SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2021 DAILY EXCELSIOR, Excelsiordaily Established 1965 Emperor Lalitaditya Muktapida of Founder Editor S.D. Rohmetra Autar Mota MARTAND SUN Lalitaditya established many cities and towns . " If I had sent against you the King of King Lalitaditya built the Martand Sun These could be listed as under:- Kashmir on whose royal threshold the other Celebrations at CRPF alitaditya Muktapida (r.c. 724 CE-760 Temple in Kashmir on the plateau near Mattan 1. Sunishchita-pura. rulers of Hind had placed their heads, who sways CE) was a powerful Kayastha ruler of the town in South Kashmir. The location of the tem- 2. Darpita-pura. the whole of Hind, even the countries of Makran LKarkota dynasty of Kashmir . Kalhana , ple proves the skill and expertise of Kashmiri 3. Phala-pura. and Turan, whose chains a great many noblemen commando's house the 12th century chronicler ,calls him universal artisans of the period. It is said that from this M. A. Stein has identified this place with near and grandees have willingly placed on their monarch or the conqueror of the world, crediting on of the soil and a courageous CoBRA com- temple, one could see the entire Lidder valley present-day Shadipura town in Kashmir. knees." him with far-reaching conquests from Central and the Shikhara of the demolished 4. Parnotsa. The king of Kashmir referred to here is none mando of the CRPF, constable Rakeshwar Asia to shores of Arbian sea in . According Vijeyshawara Shrine near the present-day M. A. Stein has identified this place as pres- other than Lalitaditya. SSingh Manhas was released by Naxal insur- to Kalhana, Lalitaditya defeated King Bijbihara town. The Martand is ent-day town. In her book ' The Penguin History of Early gents from their captivity. The happy news has not Yashovarman of , and then marched to enclosed in a courtyard of columns and arches 5. Lokapunya. India ', Romila Thapar writes this :- only given a respite and relief to the countrymen eastern and southern parts of India. Art historian , forming the covered passage all round it. The M. A. Stein has identified this place as pres- " Kashmir had come into prominence with Hermann Goetz writes that Lalitaditya's kingdom temple has 84 carved pillars many of which lie ent-day Lokabhavana town in the . Lalitaditya of the in the eighth who otherwise are indignantly shocked at the mar- stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in broken. Exquisite images carved on stones were Apart from this, Lalitaditya also built the century , and through gradual expansion and con- tyrdom of our 22 brave hearts on account of three modern day Afghanistan to Assam, Rajasthan, used in the construction of this imposing Sun Muktasvamin shrine at Hushkapura ( present-day quest it had come to control part of north-western pronged treacherous attack in ambush on a patrol , and parts of Central India and even to Temple. King Lalitaditya was a sun worshipper Ushkur ). The shrine had many idols of India and the Punjab.Lalitaditya , ruling Kashmir party of the CRPF by Naxals at Tekalgura - some parts of southern India. Lalitaditya went up and a follower of the Vaishnava cult devoted to made of gold and silver. He also built a large in the eighth century , took his armies briefly into Junagadha village in Chattisgarh but has provided to the shores of the Caspian sea and crossed the worship of Keshva Vishnu. Accordingly, Vihara with at Hushkapura (present day the Plain, and also stopped Arabs forces Pamirs. He marched to Tibet and . many three-faced Vishnu and some Chaturbhuja Ushkur ) . The remains of this Stupa and Shiva from overrunning the Punjab." a tremendous reason of joy and relief to his family Wherever he went, he proved victorious. Vishnu figures were prominently carved on the shrine have also been discovered by archaeolo- Unfortunately, history books have ignored members amidst an element of uncertainty and The art historian , Hermann Goetz writes:- walls of this temple. Most of these images are gists. Kashmir's glorious emperor Lalitaditya even fears in respect of the safety of Rakeshwar " Lalitaditya had to make use of artists from disfigured due to neglect and weathering. A cen- Lalitaditya's queen, Kamalavati established Muktapida. He does not find proper and much- Singh. In the attack by the heavily armed Naxals, wherever he could find them, and in an empire water tank with narrow water channels can be Kamalhatta where she built a shrine that had idols deserved space in our history books. Lalitaditya extending from to the borders of Arab seen on the ground to this day. In the right panel of Kamala-Keshava. Kalhana mentions that brought many skilled artisans , artists philoso- thirty jawans too had been injured besides in search of the eastern wall of the ante-chamber of this Lalitaditya also built the present temple structures phers and scholars to Kashmir wherever he could operations, Rakeshwar Singh was found missing. caliphate and from Central India to the borders of China proper, these artists had needs to be of temple, an image of Aruna ( sun god) carved ele- at Wangath and made huge offerings at the shrine. find them. The ancestors of Abhinavgupta , a For the release of the constable, the insurgents had many nations and traditions. This possibly was gantly was faintly visible when I saw it in 1998. In Kashmir, some more ancient shrines, renowned philosopher and Shiaivacharya, came laid the