Massive clashes erupted in Maisuma area of Srinagar on Monday after a woman’s braid was allegedly chopped off by unknown persons. As the news of alleged hair-chopping spread, youth took to streets and enforced a shutdown in Maisuma and the adjacent Lal Chowk area. Forces deployed in the area lobbed teargas shells at the protesters who pelted them with stones. Traffic movement was severely affected on both the MA road and the Residency Road. Most of the motorists diverted towards Residency road due to clashes, triggering a traffic jam. Clashes…
Read MoreDay: October 16, 2017
From Babri to Taj, Hindutva Fights History
One of the many outlandish ideas that had apparently been doing the rounds in the run up to the Partition included the demand to move the iconic Taj Mahal to the promised land of Pakistan. Thankfully, no one took that fantastic wish list seriously, not even the leaders of the Pakistan movement, and the Taj has remained the most celebrated of India’s national monuments and the symbol of its composite culture. It is not just its ethereal beauty that makes this architectural marvel, cast in sheer white marble, one of…
Read MoreBraid Chopped victims recount tales of horror
Thirty year old, Afroza Begum, was in the kitchen of her home at Gur Seer village–around five kilometers from Sopore town of Baramulla district—when some unknown person cut her hair. “I was in the kitchen when someone held my hair from behind and I lost consciousness. After gaining back consciousness, I found people surround me and my hair had been cut,” Begum said. She was shifted to sub-district hospital Sopore for treatment earlier on Tuesday, and doctors found no affliction of “psychological disturbance”. “A strand of Begum’s hair was found…
Read MoreCongress protests against BJP, alleges ‘Betrayal’ of People’s mandate
The workers of Congress Party, led by former minister Raman Bhalla, today staged a protest demonstration against the BJP alleging that it (BJP) has cheated the people of Jammu region just for sake of power. The protesters assembled at Karan Bagh Chowk, Chatha Morh, Jammu, and staged a strong demonstration against the BJP. Raising slogans against the saffron party for “betraying people of Jammu”, they also burnt effigy of BJP. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Bhalla said that BJP, which claims to be the champion of Jammu people, has…
Read MorePeople rushing for CCTVs, Video door-phones post Braid-chopping incidents
As the incidents of braid-cutting across Kashmir have caused fear among people, the demand for security systems such as CCTV cameras and video door phones has grown manifold. In order to create awareness among people about usage of security devices, a leading Srinagar-based security solutions company along with three outside companies would be soon holding interactive programmes in various areas, said Danish Bashir, managing director Chinar Security Systems. “The interactive sessions will be first held in Srinagar next week in public places such as parks. Leading security solutions companies Bosch,…
Read MoreKashmir’s Tulip Garden replica for Canadian festival
There is some good news for the Kashmir valley’s tourism sector at a time when it is on the revival path. A replica of the summer capital’s famed tourist spot Tulip Garden will be set up at the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa next year. As the Canadian festival draws tourists from all over the world, the stakeholders say this will introduce the Valley’s Tulip Garden to the international tourist and would then help attract visitors from all over the world. “A replica of our Tulip Garden will be set…
Read MoreDrugs, Late marriages, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder reasons for rising infertility cases
The ongoing conflict in Kashmir has not only taken a heavy toll on human lives, but is said to be the major reason for the increasing cases of infertility. Late marriages, drug abuse are also cited as the other reasons. According to medicos working in various hospitals, the numbers of infertility cases have increased at a very high pace. “We register three cases of infertility on daily basis, which means 90 cases in a month and 1,080 cases in a year,” said a doctor at JVC Bemina. Similarly at valley’s…
Read MoreGST hits carpet business in Kashmir
Closed looms, lost jobs and scanty sales: the Kashmiri carpet industry is facing a crisis of sorts after the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). At stake is the future of the Kashmiri craft and, with hundreds of carpet weavers losing their jobs and a once-thriving trade being abandoned in the three months since the new tax regime. Several carpet sellers are now searching for greener pastures like Arshad Hussain, who had been associated with this trade in New Delhi since 1994. “It seems people have stopped buying…
Read MoreDengue patients look to Delhi, Punjab for ‘Reliable’ treatment
As dengue grips eight districts of the Jammu province, panic-stricken residents are shifting dengue patients to Punjab and Delhi for “reliable” treatment. In Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Jammu, nearly 320 patients have been tested positive for dengue and the number is swelling every day. The situation is worst in the outskirts, where equipment for checking blood and dengue fever are not available. Health institutes in the Jammu region appear to have failed in coping with the problem, making people go for traditional treatment methods or shifting patients to…
Read MoreRajnath Singh admitted facts, Kashmir has not integrated into India: Hurriyat (G)
Kashmir’s Hurriyat Conference (g) has stated that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had admitted the fact that Kashmir has not integrated into India. The statement issued to the media said “Singh’s assertion that Sardar Patel would have integrated Kashmir into India, had not Nehru stopped him is a fact and it means Kashmir is not part of India.” “It was converted into a dispute and taken to the UN where the people were given the right of self determination,” the statement said. “This is the promise that India has not kept…
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