By Sadaket Malik

Fifty years ago, we were just toddlers….

Fifty years ago, we were just playing with stones, trucks and dolls….

Fifty years ago, we just tried to learn our ABCs…..

Fifty years ago, we were just wondering for our bread and butter…….

Before a recent decade, during the darkest nights, our parents had to hide us in their chests in order to escape the claws of fissiparous tendencies of nefarious designs looming over our heads…..

Now, Bhalessa has grown up and the only passion in lives of the masses is to look for a sea change in their lifestyle in hitherto heritage.

Before I apt to go for a brief discussion on the life and achievements of the people who keep Bhalessa on  Driver’s seat. I mention here that Bhalessa before 50 years of slavery was ruled by people of outside regions thereby we remained under agony, we remained ignorant of the rights and duties. No education, no leadership was the order of the day.

Interestingly, some people started movements to bring change in the lifestyle of the masses.

I put in place the exemplary services rendered by the then Director Education Ghulam Rasool Azad who owing to his social and Political movement- The cohesive social order seemed to be revealed. We are all taking fruits of the the main root of our terrain-who contributed richy  or the educational advancement, economic development and in diverse fields of his activity.

I mention the names of those who contributed immensely for the popularization of Bhalessa’s social political and developmental convas were, Ghulam Rasool Azad, Munshi Mohd. Anwer, Munshi Ram Chand Parihar, Gahulam Nabi Rather, Master Anoroud Singh, Hari saran Jaildar, Habib ullah Malik, Prof. Umer Din, Abdul Aziz Batt and Talib Bhalessi.

Over time there seemed less political or social awakening among the elites, the area was little progressed, there was no education rather primary schooling to the people. People used to go to Bhaderwah for their primary studies.

       The political staire was also lacking as people represented a low income strata and economy was poor. The people seemed out of such activism. Hari Saran Zaildar of Batara was regarded as a chief Chowkidar of the hamlet. The first teacher was Anirud Singh of  Khaljugasar who was educated from Bhaderwah.

       Some families over time migrated from Kashmir. The whole Chenab valley and Bhaderwah Jagir was ruled by Rana’s and Thakurs. The area of Bhalessa was a part of Bhaderwah Jagir and  Bhaderwah was regarded as a main centre of decentralization.

       It is learnt from our elderly that they used to go Bhaderwah for ration to feed them.

       Owing to the close proximity with Bhaderwah, people maintained healthy relations with Bhaderwah.

       However, many families in Kashmir have migrated from one part to another in search of habitation and livelihood. One such family was the Batt family which migrated to the Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh while a few factions stayed in Bhalessa's Soti village. The family at Soti took up peasant work. Ghulam Rasool Azad was born in the year 1916 to this peasant family. There were only two schools then in Bhalessa - the Primary school Kilhotran and the Bhaderwah Amar Singh school. Rasool's father Kh. Khazra Batt sent him to both.

In 1935, Ghulam Rasool Azad passed the graduate entrance examination from Jammu Centre. He graduated in Mathematics. He did his post graduation from Punjab  University in 1943.