condition of a mediator by the Government the reason behind heterogeneous styles and ele- PARIHASAPURA and Viharas are also believed to have been built to Kashmir at the invitation of this illustrious Lalitaditya founded the township of during the rule of Lalitaditya Muktapida. king. Al-Biruni mentions a Kashmiri King Muttai ments in Kashmiri art assimilating elements of which was done hence the release without any Parihasapura on a plateau near city . LALITADITYA IN CHACHNAMA OF having defeated Momin, the governor of Gandharan, Gupta, Chinese, and even Syrian- delay. Safe release of the constable, therefore, has This township had many temples with images of SINDH Bukhara. Muttai is most probably Lalitaditya Byzantine origin." turned the otherwise gloomy and apprehensive fam- Vishnu, Shiva, and Buddha. According to the Chach-nama also known as the Fateh-nama Muktapida. Muttai appears to be the Lalitaditya is now accepted as the most pow- verses, 136 to 216 from Taranga fourth of Sindh (story of the conquest of Sindh), and in Apabhramsha form of the word "Muktapida". I ily members into a sort of festivities and celebrat- erful king of his dynasty. He built the largest ing the event. Not only the family members, relatives Kalhana's Rajtarangini (R. S. Pandit 's transla- Arabic as Tareekh al-Hind wa a's-Sind (History of end this brief write up on Lalitaditya with lines empire after Ashoka. He is believed to have driv- tion), the temples in this township complex had India and Sindh) is one of the main sources for the from the poem ' History ' composed by well of the family and neighbours were seen rejoicing en away the Arabs from north-western India and images of Parihaskeshwa, Mukta Keshwa, and history of Sindh in the seventh to eighth centuries known Bulgarian poet , Nikola Vaptsarov. I quote but for that matter, everyone would go in for jubi- conquered 'Tokharistan (North Hindukush) to Goverdhanadhara all done in shining silver and C.E. Written in Arabic and later translated into some lines from the poem:- lation for getting our jawan back, safe and control the international trade routes from gold with a Garuda (an emblem of Vishnu). Persian, the Chach-nama takes its name from Raja "History, will you mention us in your faded Tokharistan to China by repeatedly defeating the unharmed. Further,Verses 201 and 202 from the fourth Chach of Sindh, whose son Raja Dahir stood against scroll? then powerful Tibet. He checkmated China with Taranga of Kalhana's Rajtaringini explicitly men- the Arabs under Mohammad bin Qasim. Chach- For the hardship and affliction The family members who not only were increas- his diplomacy A conqueror, builder , lover of fine tion that 84000 Tolas of gold were used for the nama narrates the Arab incursions into Sindh of the we do not seek rewards, ingly worried and even had protested for his early arts , a tolerant king who commissioned a num- statue of Mukta Keshwa and an equal silver by 7th -8th centuries A.D. It chronicles the Chacha nor do we want our pictures release, perhaps nursing the notion that the ber of shrines in Kashmir, including the now- weight was used for the statue of Parihaskeshwa. Dynasty's period up to the Arab conquest of Sindh in the calendar of years. Government was not doing more for his release, ruined Martand Sun Temple . He also established The statue of Goverdhandhara was also cast in by Muhammad bin Qasim in 8th century A.D. A Just tell our story simply several towns, including a new capital at however, have thanked the Prime Minister, the pure silver. The flattened walls and ruins of the letter written by Raja Dahir of Sindh finds a place in to those we shall not see, Parihasapura. He constructed massive edifices Raj Vihara and the Buddhist Chaitya can be still Chach-nama. There is a passage in this letter that tell those who will replace us - Home Minister and the media. The issue is not what which have challenged the vagaries of time and identified on the ground. makes mention of King Lalitaditya of Kashmir. The We fought courageously. " strategy was employed by the Government in press- stand out even today. Kalhana writes that apart from Parihasapura, particular passage reads this:- [email protected] ing for the release of the jawan but the ultimate results bearing fruits in getting our brave heart released from the ruthless and heavily motivated Naxals so as to join his anguished and worrying J&K needs cement concrete roads family members, is all important and a matter of great relief and satisfaction. We also note that the Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat surface for some months. This landscape shabby. The proper Advantages less fuel consumption by the guarded. Union Home Minister enquired of the released was only a short-lived enjoy- way to reshape the damaged Concrete roads have a long vehicle operating on a concrete Gadkari on concrete roads ew years back while trav- ment as the road got damaged road is to scarify the surface to service life which can last road leads to little pollution as Union Minister for Road eling around Vidharb jawan about his welfare especially on account of his during the January snowfall.The the depth of the between 35 to 40 years whereas well. Bitumen is made from Transport and Highways Nitin region of Maharashtara I six days captivity and talked personally to him too. F use of JCB's to clear the snow depressions.This breaks up all roads made up of Bitumen last