Day: August 5, 2017

When stones turn to song in Kashmir

Editor

Music has become a potent weapon of dissent in Kashmir At the cosy, wood-panelled Ground Zero café in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, Mohammad Muneem, the singer-songwriter-frontman of the Pune-based Kashmiri rock band Alif, is in the house. It is an informal afternoon gathering: Conversation, acoustic guitar-backed singing by Muneem and Kashmiri noon chai (salty tea) are on the menu. About a dozen young people have gathered; several of them profess to be poets or aficionados of poetry. A couple of girls, veils loosely wrapped around their faces, seem to be captivated…

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Darshan Lal first Hindu in Pak govt in over two decades

Editor

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi formed his cabinet on Friday, filling it with his toppled predecessor Nawaz Sharif’s aides and allies. It also included the first Hindu in a Pakistan government in more than 20 years, Darshan Lal. The “reshuffle” was aimed at bolstering support for the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ahead of the general elections in mid-2018, with President Mamnoon Hussain administering the oath of office to 47-member cabinet that included 28 federal and 19 state ministers in a televised ceremony at his official residence. Darshan…

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Three youth injured in Army firing at Saderkoot Bandipora

Editor

Three youth were injured after army opened fire in Saderkoot Bala area of district Bandipora on Saturday morning. The injured have been identified as Hilal Ahmed Wani s/o Abdul Ahad Wani, Latief Ahmed Khan s/o Muhmmad Yousuf Khan and Suhail Ahmed Bhat s/o Nazir Ahmed Baht. Hilal has fire injuries in upper leg, Suhail’s both legs have been fired upon and Latief was hit on right ear. An attended accompanying the injured to a Srinagar hospital told Kashmir Post that army resorted to  unprovoked firing on protesting youth following the stone…

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This Kashmiri girl kicks off football with stone pelters: Qudsiya Altaf

Editor

Not far from the Friday rush at the Hazratbal shrine, Qudsiya Altaf, 23, adjusts her bright red cap on the lush green fields of Kashmir University. With six footballs at her pair of shuffling soccer cleats, she rattles off names as she essays the kicks. “Haider, Ilyas, Faizan, yahan aajao beta. Thoda gap rakho. Warm up. Fir at least five times pass karo,” Qudsia says, almost perfunctorily. That has been her routine between 3:30pm to 6:30pm everyday for the past few months. Last year, when the valley was teeming with…

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3 LeT militants killed in Sopore gunfight; Schools, Colleges, Cellular, mobile Internet services shut across North Kashmir

Editor

Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed on Saturday in a gunfight with the government forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore town, police said. Javed Ahmad Dar of Khanpora, Baramulla and Abid Hamid Mir of Hajin Bandipora are the two slain militants killed in Sopore at the hands of government forces during a gunfight Saturday, officials said. They said that identification of the third militant is being ascertained. “Acting on a specific information about the presence of militants in Jamia Mohalla, Amargarh locality of Tarzoo in Sopore, Police along with 52…

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Height of Swachh Bharat hype! Can’t beat Jammu

Editor

Kites with Prime Minister Modi promoting cleanliness fly above filthy environs At a time when resentment against BJP leaders is growing among people for their failure to improve urban infrastructure and sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, people are surprised as local markets are flooded with kites with images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoting the SBA. These messages on kites are not sponsored by the government. Private kite makers who are traditionally associated with the trade and some party workers are actively promoting these among the people. However, shoppers…

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Going all out against militants in Kashmir paying dividends: Govt

Editor

The government feels giving free hand to forces is paying dividends and the situation would improve significantly by winters. The government feels that its hardline policy in Kashmir against talking to the separatists and giving free hands to the security forces is paying dividends and the situation would improve significantly by the coming winters. Senior government sources said the strategy of blocking infiltration and going all out against terrorists in Kashmir has also started paying dividends as a large number of terrorists have been killed and there is fear in…

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Youth in the Valley find inspiration in ‘Heroics’ of militants: Crackdown no deterrent in Kashmir

Editor

On Thursday morning, Mudasir Ahmad Kirmani travelled over 15 kilometres to a small village in Kulgam district after Suhail Ahmad Tantray, a young Hizbul Mujahideen militant, was killed along with his associate, Aaqib Itoo, in an ambush laid under a bridge by the army in Gopalpora village in wee hours of Thursday. Kirmani, 19, a tall, skinny boy — wearing blue jeans and a baggy shirt — stood out on the attic of a single-storied house, surrounded by wailing women, on the edge of the ground where the dead body…

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