Day: September 18, 2017

Geelani urges UN chief to intervene on Kashmir Issue

Editor

Separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani on Sunday sought the intervention of the United Nations (UN) for “peaceful settlement” of the Kashmir issue and also demanded setting up of a war crimes tribunal to identify and penalise the “culprits of human rights abuses.” In a letter to the UN Secretary-General, Geelani described Kashmir as a “long-pending issue waiting for the final dispensation in accordance with the agreed UN resolutions.” “The people of Kashmir demand the UN intervention for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue, lingering for the past seven decades…

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Posters, Videos terming Zakir ‘Traitor’ surface in south Kashmir

Editor

A series of poorly scripted videos and dubious origin posters — attempting to cash on divisions between Al-Qaeda-linked commander Zakir Musa and his erstwhile group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen — have appeared in the region in recent weeks. The latest to appear is a poster written in Urdu with significant spelling errors. The contents of the poster accuse Zakir Musa of being a “traitor”, or “gaddar” — the word spelt wrongly, which has caused doubt about the origin of the message. The posters, which had the logo of Hizbul Mujahideen, appeared in Shopian…

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Ensure two juvenile’s granted bail in DSP’s killing are sent home

Editor

After taking note of apprehensions of the defense counsel that the police might re-arrest the two juveniles who were granted bail on Friday in connection with the lynching of a deputy superintendent of police and implicate them in false cases, a court directed the police and Harwan Juvenile Home authorities to accompany the duo the Home. Defense counsels Mushtaq Ahmad Dar and Arzaan Ahmad Dar moved an application to the in charge officer of the Juvenile Home, asking him to ensure proper handover and custody of the juveniles to their…

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Only secular forces can keep J&K United: Manmohan Singh led group

Editor

J&K Congress legislative party members on Sunday told former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led group that only “secular forces” can keep Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh united, even as the group wrapped up its two-day Kashmir visit. The Congress policy planning group comprising Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambika Soni first held a meeting with J&K Congress legislative party and later met several delegations at Hari Niwas here on Sunday. The group was constituted in April this year after the situation in Kashmir worsened because of widespread protests and clashes following…

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Eight Kashmiri youths take to gun every month

Editor

Despite the government adopting a tough posture towards militants, which has resulted in the elimination of 148 militants in Jammu and Kashmir since January this year, young Kashmiris continue to take to the gun, averaging about eight a month. “From January to August, we know of at least 80 young Kashmiri boys who have joined the militant ranks,” a top official source in the government has told this newspaper. “The tragic part is that these young boys who join various militant groups are thrown into terror operations without much training…

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Kashmir Chamber to Jammu Chamber, Reconsider Strike Call

Editor

The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Sunday urged its Jammu counterpart to reconsider its strike call for Monday. The JCCI on Saturday gave a Jammu bandh call to press for its various demands, including abolition of toll tax. “We would urge you to reconsider your call for a shutdown as we believe that being apex trade bodies we should seek to promote the resolution of problems through dialogue and not be seen as promoters of business interruptions,” KCCI president Javed Ahmed Tenga told reporters at a press…

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Center not showing intent to return two power projects to JK

Editor

The rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at New Delhi has not budged on returning two power projects to the state despite the demand of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party, but it has promised the State of pumping in huge funds for over eight power projects. After PDP assumed power in the state, it ensured that the issue of the return of the two major power projects, the 390 MW Dulhasti and 290 MW Uri-II to the State was in the Agenda of Alliance, the Common Minimum Programme of…

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Three leaders (Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti) and their ways in Kashmir valley

Editor

It is very difficult to write about the powerful people whom one has known for decades. It becomes more difficult when they happen to be political rivals, each nursing Himalayan ego. As a journalist, I have encountered many such occasions when the powerful appreciated and ridiculed my reporting alternatively depending which part suited them. One theme is common they have zero tolerance to even slightest of criticism. At the moment, there are three powerful leaders in Kashmir’s deemed mainstream. Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar — both former Chief Ministers, and…

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Woman killed, 5 injured in Pak shelling on International Border

Editor

A woman was killed and five others were injured in Pakistani shelling across the International Border that erupted on Saturday night and continued till Sunday morning. Ratno Devi (65) of Alla village in the Arnia sector received multiple injuries when a mortar shell landed on her house around 3 am on Sunday while she was sleeping. She was taken to Government Medical College, Jammu, where she succumbed to her injuries. Her husband Chuni Lal and daughter-in-law Rajni Devi also received injuries in the incident. The border town of Arnia was…

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