imported petroleum products Gadkari in 2017 said all the saw concrete roads being con- It would be no exaggeration to say that the from the road further damaged the compacted surrounding sur- for around 10 years in areas which is the non -renewable roads in the country would be structed in many districts espe- it as it created fissures and face materials. After scarifying with no snowfall , but in a place source of energy. If we con- release of our jawan from the treacherously cold cially in Nagpur division. I converted into cement-concrete cracks on the road surface. Had the material, the Bitumen can like Kashmir or Ladakh where stantly use these products a day to ensure their stability and blooded and stone hearted Naxals was no easy remember around year 2000 the Government invested Rs 30 settle down properly. Cement the temperature drops down to will come when these natural when I was a college student durability. During a function he and smooth job as these ultras, who do not hesi- crore or more on this project, concrete roads cannot be built at sub-zero and there is heavy resources will be finished. On had said that cement concrete tate to kill their own country's security persons for no and happened to go to Mumbai, that would have ensured better all unless the road surface is not snowfall as well the roads get contrary to this concrete I saw cement concrete being roads built 20 years ago in reason or for any cause which they and their some durability of the road. With scarified 2 to 3 feet deep. Thus damaged within 2 to 3 years (cement) is produced from Mumbai are still in good shape used in road construction. bitumen roads, there occurs a abundantly avail- over ground supporters especially from the intelli- Initially I could not believe that but some political leaders, lot of water logging, while with able limestone. bureaucrats and contractors gentsia may hard try to justify, have all along the construction workers were cement concrete roads, the man- Cement factories using cement concrete for road were against concrete roads. proved elusive in their aim, intent and purpose, thus agement of water logging is also lead to air pol- Gadkari said that cement con- construction but after visualiz- much better. The Bitumen roads lution, but in com- continuing with their insurgency though having crete roads would last for 200 ing it myself on famous Cadel are to be laid and repaired again parison researchers been largely contained over the years. They, on the years. The minister was speak- Road , it made me believe that and again almost every year say that concrete ing while inaugurating 'Prawaas one hand feign to complain of social injustice and concrete material can be used after the winter season or post material is still bet- inequality but on the other, are creating every type for road construction as well. monsoon season across India ter than bitumen. 2017'-India International Bus For more than 20 years a ques- owing to the damages incurred Involve Hot- and Car Travel Show in of impediments in the process of development and tion would always come into Mumbai on July 29th 2017. In- opening of schools, hospitals, constructing railway during the season, but cement mix plant owners my mind why the Jammu & concrete roads last long 30 to 40 On the basis of fact Gadkari has ensured con- stations, building roads and electrifying villages as Kashmir Government was not years. initial cost of pave- struction of concrete roads in all these developmental measures are antidote to using cement concrete for road Road landscape ment the Concrete nook and corner of Nagpur as their falsehood and the cause of being trigger construction as the traditional It has now become a trend to Roads are reported he seems to be the biggest pro- Bitumen roads get damaged ponent of these roads. happy. It is not that good sense is not prevailing in blacktop road surfaces without to be around 15 to every year during winter snow- even scarifying the surface. 16 % costlier than Conclusion most of them as they keep on surrendering and join- fall with sub-zero temperature? This has destroyed the road the Bituminous This season's harsh winter ing the mainstream intermittently while most of During last summer a 9 ½ landscape in almost all the areas Roads, but on life taught us many lessons. Most of them are getting killed in encounters but fresh kms road stretch from Bonyar to of Srinagar and major towns. cycle cost basis the our road surfaces in Kashmir Goggee Pathri via Bonen recruitments and getting lethal and sophisticated The boundary walls around res- cement concrete and even in many places in Kutbal in Surasyar block of dis- idential houses located on main roads, due to their have been dam- arms are keeping them still very organised in deep trict was constructed roads look short and shabby concrete roads have this advan- only. During the service life long life of 35 to 40 years and aged . Even roads blacktopped jungles, far off villages, ravines and the like. under PMGSY. Locals told me now as continuous bitumen lay- tage. In J&K we can restore the concrete roads do not require better durability, the concrete last summer have been dam- it was a Rs 14 crore project. I No sympathy for or any type of negotiations with ers have elevated most of the lost glory of roads and sur- frequent repairs or patching roads are estimated to be around aged.Huge waterlogging and could not cross check this as road surfaces. Scarifying is rounding landscape if concrete work like macadamized roads. 