In this two-part series, Zara Khadeeja Majoka delves beyond the majestic beauty of the Hindu Kush to peek at the people who inhabit this breathtaking yet rugged region. In this section, she describes her journey to Shimshal.

Some curious calculus of meteorology has decreed that the Indus Valley, during its journey through the mountains, is for the large part denied any significant rainfall and so there is very little forestation. As the valley opens up near Chilas, greenery flees altogether and shades of brown reign, bringing even greater attention to the cacophonous blue-green of the river. On both sides of the river, however, side valleys branch off and every now and then a lushly wooded peak far off in a valley looms into view. These are the mysterious valleys of Kohistan, largely impenetrable to most people; their secrets guarded fiercely by the fearsome Kohistani tribes.

Somewhere near Pattan, where the Indus flows through a narrow gorge almost a kilometre below the Karakoram highway, the indecisive haze of the gathering dawn- a motley of blues and pinks backlit by a faint glow- was finally pierced by the somewhat sluggish early rays of the winter sun.

A few months earlier, when I had last met the mighty Indus, it had been over a kilometre wide, flowing silently in shades of grey and silver under a full moon at Dera Ismail Khan. The calm giant there had symbolized life and fertility; its waters had given birth to several millennia of agriculture and civilization. Now, far below, the first light of day revealed a narrow emerald snake caressing the steep sides of the gorge.  This was the Sint’u-ho, the river crossed by pilgrim Buddhist monks from China on their way to visit the seven sacred Buddhist sites in India through Swat and Chitral. Details from the records of a seventh century journey come to my mind; steps were cut into the sheer stone walls of the gorge, side ladders attached and then finally the river was crossed on a hanging rope bridge.

Looking down at the river, even from the enclosed safety of the bus, invites a surge of vertigo. I wonder at those pilgrims making their way on foot all the way from China, crossing the sandy wastes of the Taklamakan Desert, weaving their way through four of the mightiest mountain ranges in the world and then crossing this gushing river bottlenecked in the narrow valley through which I travel. The Indus here is bereft of the life-giving spirit it has in the plains, it is instead another force to contend with in carrying on with the business of living. Thousands of years of defiant human footsteps echo in the valley.

The Karakoram Highway, inaugurated in 1978 to provide a trade route between China and Pakistan also stands in constant defiance of the forces of rock and water as the surrounding mountains angrily send landslides tumbling down upon it throughout the year. And yet the highway finds a way out of every geological curse thrown its way.

Around noon it delivers us to left bank of the Indus across a concrete bridge decorated with small stone Chinese dragons.  Some curious calculus of meteorology has decreed that the Indus Valley, during its journey through the mountains, is for the large part denied any significant rainfall and so there is very little forestation. As the valley opens up near Chilas, greenery flees altogether and shades of brown reign, bringing even greater attention to the cacophonic blue-green of the river. On both sides of the river, however, side valleys branch off and every now and then a lushly wooded peak far off in a valley looms into view. These are the mysterious valleys of Kohistan, largely impenetrable to most people; their secrets guarded fiercely by the fearsome Kohistani tribes.

Afternoon sees us at the town of Chilas, located amidst a desolation and barrenness that at once fascinates and drives a knife into the heart, inducing strange cocktails of emotions. During the 1980s, Kohistan first fell into sectarian strife as powers of Iran and Saudi Arabia clashed in this proxy setting. For years, the hillside across the river has borne the letters SSP in white rocks, proclaiming the town’s support for the banned radical Sunni organization Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. Recently the MQM has joined the strange mix of politics and an adjacent hillside testifies to this. A few kilometres away from the main road of Chilas, the convoy of buses halts.

There is a sit-in protest against a damaged bridge that the government failed to rebuild, we are told. Considering the Chilasis’ propensity towards aggression, it is considered wisest to wait for the protestors to call it a day. We walk out and sit by the stony riverside. Thirty buses line the road and men slowly spill out from them. A splash of colour nearby reveals another four women among the sea of men. A herd of goats amble around and stacks of huge tree trunks honed into logs testify to the fertility of the adjacent valleys. As the scenery pauses, there is time for reflection upon ourselves; a group of fifteen college students off to Shimshal valley to do a mountaineering course. In the stark, humbling wilderness a hint of absurdness attaches itself to the vanity of the idea of attempting to conquer mountains, even as a keen resilience sparkling in the eyes of the local people inspires awe at the ability of man to rise in defiance of the forces of nature.

