Ajay Raina

Jammu city is witnessing rapid transfor-mation in its texture. It is expanding horizon-tally as well as vertically. The city is also wit-nessing coming up of malls and high risebuilding. In this backdrop, the old city whichwas once a centre of attraction for people islosing its historical significance, glory andgrandeur. The city know for its old architec-ture and historical building, business activity,religious places, street vendors, and foodjoints is slowly being deserted by its resident,shoppers and employees as a number ofcomplex civic problems have cropped up dur-ing the course of its growth.

The Old Jammu City is spread on a widearea and is home to various colonies whichinclude Rajinder Bazaar, Khadeka Talaab,Malhotra Mohalla, Kanak Mandi, City Chowk,Link Road, Raj Tilak Road, Pahadi Mohalla,Partap Garh Mohalla, Pakki Dhakki, ChowkChabutra, Lakhdatta Bazaar, Moti Bazaar,etc. But with the passage of time owing to thedrastic upsurge in the population graphresulting in non availability of basic amenitiesthe Old Jammu City is witnessing a silentmigration of people for years together.

The Old City markets once famous as busi-ness hubs of the Winter Capital, have losttheir sheen as customers seldom visit herefor marketing due to its narrow and dingylanes.

Among a multitude of problems one thatstands out is that local people have madeencroachments of its roads and lanes with theresult the city has become so congested that

nowadays it is impossible to take a round ofthe City even on a two wheeler.

The already hellish condition of the City isbeing compounded by the road side parkingby the people. This results in constant trafficjams and pollution.

Apart from this, the old structures con-structed years ago have crossed their lifespan and need immediate renovation but areleft abandoned which are hanging swords onthe heads of the people living in this portionof the City as they can collapse anytimeresulting into any catastrophe.

The City was has rich heritage sites whichincluding Mubarak Mandi, Raja Mandi,Peerkho Temple, Raghunath Temple,Rameshwar Mandir, Khadeka Talab Masjid,Ranbir Higher Secondary School etc wereonce main attraction of the city and used toattract tourists.

But these sites have now fallen on baddays due to apathetic attitude of the StateGovernment and other authorities responsi-ble for their upkeep and management, withthe result the number of tourists visiting therehas decreased drastically and it in turn hasgiven a setback to business in the City due towhich many shopkeepers have shifted theirbusiness establishments from to outskirtswhile others are also thinking on the samelines.

People while talking about the reasonswhich brought the "Old Jammu City" to thisugly situation say both the inhabitants of thearea as well as Government have failed intheir prime duty in preserving and maintain-ing the glory of Old City.

As both Government and citizens haveshrugged off their responsibility this has ledthe Old Jammu City into constant neglect.

As for Government is concerned its fail-ure in providing basic amenities of life in thearea and preserving its monumental beau-ty has resulted into the mass migration fromthe City. Various Government Agencieswhich mainly include Jammu Municipal Cor-poration (JMC), Custodian Department,Jammu Development Authority (JDA) andPublic Works Department (PWD) have noteven thought it important to maintain itsoriginality by preserving the heritage cen-tres in shape of temples and other histori-cal monuments. These agencies have alsofailed to make the area encroachment freeowing to which the Old City has now con-verted into a "Traffic Choke Zone" withalmost zero basic facilities.

The people hesitate to visit this portionof the city due to constant traffic jams, lackof parking facilities and prevailing insanita-tion. The shopkeepers have also reducedthe business items and it has remained adomestic market instead of the commercialmarket as it was earlier where people fromthe entire State as well as neighboring HPand Punjab used to come for business.

Due to the mass migration of the people,not only the glory of the Old City is comingto an end, but the business community isalso thinking of shifting its business else-where, said Raman Suri, President,Lakhdatta Bazaar Welfare Association.

The dilapidated condition of roads,

heaps of garbage and long snarls of trafficare the main reason of the migration of thepeople.