25-30% cheaper when com- potholes can be seen every- them can be there as their demands, if any, are nei- PMGSY J&K has no official breaking up hard or compacted road projects are taken up. On The vehicles that run over a pared with Bitumen roads. On where. Jammu & Srinagar cities ther political nor economic and not even social but website nor are DPR's available materials to create enough space pilot basis two stretches have concrete road, consumes 15-20 the long term basis cement con- are messed up due to bad roads. they tame and feed a frenzy and a commitment on the respective district web- for material to settle down. Just been constructed in Srinagar per cent less fuel as compared to crete roads are actually more sites. People were overwhelmed The Government without wast- towards hard core extreme communist ideology placing Bitumen filling material from Iqbal park area to roads made of asphalt -bitumen. economical. To compensate the ing any time must start con- when they saw Bitumen layers on a damaged road surface to Rambagh bridge and around Pir This is because of the fact that a hot-mix plant owners who have coupled with Maoist fascism and, therefore, not in being spread on this village road struction of cement concrete the well established and adopted democratic sys- fill the rutsand potholes is a Bagh area near Police concrete road does not get invested a lot in setting up of roads in J&K so that taxpayer's and road roller leveling the temporary fix. The bitumen Headquarters. I would suggest deflected under the wheels of these plants in J&K, the tem of the country where people choose their own same. Blacktopping of a road money is not wasted every year material does not bind in the the Government take up more loaded heavy vehicles. During Government must involve them on the bitumen roads. Government and decide how to run affairs and surface was happening for the ruts and potholes. This only such projects next financial year the processing of bitumen lots in construction of cement con- first time on this road. People (The author is Founder & Chairman develop areas even at and from gross root levels. increases the height of the road in Jammu , Srinagar and other of toxic gases are emitted from crete roads so that their eco- of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement) enjoyed the ride on this road and makes the surrounding districts. these plants and subsequent nomic interests are also safe- More concerted efforts, as the Home Minister has [email protected] given indications, were bound to give good results in fighting them to surrender and live a normal life or get liquidated in encounters so that this menace is got rid of sooner the better. Empowering Technocrats in Agriculture C M Sharma ernment of India like I.G. Patel, Bimal Jalan, Dr. that in most Governments worldwide, technocrats Good times however seem to have arrived for Problems faced by Man Mohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, are selected to head key departments that require Agriculture Production & Farmer's Welfare ll over the world, people in respective Kaushik Basu, Raghuram Rajan, Arvind Pana- specialized skills and experts. Department now. During the past few months, the Hot Mix Plant Owners departments are recruited at the bottom of gariya and Arvind Subramanian who were lateral It is a matter of satisfaction that in both the current dispensation headed by the Lt. Governor, Athe ladder. From there they earn their pro- hires and brought in new ideas into the system. divisions of Jammu and Kashmir, the UT Govern- Shri Manoj Sinha, his Advisor (Agriculture Pro- wners of Hot Mix Plants in Jammu and motions up to the top in the hierarchy. N.C. Sushma Ramachandran, a senior journalist, ment of J&K has recently appointed technocrats duction & Farmer's Welfare, Horticulture, etc.), Asthana, a retired IPS officer, who had been the Kashmir have raised certain demands hav- advocates for reforms in human resource manage- only to head the Directorates of Agriculture. The Shri Farooq Khan and the incumbent Principal Director General of Police (DGP) Kerala and a ing a direct bearing on their working and ment by greater induction of domain experts into move has been whole heartedly hailed by a cross Secretary (Agriculture Production & Farmer's O long-time ADG CRPF and BSF, has mentioned in specialised areas of governance including the pub- section of the UT population, particularly the Welfare, Horticulture, etc.), Shri Navin Choud- have appealed to the Government to be facilitator an article published by The Wire in February 2020, lic sector. She says, "It would make sense to have farmers and the employees. It is unpropitious to hary appears to have finally embarked on the path like, realistic and responsive to the difficulties faced that "The present New York Police Department technocrats heading ministries like power, tele- note however that there are still the departments of empowering technocrats. The post of Agricul- by them in respect of the new order about construc- Commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, had joined the com, coal and petroleum. Rather than generalist ture Director has been assigned to agriculture police as a patrolman (that is, at the bottom of the of Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, Floriculture, tion material as a result of