Year: 2015

Land for press club identified at Polo View

Editor

The state government has identified land at Polo View in the city here for the purpose of establishing a press club for media persons, according to official documents. The state government’s Information Department is working on a proposal to establish a press club for media persons and land measuring 5 kanals at Polo View has been identified for the purpose. The land belongs to the Housing and Urban Development Department. “The concept and design for the proposed Press Club have been prepared through INTACH. After finalisation of the DPR and…

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Beef ban row claims most of J&K Assembly’s autumn session

Editor

Bulk of the proceedings of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly’s eight-day autumn session were washed away due to the unruly scenes and uproar surrounding the beef ban in the state. The Assembly witnessed one of its lows in its 64-year history as three BJP MLAs thrashed independent MLA from Langate Sheikh Abdul Rashid inside the House for hosting a beef party. The PDP and the BJP, partners in the coalition government, did not take a public stand on the issue of beef ban and Congress also maintained a silence over it.…

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Rumour mongers will be booked under PSA, says DC

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday ‘warned’ to book those involved in spreading rumours under Public Safety Act (PSA), following recovery of carcass of a cow and attack on a Kashmir-bound truck in Udhampur. “We have warned the rumour mongers that strict action would be taken against them and they would be booked under Public Safety Act (PSA), for disrupting the peace, security and creating law and order problem in the state”, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Udhampur Shahid Iqbal Choudhary told PTI. The decision was taken after it turned out…

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Raped at 17, woman records statement in J&K court after 28 years

Editor

Twenty-eight years after she was allegedly gang-raped, a middle-aged woman has recorded her statement in a court in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir. She was 17 when four men allegedly abducted her from home in Nadihal area of Bandipora district on June 3, 1987, according to the complaint. She was then taken and confined to a hotel in Srinagar where she was allegedly repeatedly raped by the accused for 12 days. “We got the victim to record her statement in the court of Principal District and Sessions Judge Bandipora…

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Army intensifies patrolling along Jammu-Srinagar highway

Editor

Following Friday’s attack on a Kashmir Valley-bound truck in Udhampur, the Indian Army on Sunday intensified patrolling along the Jammu-Srinagar highway to keep anti-social elements at bay. “The army has intensified patrolling on the Jammu-Srinagar highway to prevent any untoward incident,” top sources in the army told IANS here. “Immediately after the unfortunate event in which miscreants attacked a truck parked in Udhampur area, the army has intensified patrolling in areas on the highway to ensure hassle-free, smooth passage of vehicles from the two sides,” the sources said. Miscreants lobbed…

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26% J-K population uses tobacco products: Expert

Editor

With 26 per cent population of J&K using tobacco products in one form or the other, the state is becoming a “lung cancer capital of India”. This was revealed by Dr NC Prabhakar, a resource person for an anti-tobacco campaign, at a workshop here. He said India is at No 3 in the production of tobacco products and second as the consumer in tobacco products in the world. He said 3.8 per cent population of the J&K smokes “bidis” while 8 per cent use smokeless tobacco products. “The prevalence of…

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Nehru & Sheikh “Sinners “ ?

Editor

By B L Saraf Come October mixed feelings cross our mind. October, 1947 witnessed Jammu &Kashmir history being written in blood . But it also saw hope springing up from the debris . Pakistan aided tribal looters plundered the state ; Maharaja’s decision to accede to the Indian union ushered in a dawn of hope . It is time to take stock of things . For the nationalists it is a month to celebrate , albeit with some reservations ; for the separatists it is time to mourn unconditionally .…

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Documenting The Horror That Was Kashmir

Editor

A report finds some officials of the Indian Army responsible for various massacres in J&K. However, the guilty are yet to be brought to justice. On 5 October 1996, at around 7.30 pm 20-30 gunmen of Ikhwanul Muslimoon “in civilian clothing and long military boots” led by their commander Abdur Rashid Parray alias Billa drove in a truck into Sadrekoot-Bala, a hamlet on the periphery of the village Hajin, it was the Valley’s counter-insurgency capital then, ruled by its dreaded supremo Kuka Parray. They knocked at the house of Ghulam…

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Kashmir-bound truck attacked in Udhampur, 3 injured, 6 accused arrested

Editor

Three persons, including a policeman, received burn injuries when a Kashmir-bound truck was attacked with a petrol bomb in Udhampur district of Jammu division last night following which six persons have been arrested. “CCTV footage helped us nab two persons who were seen throwing combustible substance on a Kashmir-bound truck at Shiv Nagar area of the district,” Deputy Commissioner (DC) Udhampur, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, told PTI. After questioning of the two accused, they revealed the identity of four more persons who were involved in the attack on the truck last…

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The Beef Issue and Kashmir’s Identity

Editor

The State of Jammu & Kashmir is “a Hindu State, situated in Muslim surroundings”, Vallabhbhai Patel wrote to one C. Parmeswaram of Kashmir Metal Mart on 19 June 1946 (Sardar Patel’s Correspondence; Vol. 1, p.4). On its accession to secular India, the State lost its Hindu personality. As Prime Minister of the State, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah did  the rest, earning Patel’s hostility, of the communal ruler Hari Singh and his followers in Jammu, the Praja Parishad. The BJP is its descendant. But, remnants of what was an admittedly Hindu State…

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