Day: July 9, 2020

Kashmir ill-equipped to deal with the pandemic, people will die like cattle: Doctors

Editor

As the world scrambles to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, fear and anxiety prevail across Kashmir after scores of COVID-19 cases were detected. Hospitals in the valley have an acute shortage of doctors and paramedics, while its healthcare facilities are insufficient to meet the crisis which has unsettled countries with world-class medical infrastructure. Given the situation, residents of the valley fear the potentially disastrous consequences of the coronavirus pandemic after the first case of infection was reported . Apprehensions abound that this may be just the “tip of the iceberg”…

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Dogra Group staged a protest against new Domicile Law

Editor

Rejecting the domicile certificates, a Dogra group, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) on Wednesday staged a protest here to demand its rollback. The head of the group, Rajiv Mahajan said more than 1.30 crore people of Jammu and Kashmir holding Permanent Resident Certificate (PRCs) do not need the domicile certificates. “The government of India should withdraw the domicile certificates,” he said. Mahajan asked the government to create employment avenues for unemployed educated youth of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two…

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India is weaponizing its Spiritual Tourists

Editor

Pilgrims headed to the divided region of Kashmir get armed guards and national encouragement — if they’re Hindu. By – Raksha Kumar Every July, thousands of buses, trucks, cars, mules, and palanquin bearers crawl up 12, 768 treacherous feet of mountainous terrain to reach the Amarnath cave, where a smooth ice stalagmite dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva reaches up from the cave floor. The devotees heading for this linga (a Hindu term for venerated, somewhat phallic objects) are making one of the most dangerous pilgrimages in India — not…

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Basant Rath a senior IPS officer of J&K cadre suspended for ‘Gross misconduct and misbehavior’

Editor

Senior IPS officer of J&K cadre Basant Rath was on Wednesday suspended by the Union Home Ministry for “gross misconduct and misbehaviour”. Rath, a 2000 batch IPS officer, has been attached to Police Headquarters in Jammu and has been asked not to leave the headquarters without permission from the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police. The order issued by the Home Ministry stated that disciplinary proceedings against Rath were “contemplated in connection with repeated instances of gross misconduct and misbehaviour, which have been brought to the notice of the…

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Kashmir observed shuts down on Burhan Wani’s 4th death anniversary

Editor

Shutdown was observed in many parts of Kashmir on the fourth death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir in 2016. The shutdown was observed despite that the J&K Police on Tuesday registered a case under stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and for public mischief under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) claiming that the strike call by Syed Ali Geelani was fake as per his family sources. In Srinagar, shops mostly remained shut. The private traffic, however, plied normally. The attendance of…

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Since August 5, 2019, the UN made its third communication on J&K public

Editor

Four Special Rapporteurs express ‘grave concern over alleged excessive use of force, ill-treatment during arrests and detentions’ United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs have made public their third communication forwarded to India since the August 5, 2019 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, expressing “grave concern over alleged excessive use of force, ill-treatment during arrests and detentions”. Four UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions; on minority issues; and on freedom of religion or belief —…

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