Bar association appeals Int’l bodies to ‘Rescue’ Kashmiris; Er Rasheed detained, police foil his sit-in

Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Srinagar on Friday said that “Kashmir is neither an integral part of India nor are the happenings in Kashmir an internal matter of India and in this regard reference to the Constitution of J&K is totally misconceived, irrelevant and redundant.” This was stated by Mian Abdul Qayoom, President of the Bar Association, in an Executive Committee meeting which was held here today to discuss the issue in the context of what was stated by the Parliament members in the Rajya Sabha. The…

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Clashes erupted in Beerwah; No Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid for 5th consecutive week

Hundreds of people on Friday defied curfew in Beerwah area of Budgam district and started raising anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. Reports said that already deployed police and CRPF personnel resorted to tear smoke shelling on the protesters. Clashes were going on when the reports last came in. Authorities on Friday did not allow congregational prayers in Jamia masjid Srinagar for fifth consecutive Friday. A heavy deployment of police and para-military CRPF had cordoned off Jamia masjid area since early morning and nobody was allowed to reach the historic mosque. Local sources told…

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After Phone Gag, Internet Service Providers ordered to ‘SHUT’ Services in Kashmir

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have asked the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to stop Internet services in Kashmir “immediately”, Kashmir Post has learnt. Several service providers said that got phone calls from the authorities, directing them to suspend the Internet services, especially to newspapers and other media houses. Only last night, the authorities blocked for the second time in a month the mobile phone services, except the state-owned BSNL post-paid phones. Earlier on the night of July 15, the authorities raided the printing presses of various newspaper, and seized over…

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80 Additional paramilitary companies for violence Hit Kashmir Valley

More forces for violence-hit Valley, 80 additional paramilitary companies to fan out across Kashmir The security grid engaged in maintaining law and order situation in Kashmir will get a boost in coming days. Over 80 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) will fan out across the Valley to contain the protests. This includes nearly 40 companies of additional CAPF, which are being rushed to Kashmir and also the 40 companies of the CRPF engaged in securing the Amarnath yatra route, which would be redeployed in parts of Kashmir…

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Seeing the new normal in Kashmir

From all assessments, the protests in the Valley are frighteningly spontaneous. Mehbooba Mufti, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, faces a terrible identity crisis. She has begun blaming Pakistan for encouraging young Kashmiris to take up arms and accused the country of pushing infiltration. Her lexicon of blame now echoes that of New Delhi, where it is fashionable to reflexively drag all blame to Islamabad. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has done it; Minister of Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu has done it; so also has Minister for External Affairs…

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Burhan Wani and the Power of the Internet misread in Kashmir

Derek O’Brien Years ago I read a definition of the difference between a nationalist and patriot. The nationalist loves his country, the patriot loves the people of his country. This one-liner came back to me recently as I considered the volatile and worrying situation in the Kashmir Valley, and how some people in India, on social media and on prime-time shows and in real life as well, unfortunately, seem to make a distinction between Kashmir, the land and Kashmiris, the people. As if the first is all-important to India and…

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Curfew, Clashes enters 35th Day across Kashmir Valley; Mobile network snapped

Curfew and protest shutdown continued to paralyse life in Kashmir for the 35th consecutive day on Friday. Kashmir is observing protests ever since Commander Burhan Wani was killed in south Kashmir on July 8. 58 civilians have been killed in armed forces actions in the past more than one month. 6000 people have been injured during the period. Last Friday (August 5) was one of the most violent days in the ongoing unrest witnessing three civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries in clashes across Kashmir. Police on Thursday issued a Friday…

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Kashmir; Controlled but Never Owned

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, most popular and acknowledged leader of his time, was quite influenced and inspired by the way India was going to emerge after its independence – democratic, socialist and secular; country with a hope for its poor and downtrodden sections of the society, constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights to its citizens. While Indian National Congress (INC) represented all segments of the population, the elite, working class, farmers and artisans, in contrast to Muslim League constituted mostly by the elites of the Indian Muslim society. Thus, Sheikh Abdullah must…

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Pepper gas punishes even ‘Non-Protesters’

As the unrest in the Valley continues for more than a month now, it has not only killed or maimed residents, buts also affected the health of people who are just caged inside their homes due to frequent use of pepper gas and teargas shells. In Srinagar’s downtown where dozens of neighbourhoods are interconnected by alleys making it a reason for frequent stone-throwing incidents, the police frequently use pepper gas and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, which is affecting the health of residents even when they are inside their…

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Doctors protest against ‘Indiscriminate’ use of pellet guns

The doctors tried to highlight the sufferings of patients who have lost vision or suffered eye injuries due to pellet guns. The doctors at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SHMS) on Wednesday came out to protest against use of pellet guns in the valley. Several doctors, including senior faculty members of the Government Medical College Srinagar and its associated hospitals like SMHS, gathered at the college campus for a sit-in against the ‘indiscriminate use of pellet guns’ by armed forces. Posing as pellet victims with a bandaged eye, the doctors…

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