Month: July 2019

Rush of additional troops, RPF on standby, Seeking details of mosques, Triggers rumours of plans to revoke Article 35A

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An order directing the zonal superintendents of police to provide the list of mosques in the city and its management committees was passed on Sunday night. This adds to the speculation about some major decision in the offing regarding Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, news agency PTI reported. The order issued by the Srinagar senior superintendent of police to the zonal SPs reads, “Please provide details of mosques and their managements falling without your respective jurisdictions as per enclosed proforma to this office immediately for onward submission to higher authorities.”…

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Railway Protection Force asks staff to prepare for impending unrest in Kashmir

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The Railway Protection Force (RPF) held a security meeting in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Saturday after the security agencies sent an input regarding the prediction of deteriorating situation in the Kashmir Valley. After the meeting, the RPF issued a set of directions for its staff in case of an “emergency situation in the Valley for an extended period of time”. A copy of the directions is with India Today TV. The precautionary security measures include purchase and storage of at least four-month dry ration and water…

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With rumours rife and fear griping the Valley, Omar questions govt’s silence, Mufti warns of bloodbath

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National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Sunday questioned the state government’s silence as rumours and orders are keeping the Kashmir valley on the edge. He said the official orders were “forecasting of deterioration in the law and order environment.” “It’s easy to blame Valley residents for fear-mongering but what are we to make of such official orders which forecast a deterioration in the law and order environment and even predict disturbances lasting for an extended period of time?” he wrote on Twitter. Omar was responding to the latest order issued…

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Kashmiri accused in blast cases return home, ‘We are acquitted but who will bring back our 23 years’

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While acquitting them on Monday, the High Court said the prosecution had failed to provide evidence of conspiracy. It said the prosecution could not establish any link between them and the main accused, Dr Abdul Hameed, whose death sentence was upheld. The sky was overcast, but, for the first time in over two decades, they were no longer under cloud, as they stepped out of the Jaipur Central Jail Tuesday, a day after the Rajasthan High Court acquitted them in the 1996 Samleti blast case. At 5:19 pm Tuesday, Latif…

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Resistance group welcome US push for Kashmir dialogue

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The Hurriyat leaders have welcomed the US push for dialogue on Kashmir even as the PDP leader and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the disclosures by the American President Donald Trump during his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as a “huge policy shift”. “Being the most affected party, the people of Kashmir want an early resolution to the lingering Kashmir conflict. I have been urging for dialogue at all levels. Every effort, pushing India and Pakistan in that direction by @POTUS is welcomed by the people of…

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Fury across India as Trump claims Modi asked for Kashmir mediation, opposition wants Modi to clarify claim

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India’s foreign minister issued a strenuous denial to an infuriated opposition in parliament on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited him to mediate in the bloody conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir. While Pakistan has often sought third-party mediation in the decades-old dispute which has cost tens of thousands of lives, the idea is anathema to India, which has always insisted the issue can only be resolved bilaterally. Trump set off a political storm in India by claiming during a meeting in Washington on…

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Kashmir Issue won’t be resolved bilaterally: Imran Khan post-meet with Donald Trump

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Buoyed by US President Donald Trump’s offer of mediation on Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that the contentious issue between the two South Asian neighbours can never be resolved bilaterally. Khan’s statement came hours after Trump offered to be the “mediator” between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue as the two leaders met at the White House where they discussed a host of issues, including the Afghan peace process. The Indian government has denied Trump’s astonishing claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him…

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‘If I can do anything to help, let me know’: Trump offers to mediate Kashmir Crisis between India and Pakistan

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Donald Trump has offered himself as a mediator to one of the world’s thorniest strategic disputes – the conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Speaking in the Oval Office with Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, Mr Trump said he was confident Islamabad would help the US reach a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then, to the astonishment of watchers of South Asia, Mr Trump claimed he had been asked by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to mediate between the two South Asian nations over the disputed territory…

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Beyond Bullets and Bombs, Kashmir has a new enemy called Drugs

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In Srinagar, a mother’s struggle to help her teenage son overcome heroin addiction is evidence of an insidious drug problem that has affected Jammu and Kashmir. The boy in question, a Class 9 student living in one of the city’s uptown areas, has been using for eight months – since his neighbor offered a free sample. Once hooked, he began spending massive amounts of money – Rs. 2,000 per gram – to feed the habit. “I am helpless. Just because of one person the entire neighbourhood has been ruined. My…

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‘Spoke in fit of anger’, Satya Pal Malik clarifies his ‘Kill’ statement

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Clarifying his Sunday’s statement ‘kill those who robbed your state,’ Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday said he should not have made such a comment. “Whatever I said was in a fit of anger and frustration due to rampant corruption here. As Governor, I should have not made such a comment, but my personal feeling is the same as I said. Many political leaders and big bureaucrats are steeped in corruption here,” Malik told new agency ANI on Monday . Malik stirred a controversy on Sunday with…

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