Late in the evening the protest breaks up and the convoy is on its way again. In the darkness we cross the Indus once again at Raikot- only one of the stone dragons lining this bridge survives, leaving behind us the massive Nanga Parbat, that almost miracle of a mountain unexpectedly soaring to over 8000 metres in orphanage from any other large peak. We passed along Bunji, the only place where it was possible to ford the Indus in the 19^th century; the place from where the first of the British unknowingly crept into the terrific labyrinth of the difficult men and mountains which lay beyond, and the place which became the lifeline of their efforts to subdue the people under their political yoke and harness the wilderness in static maps and data.

In the darkness too the Indus bade us farewell and flowed east while we followed travelled along the Gilgit River and then turned east with the KKH as it hugged the banks of the Hunza. In the late hours of the night, gentle snowflakes ushered us into Karimabad, the capital of the Hunza valley.

The mighty Indus

Nestled in lap of the great Ultar Sar and presided over by the steep precipices of Rakaposhi from across the bank, Karimabad is an idyllic city of terraces, poplars, fruit trees, cobblestone streets and buildings with beautiful wooden carvings. This little eyrie, comprising of the ancient forts of Altit, Baltit and Ganesh, has ever been the seat of the Mir of Hunza, presiding over his little kingdom which historically survived through caravan-taxation (and raids) and slave-selling along the Silk Route as plentiful agriculture was not possible.  With a continuous ruling line since the 11^th century, Hunza remained independent until the British invaded it on a flimsy pretext in the late 19^th century as the empire irrationally feared a Russian invasion during the Great Game.

In the early 19^th century, the Hunzakuts converted to the Ismaili faith, led by the Mir of that time. Renamed in honour of Prince Karim Aga Khan, Karimabad greeted us with a sunny smile that morning as we hunted for down jackets, sleeping bags and other missing pieces of equipment. Boasting a 95% literacy rate, the Ismailis of Hunza were genial and kind and it was almost unwillingly that we bade farewell to this beautiful city and continued up the craggy brown gorge of the Hunza river towards the latest catastrophe the mountain deities had dealt upon the KKH: the Attabad lake, formed by a huge landslide three years ago, which has dammed up the Hunza river and swallowed up several villages and a section of the road. Beyond this lake lay our journey to Shimshal, the geologically inhospitable valley which had been the Hunza’s former penal colony and a home of brigands and robbers eyeing the rich trade of the Silk Route. Hope, wonder, beauty, misery and awe were silently laying their traps to ensure that we wouldn’t return as the same people.

Picturesque Palas Valley in Kohistan. -Photo by author

The recent revenge killings of the three older brothers of the two boys embroiled in the “video scandal” in Palas Valley, has brought the remote region of Kohistan back into the news. The story broke last year, when a video allegedly showing five girls clapping and dancing at a wedding in Kohistan in the presence of the two younger boys was circulated. News began filtering out of the region that the five girls in the video had been murdered on the orders of a tribal “jirga” for “bringing dishonour” to their tribal traditions. Although an investigation was ordered then by the Supreme Court and indeed it looks like they might re-open the case now, it all remains a mystery as to what really happened.

It made me sad to hear this horrific news story for Palas Valley in Kohistan, located half way between Islamabad and Gilgit on the Karakoram Highway, has long been considered a biodiversity hotspot in scientific circles. I feel strongly about this picturesque tribal area because I had the good fortune of visiting it a few years ago through WWF-Pakistan, who then had a field office in the small town of Pattan on the Karakoram Highway (just after Besham). In this region, you find the thickest natural forests left in Pakistan – pine and deodar trees and even Chilghoza trees at higher altitudes.

Palas Valley, its mountain ridges hidden in clouds, lies just opposite the town of Pattan across the Indus River. Due to its inaccessibility, its forests and rivers are undisturbed (there are only a few jeep tracks leading into the valley). Half the valley lies inside the monsoon belt while half is outside and the great range in altitude means that there are a variety of habitats, from sub-tropical to alpine. Upper Palas has pristine forests, home to rare species of pheasants like the Western Tragopan, which was thought to be extinct but was spotted and then captured on film in the valley.

While I didn’t get anywhere close to the Western Tragopan since it is only found in the Upper Palas side which is a good two days trek from Pattan, I did spend three days visiting some of the nearby villages and climbing up to the see the thick forests. No more than 4 per cent of Pakistan’s land mass is today under the cover of forests so to be able to visit the remaining few natural forests is indeed a special experience.

Massive deforestation started in Pakistan in the 1990s and the greatest victims were the conifer forests in the Himalayan belt. The massive earthquake that struck Pakistan’s north on October 8th 2005 resulted in widespread land sliding in the mountains. The land sliding was a direct result of all the deforestation that had taken place in this region and claimed thousands of lives. Villages in Kohistan were badly affected as well – those located near the thick forests, however, were spared the destruction of homes.

