In what is believed to be the first such confession to emerge from Pakistan, the country’s former spy chief Mohammad Asad Durrani has admitted that the Hurriyat was the creation of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Durrani, who served as the ISI chief from 1990-1992, the years when the armed separatist violence broke out in Kashmir for the first time on a mass scale, said, “I think that the formation of the Hurriyat to provide a political direction to the resistance was a good idea.” But what he didn’t consider a…
Read MoreMonth: May 2018
Govt hints at fuel duty cut, as oppn mounts pressure over petrol-diesel prices
Record fuel prices have triggered a political row, with the Opposition attacking the NDA government for not taking steps to cut taxes on fuel so as to provide some relief to consumers, even as petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government would work out a solution. Petrol prices touched fresh highs in Delhi and Mumbai on Monday, at Rs 76.57/litre and RS 84.40/litre respectively. Diesel prices in the two cities reached Rs 67.82 and RS 72.21 per litre. The Congress tweeted saying the Modi government was “fleecing” consumers. “The Modi…
Read MoreObjecting to army’s Iftar 4 persons injured in Shopian after soldiers fired into a gathering
Four girls were injured, one of them critically, after soldiers fired into a gathering of villagers who were objecting to the army setting up a stall for Iftaar in Shopian on Monday. Kashmir Post learnt 34 Rashtriya Rifles battalion of the army had set up an Iftaar refreshment stall outside a mosque in DK Pora, Imam Sahab area of Shopian. However, local residents said they objected to the stall set up by the army without informing them. This triggered a heated exchange between the people and the involved soldiers, which…
Read More‘Catch them alive and understand their grievances’: Security forces new mantra in Kashmir
In a departure from conventional approach, security forces battling militancy in Jammu and Kashmir have shifted focus on “catching them alive” and motivating them to return to their families. “Our effort is to catch them alive and understand their grievances. After all, a 15 or 16-year-old boy can’t be brainwashed to the extent that he would like to be killed in a gunfight. There has to be a counter-narrative,” a senior official engaged in counter-insurgency operations was quoted as saying by PTI. As per officials, the strategy of police and…
Read MoreRumor monger Sushil Pandit booked for spreading fake news about militant attack on CRPF
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday registered a case against Sushil Pandit for tweeting false information about a militant attack on the CRPF and killing of five personnel at Pampore. The move came days after the Central government announced a unilateral conditional ceasefire in Kashmir during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, suspending all operations against militants. Pandit, owner of Hive Communications India Pvt. Ltd, is often seen in many TV channels during panel discussions. “The Kashmir Police booked the twitter user after he posted a rumor from his…
Read MorePakistan says UNSC must end selectivity in implementing resolutions on Kashmir, Palestine disputes
Pakistan has said that the UN Security Council must end “selectivity” in implementing its resolutions, especially long-standing “disputes” such as Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi made the remarks during a Security Council debate here last week on ‘upholding international law within the context of the maintenance of international peace and security.’ “The Council needs to be more consistent and unbiased in its actions. Selectivity in implementation of its resolutions and decisions, especially on long-standing disputes, notably Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine must end.…
Read MoreNarendra Modi calls for ceasefire, Mehbooba praises the ‘Difficult Decision’
Arriving in Jammu and Kashmir days after the announcement of a ceasefire for Ramzan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appealed to youths to return to the mainstream, calling himself “a disciple of Kashmiriyat”. Welcoming the ceasefire as a sign of the Centre’s “big heart”, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti assured the PM that the people would respond to the gesture. Inaugurating the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydel Power Project, Modi said in Srinagar, “Whether it is the withdrawal of thousands of cases against students or the decision of ceasefire taken in…
Read MoreNew York Times urges United States to help resolve Kashmir imbroglio
Terming India’s ceasefire in Kashmir for the month of Ramadhan an “olive branch” for starting dialogue process anew, New York Times in its editorial has suggested tripartite dialogue involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiris, while urging the US to channelize its efforts to end Kashmir imbroglio. “Yet the obvious and growing danger of the Kashmir conflict demands trying again and again, however elusive the goal. It may be too much to expect either side to surrender territorial claims on Kashmir, but India’s Ramadan olive branch, however inauspicious, could become the start…
Read More“Every stone picked by misguided youth destabilises Kashmir”: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his one-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, appealed to the Kashmiri youth to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream. PM Modi was speaking for the first time after the centre announced a unilateral “ceasefire” with terror groups during the month of Ramzan. “My appeal to these misguided youth is to return to the national mainstream, which is their own family, and participate in the development of Jammu and Kashmir,” PM Modi said while inaugurating the 330-MW Kishanganga power project. “Every stone or…
Read MoreLal Singh threatens to pull the govt down, if Rasna case not handed over to CBI
Dares Kashmiri politicians to hold rallies in Valley ‘Entire Jammu will be on roads if demands not met’ Challenging Kashmiri mainstream politicians to hold rallies in Kashmir like him, former Minister and BJP MLA, Chowdary Lal Singh on Sunday said that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti should order Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in Rasana-rape-and-murder case otherwise the “Dogras won’t care if the government remains or falls”. He was addressing a “Dogra Swabiman” rally which was attended by hundreds of people who marched from Samba and Kathua districts and reached…
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