir with India”. There is no mention of any ruling dynasty indigenous to Kashmir. They fail to even mention names like Awantivarman, Rinchen Shah, Zain-ul-Abideen Budshah, and Yusuf Shah Chak. There is no mention of the “Aulia-e-Kashmir” in even a single chapter of the entire course set by JKBOSE. The struggle of the peasantry and the artisans seems to be in vain as their sacrifices are not known. The oppressions of the Sikh’s, Afghan’s and Dogra’s are not mentioned, therefore justifying their excesses. Thus I can say that we are the victims of “Historical manipulation”.

What shocks me more is the failure of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir that ironically is formed by the party that had championed the cause of the oppressed masses during that period to mention the name of the “leader of people”, Sher-e-Kashmir Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the syllabus. The party has ruled for more than four decades now, but they don’t seem to care about their leader. They are not that careless not to glorify their leader but there are other factors that have not let them to do it.

The censorship from the Delhi is one of the major causes. Delhi has been doing the same from past 63 years to assert its claim about the so called “integral part” status of Kashmir. By doing so they try to feed into the minds of young students that the Kashmir region was just a normal outgrowth on of Indian map where the rulers would go for a vacation. The message they want to convey is that this region has a same history as of India and the discussion about Kashmir started only after a bunch of terrorists started killing non-Muslims and began asking for their illegitimate country. The manipulation of the facts is so immense but still they have succeeded in putting forth their version of story because of their ties with the Zionist regimes. They have twisted the history to such an extent that now most of the people just think Kashmir has no history of its own. The younger generation would fall to such trap easily as the issue is getting old and more complex. Like Palestine, the U.N resolutions seem to be a waste of time and paper. The countries are now agreeing upon the unjust 70-30 division of Palestinian land. Thus, legitimizing the illegal occupation of Palestine and murder of the million Palestinians. Same will happen to Kashmir when the people will find it hard to believe the glorious rule of Budshah, the legacy of the Aulia’s and the saints. 

It is the moral duty of the scholars to stand up for truth and defend the history. As a Kashmiri it is our duty to do our own research using books and internet so that we may not be among those who are disowned by their motherland. 

iPad 3 Unveiled.

Tim Cook unveils iPad 3.

Tim Cook delivering the keynote address.

Apple CEO Tim Cook today unveiled the iPad 3, the third generation of the Apple's popular tablet series, the iPad. The iPad was unveiled in San Francisco at 10 am PST. The changes found in this generation are in the screen resolution, the OS and the processor. 












Apple today announced a new iPad 3 to replace iPad 2. The new tablet has a 9.7-inch 'retina display' with 2047 x 1536 pixels and is powered by A5X, a processor with two CPU cores and four GPU cores. The new iPad will go on sale on March 16 with price starting from $499 in the US and nine other countries. The sale in India is belated.

The tablet supports 4G LTE connectivity and HSDPA. However, despite LTE being a more power-hungry technology, Apple said that the iPad would still offer at least nine hours of battery life.

The tablet also comes with an improved rear camera that will be able to record full HD (1080P) videos.
At the event in San Francisco, Apple also announced availability of iOS 5.1, an updated version of the OS that powers iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

"Everyone's been wondering who will come out with a tablet that is better than the iPad 2? Everyone's been wondering this," said Tim Cook "Well, stop wondering. We are."

iPad 3, the third generation of the Apple iPad.

Do schools kill creativity?

I was listening to one of the talks by Sir. Ken Robinson on the topic- “Do schools kill creativity” and I was really compelled by his words to ponder over it. It really made me look back at my past and I found out that he was almost correct. I tried to remember my friends from my school. This made it clear to me that the above statement is correct, correct when we take into perspective the present education system. And this system doesn't just prevail in the subcontinent but even in “developed” countries like the United States.

I tried to remember how the fear of making mistakes in school took over me, until I was completely blank. Only at that time I realized that I have lost it. This usually happens to the majority of the school going children. In schools, the cane always revolves over the head, and this is the death of creativity. For the best of the inventions, there are the most number of failures, take the example of the light bulb. Before Edison came up with tungsten filament, he had tried nine hundred and ninety nine different materials for the filament. But in schools a spelling mistake either costs you a red mark or a lash. Even though the schools boast that separate classes are allotted for arts, but painting is not the only way to express the creativity one has. 

I remember that my was the first one in my city to start what are known as smart classes at the elementary levels, but their effect was rendered useless as soon as the students entered their first grade. The reason was the same old way of finishing up the syllabus to enable the pupils to compete in the cruelest of environment. Survival of the fittest applies only in this field. This competition has led to another “social evil” known as the “play school culture”. Small children are being forced to spend the day with nurses so that they can get an admission in missionary schools. This is the time when they need mother’s love and guidance, but who has time? This is really a tragedy with our society. Those parents are under-qualified for parenthood; Pity them!

Then where is the time for them to learn life and nature. Let them learn at their own pace and according to their abilities. But this is not acceptable to the parents and schools who need a good name in society and ever increasing number of students for admissions. The system we have established is a way of mass producing workers to do daily jobs to run the world, but it lacks the exploration of human abilities and the murder of the aspirations of children. Then it is followed by one of the worst inventions ever made, “examinations”, which I feel is a waste of time and precious trees. People are more knowledgeable than they are able to put on paper. And many times the examiners in their ignorance play an unfair game with the students. This is always a disaster. One cannot judge someone’s know how by looking at the grades. Marks don’t matter in life, but yes due to the current system they play an important role to determine the standard of living. This is another killer of creativity for those who need space to think and learn. 

Even in The Glorious Quran, Allah asks the people to reflect on his signs; “In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are Signs for people of intelligence: those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: "Our Lord, You did not create this for nothing. Glory be to You! So guard us from the punishment of the Fire." (Surah Ali-‘Imran: 190-191). Since we have clear orders from our creator to broaden our outlook and think in a wider perspective, so why is it that we have based our education system on an infinitesimal criteria?

There is an urgent need of changing the system from the one of studying to one that is of learning. This system has led to another disastrous and sinful phenomenon that is known as “suicide”, that claims scores of student lives. The main reason for their suicides is either bad grades or depression caused by the overload of the course material. The pressure from the parents adds to the readings on the barometer. This is a dreadful situation; even though it is the student who has to be blamed for the loss of his/her life but the people who add to the pressure are nothing less than murderers.

It is a high time for the society to realize that “integration and mechanics, political sciences and anatomy, international laws and .net”, are not going to make a society better but it is moral education and a skillful members of society that will ensure a better world. 

Let the schools be a place to think and hone the skills. Let the universities be a place of dialogues and sharing of ideas. Let the unfair examination system be replaced by a better system of continuous evaluation. The world will see a real change. But it is only possible when we overcome the fear of change. I hope this article something to the society to think upon. 

                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                        Abdul