POONCH: The ‘Mini Kashmir’ of J&K

                                                                       

                                                           

POONCH town somewhat enjoys the monopoly to stay always in news for two different and opposite reasons. Firstly, it being a border town of Jammu and Kashmir Pakistan troops keep on firing on our soldiers and in retaliation our armed forces never hesitate offer the befitting and proper rebuff. Sometimes the encounters like one very recently these Pakistani troops in heavy Motar-firing killed three Indian soldiers with one soldier’s body badly mutilated causing a lot of provocation to our troops and civilian population.

Secondly, the town, POONCH is also tagged with yet another disadvantage due to high intensity terrorist activities in and around the area and this too widely contributes to defame one of the most scenic places of J&K keeping it in hot news very frequently. The terror outfits indulge in regular strikes resulting encounters where these militant groups always attempt to register their existence through multi-faceted terror-strikes and killings.This time very fortunately the town of POONCH subscribed an excellent an very prestigious news to share with its others people with its four boys selection to the country’s most prestigious four institutions Indian Institute of Technology which took no time to spread like a wild fire around the town.

Everyone was caught saying, “God bestowed a great change” to push POONCH, the ‘Mini- Kashmir’, of Jammu and Kashmir to the new heights of prominence in the previous academic session four boys from the district got admission in the IITs.. People close to them were aware about these meritorious and hardworking boys but it ultimately broke out once the IIT results were made public. These boys were very sincere and honest in their studies and efforts to performed superbly in the IIT test which in return ensured these Gujjar Muslim boys excellent grades in all the subjects carving out a very special place for them as well as the town to move away from other negatives co-competitors where the news is always rich enough otherwise in gun fires being close to the borders with Pakistan. Furthermore, it was highly surprising for one and all that they were taken aback over the town’s attempt to supersede all other districts of the state this time to reach atop the peaks of performance.

The four young boys Shahid Afridi, Aqib Mujtaba 18, Usman Hafiz 17 and Hilal Ahmed 19 all from village Kalai, Poonch with the academic brilliance ensured their entrance into four different IITs in the country otherwise earlier the Poonch was a known ‘battleground’ for two armies, Pakistan and India and a recognized place for terror near our borders till now. These boys literally with their brilliant success managed to take POONCH to great excellence recognizing the departure of the town from gun culture to a different horizon. The youths, Shahid made his entry in Computer Sciences in IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Aqib in Mechanical engineering in IIT Bhubaneswar, Odissa, Usman in Electrical engineering in IIT Delhi and Hilal in Computer Science, Patna Bihar. 

The boys quite appreciably credit their success to enter the different IIT’s in the country for being on this side of the border. Further, among these youth, one was handpicked by a NGO and sent to Rajasthan to prepare for IIT with other two joining coaching classes independently in Delhi. The parents too feel very proud of their children and reaffirm that the town made a considerable progress since Independence. Everybody is sanguine to witness further development in the future years to come. Once, anyone intends to know the Poonch in a more better way it will be really appropriate to have more knowledge about the origin and historical aspects of the town.   

POONCH is well known for the gorgeous beauty, serene water and sport’s bodies which have helped it to earn the distinction to be known as the ‘Mini-Kashmir’ of Jammu and Kashmir. The POONCH is separated by gigantic Pir Panchal ranges with one of the highest peaks ‘Tatakuti’ well bestowed with snow covered peaks, lakes and waterfalls thus presents a tremendous panoramic view and natural heritage of the area.

Origin of Town

POONCH, originally known as Printus, is smallest district of Jammu spread over an area of 1674 sq. kms and a very prominent border town of the state. It is criss-crossed by mountain ranges some touching 10,000 feet in height. The district consists of four tehsils- Poonch, Menhdar, Surankote and Mandi – stretched to an area of over 1674 sq. kms out of which 951 sq kms offer the green belt covered by afforestation chiefly the mountain terrains and trees. There are about 189 Panchayats in the district. The two districts of Kashmir–Srinagar and Baramulla fall in the north-east of Poonch, Jammu in its South, South-east and the area to its north-west is presently under the illegal occupation of our neighbouring country, Pakistan.

Though, the climate varies from place to place, the region is generally hot in summer with the temperature touching about 40 degree centigrade in the low lying areas. Winter is pleasant with mercury sometimes dipping to minus -2 degree centigrade. The region has the highest average annual rainfall of about 70 inches.

Empress was Impressed

Surankote, in Poonch town, is the most natural beauty spot offering an enchanting view of the mountain ranges. The is a waterfall Noorei-Chamb is about 15 kms from the Town. It is said that Empress Noorjahan was fascinated by the wonderful fall which was later named after her. Mandi is the most picturesque place in north-east of the town and Kaldachami, Mansar and Nandankar are three lakes in the Girjan Dhok region of the district. The approach to the lakes is possible along hilly zig-zag tracks only.  The Poonch district has for long been the pilgrimage centre for Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Gurudwara Nagal Saheb, founded by Bhai Mela Singh, a great saint of his times is situated about five kms from the town. Muslims perform their prayers in Jamia Masjid besides the other small mosques. The Rajpura village, some 16 kms away from Poonch, occupies the Budha Amarnath Temple made of solid stone. Thousands of pilgrims visit the temple on the day of Raksha Bandhan every year.

 Down History Lane

Poonch district was raided by Pakistani infiltrators who occupied all the four tehsils in 1947. These remained under the siege of Pakistan for a year or so. But the brave people of this region later helped the Indian armed forces to regain these tehsils from enemy possession. The historical background of the place explains that the region was for long held by Raja Moti Singh, a cousin of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. About 40 years ago later, the town was wrested by the Dogra brothers under Maharaja Randhir Singh from Raja Mir Khan (1713), the hereditary rule (1819-1846). And thereafter, it became into the possession of Raja Dhyan Singh who descended both his sons Jowahir Singh and Moti Singh (1850-1892). Moti singh gained the grace of Gulab Singh and received grants on the condition of allegiance and fidelity because it was given as jagir by the then Maharaja. Raja Baldev Singh followed Raja Dhyan Singh and was then succeeded by his son Raja Sukhdev Singh. Misfortune struck because Raja Sukhdev had no sons. The Maharaja therefore appointed Khan Bahadur sheikh Abdul Qayoom as administrator.

Politically Sensitive    

The Population of Poonch town is well above 2,22,323. It consists of Muslims around 2,00,000 calculating about 90% of the town’s population, Hindus are roughly 15,000 nearly 6.8%, Sikhs 7300 just 3.3%, Buddhists, Rajputs and Christians who speak Kashmiri and Dogri besides Pahari and Punjabi are very much in the town. The district is located near the line of actual control and as result the people in the region are politically sensitive. The local produce of foodgrains, vegetables and other essentials commodities under the required level hence brought in from other regions of the state. Besides a degree college there are about two hundred primary and secondary educational institutions and also a teacher’s training school in the town.

There were hardly two dispensaries before Independence as compared to the two a dozens of dispensaries, a 25-bed hospital, three primary health centres, ten allopathic health centres, five Unani and four Ayurvedic dispensaries functioning in the district today.  A sheep farm is expected to be set up at Balakote soon.  About 4000 acres in the district yield over 45,500 quintals of fruits annually. Recently, farms and nurseries have been laid which supply saplings of almonds, walnuts, oranges, apicots and apples to the farmers in the region. But there is still tremendous scope for  more development in region in years to come. Surankote and Mandi have been developed as the tourist resorts to improve the economic resources of the town. And the town itself could be connected by road to the main valley of Kashmir through the Gulmarg range. This will not only lessen the town’s sense of isolation but will also bring about general economic and political stability in the district.