Month: August 2016

Seeing the new normal in Kashmir

Editor

From all assessments, the protests in the Valley are frighteningly spontaneous. Mehbooba Mufti, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, faces a terrible identity crisis. She has begun blaming Pakistan for encouraging young Kashmiris to take up arms and accused the country of pushing infiltration. Her lexicon of blame now echoes that of New Delhi, where it is fashionable to reflexively drag all blame to Islamabad. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has done it; Minister of Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu has done it; so also has Minister for External Affairs…

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Burhan Wani and the Power of the Internet misread in Kashmir

Editor

Derek O’Brien Years ago I read a definition of the difference between a nationalist and patriot. The nationalist loves his country, the patriot loves the people of his country. This one-liner came back to me recently as I considered the volatile and worrying situation in the Kashmir Valley, and how some people in India, on social media and on prime-time shows and in real life as well, unfortunately, seem to make a distinction between Kashmir, the land and Kashmiris, the people. As if the first is all-important to India and…

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Curfew, Clashes enters 35th Day across Kashmir Valley; Mobile network snapped

Editor

Curfew and protest shutdown continued to paralyse life in Kashmir for the 35th consecutive day on Friday. Kashmir is observing protests ever since Commander Burhan Wani was killed in south Kashmir on July 8. 58 civilians have been killed in armed forces actions in the past more than one month. 6000 people have been injured during the period. Last Friday (August 5) was one of the most violent days in the ongoing unrest witnessing three civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries in clashes across Kashmir. Police on Thursday issued a Friday…

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Kashmir; Controlled but Never Owned

Editor

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, most popular and acknowledged leader of his time, was quite influenced and inspired by the way India was going to emerge after its independence – democratic, socialist and secular; country with a hope for its poor and downtrodden sections of the society, constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights to its citizens. While Indian National Congress (INC) represented all segments of the population, the elite, working class, farmers and artisans, in contrast to Muslim League constituted mostly by the elites of the Indian Muslim society. Thus, Sheikh Abdullah must…

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Pepper gas punishes even ‘Non-Protesters’

Editor

As the unrest in the Valley continues for more than a month now, it has not only killed or maimed residents, buts also affected the health of people who are just caged inside their homes due to frequent use of pepper gas and teargas shells. In Srinagar’s downtown where dozens of neighbourhoods are interconnected by alleys making it a reason for frequent stone-throwing incidents, the police frequently use pepper gas and teargas shells to disperse the protesters, which is affecting the health of residents even when they are inside their…

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Doctors protest against ‘Indiscriminate’ use of pellet guns

Editor

The doctors tried to highlight the sufferings of patients who have lost vision or suffered eye injuries due to pellet guns. The doctors at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SHMS) on Wednesday came out to protest against use of pellet guns in the valley. Several doctors, including senior faculty members of the Government Medical College Srinagar and its associated hospitals like SMHS, gathered at the college campus for a sit-in against the ‘indiscriminate use of pellet guns’ by armed forces. Posing as pellet victims with a bandaged eye, the doctors…

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Ahead of Friday’s all-party meet on Kashmir, here’s a look at where different parties stand

Editor

After an almost eight-hour-long discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday accepted the demand of the Opposition for an all-party meeting on the issue. The meeting will take place on Friday at around 12 pm. It will be attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Responding to demands for initiating a political process in Kashmir, the home minister said the government is ready to have talks with mainstream parties, moderates and others. “We are ready. I will ask the chief…

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Police issues Friday Advisory

Editor

Appeals parents to stop wards from pelting stones, clerics asked not to make provocative speeches Apprehending violence after Friday prayers, Police has appealed people to stop their children from taking part in stone pelting besides asking clerics not to deliver provocative speeches. A police statement, issued in this regard, states: “It has been observed for last few Fridays that after the culmination of congregational prayers miscreants force people to assemble on the chowks and roads thus obstructing the normal traffic. Many a times these gatherings are manipulated to pelt stones…

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‘Modi’s statement on Kashmir a futile attempt at underplaying the struggle in Valley’

Editor

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry also criticised Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her reported statement that the present turmoil is “Halla Gulla” (commotion). Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Wednesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on Kashmir as a “futile attempt” at underplaying the ongoing struggle in the valley. Modi on Tuesday reached out to the people of turbulent Kashmir and indicated willingness to hold dialogue under the framework of ‘insaniyat (humanity), jamhuriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat’. “To connect the 70-year-old struggle for freedom and liberty of…

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Pakistan Zindabad slogans in Kashmir won’t be tolerated: Rajnath

Editor

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday told Rajya Sabha that slogans like “Pakistan Zindabad” that are chanted in the valley “won’t be tolerated” on Indian territory and appealed to Kashmiris to stop such elements. Lashing out at Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s comment on Kashmir, Rajnath said that no power on earth can separate Jammu & Kashmir from India. “Kashmir is an inseparable part of India. No power on earth can separate it from India,” Singh said while replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the current situation…

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