Sherakot Village in Palas Valley. -Photo by author

The UN has recently introduced a mechanism for financially compensating countries to reduce emissions from deforestation. It is called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and the goal is to reduce global deforestation by 50 per cent by 2020. While REDD has started in Nepal, it is still in its introductory phase in Pakistan. Workshops have been organised with the Forest Departments to introduce the concept of receiving dividends from the protection of forests. On the way to Pattan, one could see piles of timber lying on the KKH, so clearly the timber mafia is active in this area. A strong REDD mechanism could of course galvanise the government into action. Given the incentive of financial compensation, they might actually think it is worth their while to move against the influential timber mafia and save these old forests.

During my visit to Palas Valley, I met with members of the community based Palas Conservation and Development Federation. Their project was encouraging the locals not to cut the trees by introducing non timber forest products like medicinal plants, fruit orchards, beehives and the marketing of Chilghozas. The aim of the project was to conserve the moist temperate forests of Palas Valley by introducing the concept of managing non timber forest products. The process was slow but word was spreading throughout the valley. The villagers were beginning to realise that they could make more money from these yearly activities than by selling their timber every 20 years.

Cutting timber in Kohistan. -Photo by author

I was told that the people of Palas have always respected their natural environment – for example they consider it unlucky to cut a green tree in spring, but they do have to feed their children as well and Kohistan is a poverty stricken region where jobs are rare and every day is a struggle for survival. People own small plots of terraced land and basically live off what they can grow. Many men go in search of work to Karachi and other large cities.

The mountain people, with their tall physiques and rugged good looks have survived for centuries in this harsh albeit beautiful environment. Unfortunately, feuds are common in the area and almost every grown male carries a gun. Most homes have watchtowers from where they can guard their property. Feuds are over land and women – and can last for generations. The women are not allowed to mix with the men and have to veil themselves, although they work hard in the fields and have to walk for miles to fetch fire wood and spring water.

I remember asking one of the local men, “why the need for all this feuding? Your lives are so tough already”. His haunting reply was, “We are human, not animals, we only pick up our guns and use them when we have to”. From the accounts that I have heard of those five women, I’m afraid, that may not be the truth.

The writer is an award-winning environmental journalist based in Islamabad, who also covers climate change and health issues. She can be reached at rinasaeed@gmail.com

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

Training:  DIBELS Next: Analysis and Implications for Instructional Matching within a Tiered System of Support

• Dates:
  • March 21, 2013 at PaTTAN Harrisburg
  • March 22, 2013 at PaTTAN Pittsburgh
  • April 4, 2013 at PaTTAN King of Prussia
•  Times:  8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
• Presenters will be PaTTAN Educational Consultants.
• Hours: Act 48 Hours available.

Description:
This workshop will provide DIBELS Next adopters with the opportunity to practice data analysis and interpretation using the DIBELS Next reports. Teams will discuss implications related to core and supplemental instruction and intervention, further assessment and professional learning.  Please note:  This training is designed for small group participation, so seating is limited.
Registration Information:
You may register directly on-line by visiting www.pattan.net and entering the Registration On-line page.

• For Content Related Information and Questions please call Jen Lillenstein at 800-360-7282 ext. 3429 or jlillenstein@pattan.net
• For General Registration Information and Questions please call Marie Strobel at 800-360-7282 ext. 3101 or mstrobel@pattan.net

Directions to trainings:

• PaTTAN Harrisburg:
• http://www.pattan.net/category/About/Offices/Location/?office=1
• PaTTAN Pittsburgh:
• http://www.pattan.net/category/About/Offices/Location/?office=3
• PaTTAN King of Prussia:
• http://www.pattan.net/category/About/Offices/Location/?office=2

Planning and Implementing Instruction for Students With Complex Support Needs in General Education Classes

• December 6, 2012
• 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

• PaTTAN-King of Prussia
• PaTTAN-Harrisburg
• PaTTAN-Pittsburgh

As IEP teams consider the special education supports and services for students with complex support needs, a firm understanding of the general education curriculum as well as effective instructional practices are critical. During this training session, participants will be provided with the foundational knowledge, skills and resources necessary for the planning, implementation and assessment of effective instruction for students with complex support needs in general education classrooms.  Participants will be provided with a framework that outlines the process for planning and implementing instructional practices aligned to grade level standards, of which  assessment is a component.  Skills will be practiced and assessed utilizing student profiles.

