PERIOD OF NORMALCY

Period of Normalcy

Peace Movements put the cart back

Bhalessa- off shooting high where the skies are the limits. During the tumultuous days the area witnessed migration of the people from Khaljugasar to Chamba District of himachal Pradesh. The area engulfed under the terror attacks on common hindus and muslims, Children and women, elderly and innocents. The atrocities on the part of Indian soldiers were not less in number. The people ware harrased and some killed by militants and Indian soldiers, but no human rights Organization seemed to probe the atrocities of the people of this terrain.

                                                                                                                                                                            Bhalessa a hilly town in Bhalessa and National political mafia has been emerged from this fertile land. The immediate peace in the region might be due to the several indirect and direct reasons. It may be due to the wide spread of education in the area or extensive campaign for Peace in the area.

                                                                                                                                                                            There were and are several forces which help maintain peace and other forces which ensure the roots of nefarious designs by the chavinsits and fundamentalist leaders.

                                                                                                                                                                            As far as democratic set up is concerned, some public and scholarly circles opine that peace came owing to the representation of the area by Ghulam Nabi Azad in the last regime. Azad sahib was ardent of secular values and envisaged the same in these backward belts.

                                                                                                                                                                            Moreover, some NGOs at work has had initiated a mass movements to dessiminate the massage of peace in the area. One of these NGOs is National Students Welfare Association (NSWA) which launched “G R Azad Peace Mission” headed by Mr. Sadaket Malik and others. The initiative got support form all the people and other political and Non political organizations of the state.  The movement was galvanized by local District and Tehsil administration of Bhalessa.

                                                                                                                                                                            On June 15,2003 a mass scale Peace rally was organized by the above NGO in which more then 3000 people of Bhalessa pledged to work and ensure peace and brotherhood in this otherwise hilly hamlet which was a prey of fissiparous tendencies.

               The area revealed mobalization of youth by the insurgency. Those who not supported the nafirious designs were bound to face a bullut of gun. As is evident from the assassination of Dr. Mujib-Ur-Rehman of Bhalessa who served as first research scholar of the area from India’s  Alligarh Muslim University.

For the last two years, things began limping back to a semblance of 'normality' in the Doda including Bhalessa. The number of killings registered a rapid decline. Long spells of curfew were done away with. As were the army checkpoints that had come up at every kilometer or so on the road connecting Bhalessa with Doda and Jammu.

There were of course so called peoples leaders over here before, but till date the youth activists tried their level best to eliminate the empty slogans perpetuated by them. They had  zikr-e khuda (the name of God) on their lips, but their hearts were  empty of fikr-e khuda (remembrance of God”).

But at the same time as communal identities have become increasingly polarised, large numbers of Hindus and Muslims still privately insist on the need for cordial relations and do their own bit in that regard in their own ways: Jointly demonstrating against the slaughter of innocent villagers in a remote village,

Besides walls of suspicion strong ties bind other Hindus and Muslims and have halted the complete polarisation of the populace. This is something that I've been attempting to study since long. A township well knitted by historical kalgoni temple managed by Sanathan Dharam Sabha Bhalessa. The people in community social work, Aman Committees of hindu and Muslim populace presents a very interesting picture and reveal the massage of brotherhood.  Kalgoni Temple nestled with village Kilhotran is located on the Kalgoni stream in Bhalessa. The stream is paviter in the sense that the devotees of all areas of the erstwhile dirstrict visit Dharamshalla of the Kalgoni in this improvised area of the state.

                                                                                                                                                                            The temple organize an annual festivals like of Baisakhi, Navratra, Dussehra, Holi, Deepawali as a Joint venture programme felicitated by both the communities inhibiting here.

People are busy in pooling resources to rescue people trapped in an avalanche or injured in a road mishaps, or simply pointing out that true religion teaches love and that, as the tired clichés go, 'God is one' and 'Everyone's blood is red.

Bhalessa terrain surrounded by Mosques, Temples; ancient Hindu places DURGA MATA CAVE in Khaljugasar, and MEHLWAAR, Kalgoni Temple and Jamia Masid’s are realy a great mortars for cementing this age old tradition of living with peace and  botherhood.  A fair is held at Kalgoni Temple in the month of Bishakhi where the local Muslims and Hindus celebrate the same as a common venture. Holy places could be promoted to conduct the tourists to historical places like Kalgoni Temple as well as in other village temples.Jamia Masjid Changa  and Kalgoni temple are historical one, The ties between two communities has had maintained owing to such monumental holy places of hindus and muslims. The Markzi jamia Masjid is managed by Bhalessa Tameeri Committee while as Kalgoni Temple is excuted by Sanathan Dharam Sabha. Here is an Aman Committee aims at creating peaceful environment in the terrain. The committee has played a key role during termoil. Both the communities pledged to live and protect one an other from nefarious designs.

There are secular hindu leaders, as well as secular muslim leaders who represent their own communities in line with the religious guidelines. On the eve of ID, Deepawali, Holi, Ramadan people are hosting function for each other. It will be wrong for my efforts if will not mention here the names of secular epitomes of Bhalessa.

 I mention here names of respectable front runners of hindu muslim unity which include Neel Kanth Parihar, Alhaj Mir Munwar Din, Alhaj Ghulam Hussain Bhall, Alhaj Mohd. Din Mir, Alhaj Mohd. Shrief Mir, Mohd. Shafi Matoo, Alhaj Gul Mohd. Mir, Ghulam Hussain Malik, Ghulam Nabi Ahangar, Ghulam Rasool Chogani, Daleep Singh Parihar (President of Sanathan Dharam Sabha) Sh. Amar Chand (BJP Leader), Abdul Kareem Rather, Ch. Abdul Quyoom, Charanjeet Lal  Kotwal, Kiker singh Manhas