JAMMU,APRIL 27: The J&K chief minister Mr. Omar Abdullah today released a book on ‘Ladakh’ authored by Mr. S. D. Singh Jamwal, IPS, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Poonch-Rajouri range, in a colourful function at the Brigadier Rajinder Singh auditorium, University of Jammu this evening.
Mr. Nawang Rigzin Jora, Tourism minister, J&K, Mr. Nasir Alam Wani, Minister of State, Tourism and culture & Dr. Sudhir S. Bloeria, former chief secretary J&K were the guests of honour while Mr. Kuldeep Khoda, IPS, Director General of Police, J&K preside over the function.
Entitled “Ladakh: Travel-History-Culture”, the book is perhaps the first comprehensive book of its kind on Ladakh which has detailed information about various aspects of Ladakh- Tourism, Land, People, Heritage, Art, culture as well as wild life etc. Not only it has all the information which would interest a tourist who wants to visit Ladakh like places to see, accommodation and transport available along with their charges etc but all the details about unique culture and history of Ladakh. The book includes a special chapter on Monasteries of Ladakh. Details of about 30 Monastries of Ladakh have been given in the book which even includes their architectural plan and various paintings, frescos and statues present in these rooms as well as their explanation. Similarly, details about different types of Stupas or Chortens found in Ladakh have been given. The book has a special mention of “Rock Art” of Ladakh which is in the form of unique rock carvings, which have been discovered in Ladakh by the two authors.
Speaking at the occasion, the chief minister Mr. Omar Abdullah who has also written the foreword of the book said that the book is more than a travel guide. This beautifully written book, he said covers travel, art, culture, history of Ladakh, flora fauna, geography in fact almost all aspects of Ladakh.
Saying that Mr. Jamwal was not short of responsibility as a police officer looking after the sensitive areas of Poonch Rajouri, Mr Abdullah complimented him for writing the book. He said that inspite of challenges faced in the field as a police officer, he has still been able to take lot of time and write this book which is ‘a book of labour’ for which he obviously has lot of love.
“I hope that in future also he will keep writing more books and many more colleagues will also follow him in this,”he said adding Mr. Jamwal has set an example which others can follow and emulate. He also said that his range of interests fascinate him including his topic of Phd on chemical warfare and bioterrorism.
Recalling his own “love affair” with Ladakh, Mr. Abdullah said that he visited Ladakh in August 1977 as a young boy of seven with his parents and two sisters.
“I have distinct memories of that visit as it was our first family holiday and we drove to Ladakh from Kargil; picked up Apricots from the trees while my father would wave a hand to say Julley to the friendly warm people of Ladakh,” he recalled.
Terming the book as “a very long and exhaustive work on Ladakh”, Mr Rigzin Jora, tourism minister recalled his long association with Mr Jamwal. He said he has earlier worked on rock art and now this book on Ladakh reflects his love for Ladakh. He also hoped that in the years to come, he will author more books on Ladakh and other places of this beautiful mountainous state.
Mr Nasir Wani said that he has broken the myth that police officers can only make law and order and cannot write, He said this book will provide to be a good travel guide for Ladakh enthusiasts; this book will surely help them to promote more tourism in the area and attract more tourist to his beautiful region.
Mr Kuldeep Khoda, DGP, J&K police, said that the book is based on lot of research, hard work and wonderful presentation. He said now we have found a writer in our department who is , am sure, going to continue with his writings.
Dr Bloeria said the book captures the mystic, the magic and the wonderful people of the region, He said he has read the book on Ladakh written by Alexander Cunningham in 1885. He said it is now after almost 150 years that he has read such comprehensive boon on Ladakh by Mr Jamwal and his coauthor. He said the British civil servants working in British India had a very good habit of keeping record and writing books.
Earlier, Mr. Jamwal recalled his posting to Leh as the district police chief, He said he was fascinated by Ladakh and its sheer mysticism, culture, people and landscape. He further said that being a nature lover himself, he utilized his spare time for learning more about Ladakh and its people. He said that this book was the out come of 9 years of serious research on Ladakh by the two authors and he believed that the book will be quite useful not only to the travelers who want to visit Ladakh but also to the students and researchers on History and Buddhism. on rock art. He is also pursuing his PhD on bioterrorism.
Dr Manju Jamwal, department of Law, University of Jammu presented vote of thanks while Professor Dipankar Sengupta, professor in the department of economics, conducted the proceedings of the function.