Target Audience:  
Include Me from the Start Consultants, general educators, special educators (teams of general and special educators are encouraged); speech language pathologists, school administrators, paraprofessionals, agency staff, related service providers; families, and others interested in this topic

Presenters:  PaTTAN Educational Consultants

Registration Information:
Please register for this event by visiting our homepage at http://www.pattan.net.

For content questions, please contact:

• King of Prussia:  Debbie Brown, dbrown@pattan.net  800.441.3215, x7244
• Harrisburg:  Susan Spadafore, sspadafore@pattan.net, 800.360.7282, x3409
• Pittsburgh:  Jeannine Brinkley, jbrinkley@pattan.net, 800.446.5607, x6878

For registration questions, please contact:

• King of Prussia:  Debra Jordan, djordan@pattan.net, 800.441.3215, x7224
• Harrisburg:  Wendy Weary, wweary@pattan.net, 800.360.7282, x3323
• Pittsburgh:  Paula Quinn, pquinn@pattan.net, 800.446.5607, x6880

Inclement Weather:

• To learn the status of these events due to weather-related conditions, call your local PaTTAN office after 6:30 am on the morning of these events.  A recorded message will follow the greeting.
• Harrisburg – 800-360-7282 (PA only) or 717-541-4960
• Pittsburgh – 800-446-5607 (PA only) or 412-826-2336
• King of Prussia – 800-441-3215 (PA only) or 610-265-7321

Good morning everyone,
Due to the damage from the hurricane, PaTTAN KoP remains closed.  There is no power and systems are down preventing us from working out of the office.

Donn Salkin has asked me to inform you that the meeting scheduled for Friday, Nov. 2nd at IU 21, is cancelled.  Could you please leave a message for the TaC, particularly if your office is closed as well?

Donna will contact you with a new date as soon as possible.  It is our hope that we will be able to open tomorrow, Nov. 2nd.  Check our main office phone for future closure messages:  610 265-7321.  If you need to contact me, my home phone is 610 933-0433.

Thank you so much and have a greast day!
Monica Maiese (mmaiese@pattan.net)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education is pleased to announce the following training webinar series:
Title:  Quality Educational Practices: Students with Higher Functioning Levels of Autism Spectrum Disorder

When:

• December 5, 2012-Session #1
• January 30, 2013-Session #2
• February 27, 2013-Session #3
• March 27, 2013-Session #4
• April 3, 2013 – Session #5

Location:  Online Webinars
Time: 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM

Description:
This five part webinar series will cover the basic principles of providing effective instruction for students with High Functioning Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. The series will cover a range of topics including basic educational strategies and tactics for addressing the academic needs of students with High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Disorder, social skills instruction, successful team work and instructional practices to promote effective inclusive practices, and methods of assuring fidelity of interventions for these students as well monitoring progress through measurement.

Participants must be registered for these trainings before the first webinar, and must join all webinars from their own computer if any credits or certificate of attendance is requested.
Participants must also commit to attend all five webinars and complete a survey at the end of the last webinar.

• No Act 48, BACB credits or certificate of attendance will be issued until after the final webinar and completion of the evaluation.

Presenter:  William L. Heward, Ed.D., BCBA-D
Credit: Act 48, BACB, PSYCH

You may register directly online by selecting your training on the Training Events Calendar at: http://www.pattan.net/category/Training/Calendar/

Content Related Information and Questions:  Mike Miklos at mmiklos@pattan.net  or 800-360-7282 ext. 3109
General Registration Information and Questions: Sue Cartwright  at scartwright@pattan.net  or 800-360-7282 ext 3431

Please note this announcement is being resent due to a change in date of the first webinar.

Police Register Case, Start Investigation

MANZOOR-UL-HASSAN,  Greater Kashmir

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Online floral delivery service is the best way to send flowers. Online booking of flowers is easy to use. You can book from anywhere at any of your convenient time. You do not have to rush to the florist the last minute you choose to give flowers. Therefore ordering flowers online is the most practical option as it gives you the chance to select what you want with ease and has the capacity to send them across to your special someone.

http://www.flowersfloristsgifts.com can deliver flowers,cakes,chocolates and gift items to over
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The Paraprofessional in Education program is designed for people who are currently working as paraprofessionals in educational settings or those who desire to do so. Examples of paraprofessional jobs include library assistant, classroom aide and special education assistant.

The grant will enable the College to expand its paraprofessional curriculum by embedding Pennsylvania’s special education standards of competency into the existing program. The College’s full-time and part-time Education faculty will also receive professional development training about the standards and will learn strategies for embedding those competencies into their curriculum.  As a result, the all of the College’s Education graduates will be better prepared to meet the needs of special education students in the classroom setting.

Click here to read the full press release.

