Posts by Editor | Kashmir POST

Kashmir is facing the new monster of drugs, Geelani joins the fight

July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 Editor

After Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Geelani today became the second senior separatist leader to join a growing campaign against rising drug addiction in the Valley. In a statement, which his group described as a “stimulating message”, the separatist leader said Kashmir was facing “a new and unique monster of drugs, running deep in society and threatening its existence”. “Health experts and institutions reveal horrifying data that no sane person wants to believe. After 2015, there is addition of more than 6,000 addicts every year, which indicates a good number…

Highway Ban: Admin urged to find ways for tackle yatra traffic woes

July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 Editor

Showing resentment over restrictions on the movement of civilians on the national highway, custodian of ‘Chhari Mubarak’ (the holy mace of Lord Shiva) Mahant Deependra Giri urged the government to devise a proper mechanism to tackle the traffic woes due to the ongoing Amarnath yatra. “It’s good to take precautionary measures but at the same time, a mechanism should be devised to minimise the inconvenience caused to the local population,” Giri told reporters after the holy mace was taken to Pahalgam in south Kashmir on Tuesday. The restrictions on the…

High Court quashes state govt for rising road accidents

July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 Editor

The High Court on Tuesday pulled up the State Government over 48 deaths in two separate road accidents on Mughal road, and in Kishtwar district, in less than a month. It directed administrative heads of departments concerned, and top police and traffic officials to file responses to a plea seeking action against officers from different departments for “dereliction of duty”, within three weeks. A division bench of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Sindhu Sharma, issued the directions on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Intakhab Ahmed Qazi.…

Better cricket facilities would have helped me: Parvez Rasool

July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 Editor

South Kashmir cricketer Parvez Rasool on Tuesday said he would have performed better if the state had the right cricket infrastructure. However, he asserted that things had started to improve as the J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) was on job to groom players from the grass-roots. “I could have performed better, but I stayed back due to a few things. I did not get the required infrastructure here as there were no turf wickets then. Whatever facilities are available outside, we do not even have five percent of it. The JKCA…

Windstorm, Heavy rains wreaked havoc in parts of north Kashmir

July 16, 2019July 16, 2019 Editor

Windstorm followed by heavy rains and hailstorm wreaked havoc in parts of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Monday by damaging trees and residential houses. The storm caused extensive damage to standing crops and apple orchards mostly in Zaingeer belt including Mundji, Hardishiva, Takiya khan, Duroo, Warpora, Janwara and other villages. Reports quoting locals said that heavy rain, strong winds and hailstorm lasted for half an hour. It uprooted dozes of apple and willow trees and damaged rooftops of several residential houses. The area has witnessed adverse weather several…

Modi govt will never misuse NIA law: Amit Shah

July 16, 2019July 16, 2019 Editor

Refuting opposition’s claims of “misuse” of the NIA law, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asserted that the Modi government will never abuse it to target anyone but will ensure that terrorism is finished off irrespective of the religion of the accused. In an intervention during a discussion in Lok Sabha on the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Shah also targeted the Congress-led UPA government for repealing the anti-terror act POTA, saying it was not done because of its alleged misuse but to “save its vote bank”. He said…

Boycott political parties favoring abrogation of Articles 370, 35A: Shah Faisal

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 Editor

President of Jammu and Kashmir’s Peoples Movement Shah Faesal on Sunday said that people should “socially boycott” the political parties that favor abrogation Articles 370 and 35-A. Shah Faesal while addressing a public outreach program organised by People’s United Front (PUF) here in north Kashmir said, “Jammu and Kashmir has an existential threat at this time as special status of the state is under threat. People should stand up against the parties who are talking about scrapping the special status of the state. People should go for a social boycott…

Separate township for Kashmiri Pandits a necessity: Satya Pal Malik

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 Editor

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has attacked Kashmiri political leaders, saying they had lost the faith of their own people, citing the low voting percentage in their constituencies in the recent Lok Sabha elections. In an interview, Malik also downplayed the impact of traffic being blocked in the Valley to give way to buses carrying pilgrims to the Amarnath cave shrine. Edited excerpts: I want to start off by asking you about Article 35A (which gives special privileges to natives of J&K). Your office has not said anything in…

Three-point political charter for J&K: Omar Abdullah

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 Editor

Recently, the newly appointed Union home minister, Amit Shah, made his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It garnered a lot of attention, with the people of the state and keen Kashmir-watchers eager for clues that would indicate how the new incumbent would handle the state compared to his immediate predecessor. I will resist the urge to dissect the visit because that has already been done many times over, and I doubt I will add any fresh insight into what is already in the public domain. I will, however,…

‘Secured Camps’ in Kashmir to resettle Pandits: Ram Madhav

July 13, 2019July 13, 2019 Editor

The Bharatiya Janata Party will revive a plan to build secured camps to resettle scores of Hindus in the Kashmir Valley, senior leader Ram Madhav said, a proposal that would almost certainly heighten tensions in the restive region. Madhav, who is the BJP national general secretary responsible for Kashmir, said his party was committed to helping bring back some of the estimated 200,000-300,000 Hindus who fled the Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of an armed revolt that began in 1989. “Their fundamental rights of returning to the valley have…