which they do not get the IAS officers who take time to learn the subject and and many others which have non-technical Direc- technocrats in both the divisions. The Principal ladder) in 1991. He became a sergeant in 1995, a then move on after a few years to another sector Secretary on several occasions has expressed his required material at all. Whatever hurdles, as alleged lieutenant in 1999, a captain in 2003, a deputy tors as HoDs. in fact, such ministries should be declared off-lim- The governments in the erstwhile J&K State intent to settle the HRD issues of Agriculture Pro- by the President of their Association, in the way of inspector in 2008, an inspector in 2010, a deputy its to the generalist officers." She asserts, "…. duction and Farmers Welfare Department at the execution of their works faced by them, need to be chief in 2013, the deputy commissioner of opera- generally demonstrated little seriousness in Agri- domain experts in agriculture and rural develop- culture and Allied sectors by allowing the human earliest. Hopes have naturally grown that hence- tions in 2014, the designated chief of crime con- ment need to be placed in positions of authority forth only the technocrats will head their techni- genuinely removed. resources issues of the gazetted cadre to multiply trol strategies in 2017, the chief of detectives in so that work in these sectors can be carried out cal domains. On the one hand, there is uncontrolled loot of the and let the seniority issues to linger on over the 2018 and the New York City police commission- efficiently." Sushma Ramachandran is emphatic Bureaucracy, undoubtedly at the higher eche- years. Appointments and promotions to the vacant river mineral wealth by unscrupulous people and er in December 2019." that the recruitment for the government needs to lons of power, has a clear mandate to ensure that mafia, on the other hand stone quarrying from pop- We may compare the system with the one pre- focus on those who have the required skills to posts in Agriculture were made on ad-hoc and rule of law is fully adhered to by executing depart- ulated and residential areas troubling the people vailing in various technical departments of our facilitate development and enable a faster pace of purely temporary basis. The mandatory annual ments. It must therefore see that genuine griev- finalization of seniority lists and granting of reg- around and other reasons being behind the own of Jammu and Kashmir growth, not just for the elite but for the common ances of technocrats as well as the target popula- where, quite often, the officers from the 'elite' civ- man." ular promotions to over a thousand of eligible tion are mitigated expeditiously; development Government coming out with certain regulations, il services possessing entirely unrelated qualifica- The e-paper mint commented on the induction gazetted officers at different levels, in accordance schemes and programmes are effectively super- were necessarily going to have some minor short tion with lesser years of service experience are of former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar into the with the recommendations of the Departmental vised and monitored; requisite follow up action is term difficulties in matters of availability of the requi- appointed as HoDs over the heads of well quali- Union Cabinet in 2019 as the Minister for Exter- Promotion Committees/Public Service Commis- taken in time and placement of human resource; site material but the Government needs to look into fied and highly experienced technocrats in respec- nal Affairs as, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sion, has remained hanging in balance for the last and assignment of tasks at different levels is more than three decades; for one reason or the oth- what best could be done to resolve the issues raised tive fields/cadres. overturned perceptions of being anti-technocracy. appropriate. An adherence to discipline will gal- Rakesh Mohan, one of the lateral entrants into For a Government that has been trying to get var- er. The Government has been appointing Heads vanize the entire administrative set up and lead to by the owners of Hot Mix Plants. Availability of the Government in the 1980s, while giving ace to ious domain experts into the ranks of the bureau- of Departments in Agriculture, sometimes from effective and enthusiastic discharge of responsi- material like sand, bajri, stones and at reasonable technocracy, credits the then technocrats in the cracy, this signals an emphasis on expertise as a amongst the bureaucrats and at other times from bilities by the respective technocrats and bureau- prices should be the points needed to be attended bureaucracy like L.K. Jha for being the catalysts criterion over the usual considerations." amongst the technocrats as per convenience, with crats for welfare of all the stakeholders. to by the Government. The other problem, that of within the government for economic reforms. He The Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) in a no concrete HRD policy. Is there anything which (The author is former Dy. Director of Agriculture, Jammu) cites long serving economic advisors in the Gov- [email protected] payment of their pending bills from the Government comprehensive note on technocracy has revealed can't be resolved if the government resolves? too need to be expedited, on merits. (The views expressed by the authors are their personal)