Non-availability of parking space is oneof the major reasons of migration of bothresidents and the business community too.Short footfall due to over-crowded roads,are affecting the business community of theOld City which has shrunk to 10-15 per cent.

Priya Sethi, Ex-Corporator and StatePresident, Bharatiya Janata Party MahilaMorcha (BJPMM) said that the lack of park-ing space is the main reason of the peopleand the business hub migrating from theCity.

Had the construction of multi storey park-ing place near Super Bazaar been initiatedby the Government such a situation wouldnot have arisen, she added.

"10,000 souls are living in the houses,whose renovation is to be taken care byCustodian Department. Despite havingfunds, the Custodian Department and theGovernment is least bothered about the livesof the people living in these houses.

Round the clock cleanliness in the needof the hour in the lanes and drains of the City,but JMC is not taking any steps for the same.People should also own their responsibilityand should keep their surrounding areasneat and clean, she added.

Raj Kumar Babber, Provincial President,Swarankar Sangh Jammu Province (SSJP)said that traffic jams, lack of parking spaceand falling down of century old buildingsmight be the reasons for the migration of the

people and business community from theJammu old city.

He said that all the roads in the JammuOld City remain jam packed for maximumtime, which has affected the business com-munity badly.

Pollution due to choked drains is one ofthe main problems in the old City, which notonly the local people but also the visitorsface, he said adding Jammu Municipal Cor-poration (JMC) is responsible for the same.If the use of polythene is banned, then theJMC should strictly adhere to the ordersissued in this regard.

Rupesh Masson, resident and business-man from Chowk Chabutra in an interactiontermed lack of parking facilities as main rea-son for the migration of the people and busi-ness community from the Jammu Old City.

Now-a-days people think of high class liv-ing with sprawling house, large parkingspace, good education for children, goodhealth care facilities, high and general facil-ities at door steps, which they can't get herein Jammu Old City and this might be the rea-son of their migration to other areas.

Rohit Gupta, a resident of MalhotraMohalla alleged that the Government's fail-ure in their prime duty in preserving andmaintaining the glory of City has lead tomass migration of the people. He said thatsettlement in new colonies and other poshareas outside the State for want of betterfacilities might also be the reason for theirmigration.

Lakhvinder Singh

The word 'Lavanik' in Sanskrit is used for a saltmerchant. In all obvious prospects, the Labanasociety is said to have received its name from thisword as its members dealt in with salt. The termLobana or Labana therefore appears to have beenderived from the two words- LOON (salt) and theBANA (trade). Nonetheless, the tribe did not deal insalt only but other goods as well which includes cat-tle, grains, oil seeds and low-priced ornaments likeear jewelry and brass rings. For carrying out theirtrade they travelled to distance places and due totheir peripatetic life-pattern, they were also called'banjaras'. According to Gurmat Parkash, a maga-zine published by Sri Gurdawara Prabandhak Com-mittee, the word Lobana also refers to those whowear iron dress (Loh baana), i.e. military clothing.

Labana is a tribe with significant populations inPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir,Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttaranachal,Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and other parts ofIndia. They speak Punjabi, Lubanki, Hindi and itsvarious dialects. Different views are prevalentabout their origin. Historians have traced their lin-eage to Chauhan or Raghuvanshi Rajputs, to GaurBrahmins of Pilibhit and Ranthambore and even toSuryavanshi and Chandravanshi Kshatriyas. Leav-ing aside the discussion of their origin, it appearsto be more appropriate to regard the community asa sub-division of the great Banjara tribe. For allpractical purposes, Labanas have nomadic rootsand therefore some workers also relate them to theLambada or Labada tribe of Andhra.

