Month: April 2020

“Access to the Internet not fundamental right”, J&K admin opposes the restoration of 4G Services in Supreme Court

Editor

The right to access the internet is not a fundamental right and the state can curtail the freedom of speech and the right to trade through the internet, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has told the Supreme Court while opposing the restoration of 4G services in the union territory. The administration told the apex court that a very reasonable quantum of restrictions have been imposed by reducing the speed of internet to protect the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. “It is submitted that the right to access internet…

Read More

‘Do not buy from Muslims Vendors’: BJP leader calls for social boycott

Editor

India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a notice to one of its leaders after a video showing him asking people not to buy vegetables from Muslims surfaced amid a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. “Keep one thing in mind. I am telling everyone openly. There is no need to buy vegetables from ‘miyans’ [Muslims],” legislator Suresh Tiwari from Deoria town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was heard saying in the mobile phone video that went viral on Tuesday. Millions in India are facing unprecedented job losses and hunger…

Read More

US Panel wants India on religious freedom blacklist

Editor

A US government panel has called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a “drastic” downturn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp rebuttal from New Delhi. In an annual report published on Tuesday, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said India should join the ranks of “countries of particular concern” that would be subject to sanctions if they do not improve their records. “In 2019, religious freedom conditions in India experienced a drastic turn downward, with religious minorities under increasing assault,” the…

Read More

What GOI achieved in last 9 months, post scraping of J&K’s special status?

Editor

Taking the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A to be a fait accompli – since it may be a vain expectation that the Supreme Court will, at any time in the future, restore what the government has scrapped – the question that may now be asked is: nine months down the road, what has this revocation delivered? Politically, of course, the Hindutva right wing has succeeded in realising its long-standing “nationalist” agenda. It has stamped and sealed a message to Kashmiri Muslims that their decision to throw their lot in with a…

Read More

#Lockdown: Apple industry in shamble, as millions of cartons are lying in cold storage waiting for buyers

Editor

The nationwide coronavirus lockdown has badly hit apple farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. As the farmers are not finding market for their produce, over three million cartons of apples are lying in cold storage. They are rather paying Rs 35 per box per month as storage charge, and Rs 100 as packing and grading fee to save their produce from rotting. They fear incurring more loses than the value of their produce if lockdown continues as there are no buyers due to the market conditions. The lockdown has added to…

Read More

Are gulf ties being jeopardised by Hindutva hatred?

Editor

In his six years as prime minister, Narendra Modi has expended more time, effort and commitment to cultivating ties with the Gulf region than any of his predecessors, and India’s initiatives have been fully reciprocated by his regional counterparts. These interactions have been assiduously promoted with frequent exchanges of visits, warm expressions of personal goodwill, even affection and several agreements to impart substance to the relationship in political, energy and economic areas. Now, when the world is grappling with the extraordinary challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic, relations shaped, elevated…

Read More

Kashmir: The Lock-down Within the Lock-down

Editor

Shahnaz Bashir The coronavirus left the world freaking out in quarantine – and left Kashmir laughing. It was a bitter laugh, half at itself and half at everyone else. In part schadenfreude towards nations long indifferent to besieged people, and in part, a genuine sympathy from the eternally locked-down. Partly in spite and partly in solidarity, a question rang through many young Kashmiris’ social media feeds: How is the lockdown, world? After a six-month-long lockdown from August 5, 2019, just as a desolate, war-worn Kashmir was limping back to life, it…

Read More

Amid Corona-virus lock-down killing of rebels continues across Kashmir

Editor

Indian government forces have killed four rebels in a gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir during a stringent lockdown to combat the coronavirus, the Indian army has said. The fighting broke out in a village in southern Shopian district as police and soldiers raided a house on a tip that rebels were hiding there late on Tuesday night, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia on Wednesday. During the gunfight, troops blew up the house with explosives, a common tactic by security forces, residents said. India has continued its counterinsurgency operations across Kashmir…

Read More

Fasting during Ramadan can boost your immunity

Editor

Dr Amir Khan This year, the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will be like no other; it will occur in the middle of a global pandemic. Ramadan, which began on the evening of April 23, will see a month-long period of fasting, worship and devotion to Allah. It commemorates the Quran being first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims who are fit enough to do so are expected to fast (not eat or drink fluids at all) between the hours of sunrise and sunset for four weeks. As well as…

Read More

#COVID19: Surge in corona-virus cases across Kashmir Valley continues

Editor

With 27 new samples testing positive, Kashmir witnessed a spike of COVID19 cases today taking the total in J&K to 407 As many as 27 patients tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir in a single day on Wednesday, bringing the total cases in Jammu and Kashmir to 407, officials said.Of the 489 samples tested at Viral Diagnostic and Research Lab (VDRL) of SKIMS, Srinagar, 25 samples tested positive. Medical Superintendent SKIMS, Dr Farooq Jan said 14 patients are from Shopian, six from Bandipora, four from Kupwara, and one from Wagub…

Read More