Major cities database cover under Jammu and Kashmir Email database India, Jammu and Kashmir email id, Jammu and Kashmir email addresses database are as below:
Achabal, Akhnoor, Anantnag, Arnia, Awantipora, Badami Bagh, Badgam, Baramulla, Bari Brahmana, Basgo, Bashohli, Batote, Beerwah, Jammu & Kashmir, Bhaderwah, Bijbehara, Billawar, Bishnah, Charari Sharief, Chemrey, Chenani, Dafdar, Dangiwacha, Doda, Dras, Duru-Verinag, Ganderbal, Gho Manhasan, Gorah Salathian, Gulmarg, Hajan, Handwara, Himank, Hiranagar, Jammu Cantonment, Jammu tavi, Jourian, Jyotipuram, Kalusa, Kaprin, Karen Village, Kargil town, Kathua, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, Khalatse, Khan Sahib (Jammu and Kashmir), Khanbal, Khour, India, Khrew, Kishtwar, Kud, Kukernag, Kulgam, Kumar (Jammu and Kashmir), Kunzer, Kupwara, Lakhenpur, Leh, Likir, Magam, Manzimpara, Mattan, Jammu and Kashmir, Munawar-abad, Nohata, Nowshehra, Padum, Pahalgam, Pampore, Parole, India, Patnitop, Pattan, Baramula district, Poonch, Pulwama, Qazigund, Rajauri, Ram Garh, Ramban (Jammu and Kashmir), Ramnagar, Udhampur, Ranbir Singh Pora, Rangdum, Reasi, Rehambal, Rizong Monastery, Samba, Jammu, Shey, Shupiyan, Singhpur (Jammu and Kashmir), Srinagar, Sopore, Spitok, Stok, Sumbal, Jammu and Kashmir, Sunderbani, Talwara (Udhampur district), Thak Thog, Thanamandi, Tingmosgang, Topa (Jammu and Kashmir), Tral, Udhampur, Uri (India), Vijay Pur, Jammu and Kashmir, Zangla, etc. and many more.

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EMAIL :- amit99980@gmail.com

This article was published in The News on Sunday (TNS) as ‘Mountain magazine resort’, on the Footloose page, Dec 20, 2009 for a special issue on conference tourism

Not just hot air

Himal Southasian, Feb 1998

There are conferences and there are conferences. Some organisers lure participants with travel and daily allowances and fancy hotels at exotic locales. Others rely on goodwill and commitment. If it’s the latter, it helps to be located in an exotic place anyway — like Kathmandu. It also helps if the organisers are professional colleagues for whom you have the highest regard.

These last two factors contribute to my ‘favourite’ conference being one that took place in Kathmandu in early 1996. The man behind it was Kanak Mani Dixit, whom I had met at an earlier South Asia conference about water resources organised by Panos some years ago. Kanak had decided to turn his ‘mountain magazine’ Himal into a Southasian venture (there is a reason Himalers write ‘Southasian’ as one word – for an explanation see the published magazine or the Himal Southasian website.

So Kanak got together a few journalists from around Southasia to meet and brainstorm on this venture. He put Mitu Varma from New Delhi (who later became Country Representative in India for Panos South Asia) and myself up at the Third World Guest House in Pattan, one of the five ancient kingdoms around Kathmandu that are conserved as World Heritage sites.

Himal Southasian, cover June 1996

Kanak and his brother Kunda Dixit (my former editor at InterPress Service, who now runs the Nepali Times) lived with their families in houses just outside Patan Dhoka (the main Patan entrance or ‘darwaza’) in a large compound. It contained several buildings, all family property. They could have knocked these down and built a high-rise plaza to get rich quick as so many in Kathmandu were doing. But they have different values. Kanak’s father, a respected writer, named Kanak’s son, Elam, as in ‘ilm’, knowledge.

They had a printing press for their Nepali magazines and Himal in the old ‘buggy house’. The magazines shared an office in a building at the entrance of the compound. The printing press was later moved out and the space converted into a watering hole for Kathmandu’s artists, journalists and activists – Dhokaima, a café, gallery and conference centre.

The Third World Guest House where Mitu and I shared a room was sparse, but clean and comfortable. We had a great view of the main Pattan square, overlooking an ancient temple. It was incredibly colourful and photogenic (still is). We would have a light breakfast then walk through Pattan to the Himal office for our meetings. The rooftop terrace was a great place for an evening reception one evening. The icing on the cake: the unforgettable hot air balloon ride over Kathmandu, landing near Bhaktapur, another ancient kingdom.

– Beena Sarwar

Kacsázni. (Amélie)

(A Stone’s Throw by staciei)