The Labanas are well-known in the history of thenorth India in general and that of the Sikhism in par-ticular. The Labana community is known for its hardwork, handiness, simplicity, religiosity, courage andloyalty to the Sikhism. They were attracted by thehigh ideals of the Sikh Gurus and were drawn to thecentre stage in the service of the Gurus right fromthe beginning. The first prominent Labana to be fas-cinated by the Sikh way of life was Saundhe Shahwho came in contact with Guru Angad Dev Ji. Hewas followed by many others like Baba Hasna andBaba Takht Mal who served the fifth and sixth SikhGurus. When, after the death of Sri Guru Harkris-han Ji, confusion about the identification of his suc-cessor erupted it was Makhan Shah, a great Labana

merchant, who could recognize Guru Tegh BahadurJi from among several impostors. Another LabanaSikh, Lakhi Shah, did valuable service to Sikhismin 1675 by cremating the headless body of GuruTegh Bahadur Ji after his execution in Delhi by put-ting his own house on fire (Presently GurdwaraRakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi is on the site). It is saidthat his services were highly appreciated by GuruGobind Singh Ji. The Labanas also actively partic-ipated in the battles fought by the tenth Guru. Therewere many brave Labana sikhs in the period of GuruGobind Singh Ji and to name a few famous ones:

Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Bachittar Singh, Bhai Udai

Singh, Bhai Dyala Ji and Bhai Maha Singh.Bhai Bachittar Singh was the one who attacked

a drunk and mad Mughal elephant at Guru GobindSingh's command. Even later on, the Labanas gavefinancial and military support to Banda Bahadur onhis arrival in Punjab. They joined Banda's army andtook active part in the battles fought by him. Duringthe misl period, the Labanas joined the services ofvarious misldars. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had alsorecruited them into the Khalsa Army and theyproved to be excellent militia and distinguishedthemselves by their fearlessness and sinceritytowards the faith and the empire. During the eigh-

teenth century, the Labanas began to follow a set-tled way of life. Many among them took to agricul-ture and gradually became peasant-proprietors. Inthe early nineteenth century, the Labanas hadestablished their own important villages. It is wellestablished that wherever the Labanas settled theymainly named their villages as Tandas. Tanda inLubanki dialect means a travelling body. In Jammuprovince, the Labanas had several hamlets eachcalled Tanda like Tanda Burj and Tanda Soal.Besides this, several important labana villages inJammu region are Kirpind, Dablehar, Khour Deo-nia, Chak-Ram-Chand, Pangdour, Kotli, Manghaland many more. In this way the Labanas replacedtheir nomadic and pastoral life by settled way of life.By the mid-nineteenth century, the Labanas at someplaces owned not only parts of villages, but alsoentire villages and even groups of villages.

Under the Sikh rule, majority of the Labanas con-

tinued their former occupations on traditional pattern.

Bulk of them earned livelihood as professional carri-

ers and only some of them as traders. Cattle-trade was

also prevalent among them. Like the other trading com-

munities the Labanas also harvested profits from the

expansion of trade. Thus their financial position grad-

ually improved. The improvement in their economic

condition paved the way for upward social mobility

among them. At the commencement of the British rule

also, scores of labanas continued to be essentially

engaged in carrying hereditary trade by means of large

herds of laden bullocks. Nevertheless, the number

increased of those engaged in agriculture. They

proved to be industrious cultivators and in the begin-

ning of the twentieth century agriculture became their

main occupation. Nonetheless in their spare time, they

still made ropes, grass mats and traded in cattle. Next

to agriculture came the military service. The Labanas

being men of good physique and compelled by eco-

nomic factors turned to military services. Their servic-

es in the army and other paramilitary forces proved

very helpful for uplifting their social status. British

records show that the Sikh Labanas showed deep

interest in the army and took freely to military servic-

es. By the early 20th century, the Sikh Labanas multi-

plied their number in the army.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine

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Old City

Losing its

Splendour

A clan of warriors

“Come all followers of the Guru, I have found him”- Makhan Shab

A view of the Old City Jammu through Mubarak Mandi Complex.

Excelsior/Rakesh

(Continued on page 2)