Won’t let law be impeded: Mehbooba Mufti

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said her government would not allow law to be obstructed and that justice would be delivered in the Kathua rape and murder case even as Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association (JHCBA) president BS Slathia termed the charge-sheet filed by the Crime Branch as lopsided and full of discrepancies. “The law will not be obstructed by the irresponsible actions & statements of a group of people. Proper procedures are being followed, investigations are on the fast track & justice will be delivered,” the…

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#JusticeForAsifa, From Silence to a rush of empathy for the victim, Humanity Lost and Found

As soon as the bone-chilling details about rape and murder of a child in Kathua came to fore this week, the gruesome incident hogged the headlines in media. From TV studios in New Delhi to reputed newspaper like New York Times, the cries of justice for the victim, eight-year-old Asifa, have grown louder since. In its report headlined“an 8-Year-Old’s Rape and Killing Fuels Religious Tensions in India,” the New York Times wrote that the incident “seemed another isolated, horrific episode of sexual violence in India, perpetrated against a powerless girl…

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Outrage across India over Rape & Murder of 8 Year old Kathua girl

The groundswell of horror against the alleged bid to communalise the gory gang rape and murder of eight-year-old Asifa + in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua grew across the country on Thursday as outrage reminiscent of the Nirbhaya protests erupted on social media. On a day when junior foreign minister and former Army chief Gen V K Singh spoke forcefully for the hapless victim, J&K deputy CM Nirmal Singh said he had called for an explanation from two BJP colleagues — Lal Singh and Chandar Prakash Ganga — but said they…

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Rahul Gandhi leads ‘Silent Vigil’ in Delhi against Kathua and Unnao rapes, says protest not political

The Congress held the candlelight vigil near India Gate to protest the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu’s Kathua district as well the alleged rape of a teenager by UP BJP legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Congress president Rahul Gandhi led a “silent march” in Delhi on Thursday night to protest the gang rape and murder of a child in Jammu and Kashmir and a teenager’s allegation of rape against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh. “Women in India are scared to step out of their…

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People throng Khudwani gunfight site, contribute to rebuild houses

Hundreds of people thronged the house of Ghulam Mohammad Wani, for the second consecutive day on Thursday at Khudwani, in which the militants had taken shelter leading to a 16-hour long standoff between them and government forces which subsequently resulted in torching of three houses, along with Wani’s. Some 18 family members of Wani family were asked to vacate the house after militants took the position in their house. The stench of burnt petrol still filled in the environs at the encounter site making one feel nauseated. Locals claim that…

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PDP, BJP partners in crime, Kashmiris may have to pay with blood: Tassaduq Mufti

Although Mufti is not the party’s official spokesman, his views carry weight because besides being a minister in the PDP-BJP government, he is also son of the late PDP patron and former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. In perhaps the strongest indictment by the Peoples Democratic Party of its alliance with the BJP since it came to power in 2015, J&K Tourism Minister Tassaduq Mufti has said that the two parties have “ended up being partners in a crime (for which) an entire generation…

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Uncertainity, Continuous bloodshed take toll on Kashmir businesses to dire straits

Surrounded by huge contingency of forces in a narrow lane, Bashir Ahmad Hakim sips tea outside his grocery shop at Malaratta neighbourhood of Nowhatta in the downtown, which is shut due to curfew like restriction imposed by the government. He is worried as in last two weeks his shop has remained closed for six days causing him business losses of over Rs 20,000. Underneath the signboard of ‘Enn Provisional Store’ Hakim is holding a casual talk with passersby and sometimes with the personnel deployed in the area. The worry of…

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J&K Police competent to probe Kathua rape case: DGP Vaid

The Jammu and Kashmir police has no objection if the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district is assigned to the CBI but it is as competent as any investigation agency to handle the case, state DGP SP Vaid asserted on Thursday. He also rejected as “misconception” claims that the crime branch team probing the matter had no member from the Jammu region while emphasising that police officers perform their duties rising above regional or religious identities. “If we can we fight terrorism and stone pelting, why…

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Pro-rapist rallies allowed in Jammu, bullets and curfews ‘Order of the day’ in Kashmir: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday slammed Jammu and Kashmir government for its “duplicity”, saying in Jammu pro-rapist rallies were being allowed while in Kashmir bullets and pellets have become “order of the day.” “Goons of #JammuBar &Political opportunists given a free run to enforce the despicable pro-rapist bandh in #Jammu while in #Kashmir bullets,pellets,curfews,arrests,gags,closing of Edu.Institutions order of the day “to maintain law&order”&“prevent untoward incidents”!What duplicity!” (sic) Mirwaiz wrote on Twitter. On Wednesday, four civilians were killed in forces action in Khudwani area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam…

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