Month: September 2018

Will boycott local polls unless assured protection for Article 35A: National Conference

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Days after National Conference appealed the people to vote in the upcoming municipal and Panchayat elections, the party Wednesday said it will not participate the elections unless the government of India and the state government assure protection for Article 35A. President of NC, Farooq Abdullah announced the decision after chairing a meeting of the core group, the party’s highest decision making body in which challenges to article 35A were also discussed. “The core group unanimously decided that National Conference will not participate in these (Panchayat and ULB) elections unless and…

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‘Rat fever’ kills 9 in flood battered Kerala, 37 more suspected

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Following severe flooding, 196 leptospirosis (rat fever) cases and nine deaths have been confirmed in Kerala since August 15. Another 37 suspected deaths are awaiting laboratory confirmation, said the state health minister, KK Shailaja, on Monday. Among the dead are five relief workers. “There is no need of panic but we have to be extra vigilant for at least three weeks. I have instructed health officials to engage with relief workers only after taking doxycyline tablets,” the minister said. Antibiotics are used to treat leptospirosis, which is a bacterial disease…

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South Kashmir residents fearing collateral damage while building two-story houses

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Abdul Wahab of Daramdor hamlet of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district has given up the idea of constructing the second floor to his single-storied house due to the fear of frequent gunfights in the district which often leave the houses razed. He says his elder son is married and the younger one is expected to get married next summer before which he had plans to add another floor to his house. “There are so many gunfights in south Kashmir districts day in and day out. I told my wife to let…

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Boycott Urban Local Bodies, Panchayat polls: Joint Resistance Leadership

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Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik Monday said that people of Jammu and Kashmir will boycott the upcoming urban local bodies and panchayat polls as these polls are aimed at diluting the Kashmir issue. In a joint statement issued after deliberations at Geelani’sHyderpora residence, the leadership said that while the “Damocles sword is kept hanging over us on the issue of Article 35A, the Government of India now wants to thrust panchayat and municipal elections on us through additional deployment of…

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Militants escape despite face-off with forces thrice: ADGP Munir Khan

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Militants and government forces had a face-off thrice on Monday during a daylong search operation in several villages of Pulwama. Each time, militants managed to escape. “There was general input about the presence of militants,” said additional director general of police (ADGP) law and order, security Munir Khan. However, Pulwama residents said more than a dozen villages—Chewkalan, Muran, Naira, Rohmu, Belaw, Mitrigam, Gasu, Chek, Mirgund, Sheikhpora, Hanjan, Frasipura and Kamrazipura—were cordoned off for searches. Local residents hit streets and clashed with the forces to protest against the searches. One of…

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Ensure bias free legal stand on Article 35A, PDP urges Governor

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Taking a strong exception to the legal position taken by Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG), in the Supreme Court during the hearing on Article 35A, the PDP on Monday appealed to the newly appointed Governor to ensure a “bias-free and strong legal position of the state government”. In a statement, Rafi Mir, PDP chief spokesperson, said the PDP had always stood up for retaining and empowering the constitutional powers to Jammu and Kashmir and they strongly condemned the remarks made by the leading counsel in the matter.…

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Despite threats, BJP continues expansion efforts across Kashmir Valley

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Despite militant threats, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is continuing with efforts to expand its base in the Valley. The party is also eyeing members of the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities even as it is yet to register its maiden electoral win in Kashmir. “Yes, security is a major concern but nothing will stop us from our mission. On Monday, we had a workers’ convention in Anantnag. On Tuesday, a convention will be held in north Kashmir and on Wednesday, another meet will be organised in central Kashmir. These meetings…

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Fayaz Ahmad Wani, youth killed during anti-CASO protest in Pulwama

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A young man was killed and four others sustained injuries on Monday when government forces fired live ammunition into protesters during a massive search operation in several villages of Pulwama district. The slain man has been identified as Fayaz Ahmad Wani son of Muhammad Ahsan Wani of Chewa-Kalan, Pulwama. The operation occurred on the heels of recent abductions of policemen’s kin by militants in Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag. A police official said government forces launched a massive search operation in more than a dozen villages including Murran, Dadora, Shangarpora,…

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Sheikh Abdullah’s ‘Role’ in J&K’s accession to India: CIA Report

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Asserting that Sheikh Abdullah, founder of the National Conference (NC), the oldest political party in Kashmir, played an instrumental role in accession of Kashmir to India, a declassified report of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) states that a fair election in Kashmir at that time (1947) would have reversed the accession in favour of Pakistan. The CIA special report, titled “Sheikh Abdullah and The Kashmir Issue”, sent to the spy agency’s headquarters in 1964, stated that it was the Indian union which made much of Abdullah’s role so as to…

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Youth killed after forces open fire on protesters in Gusoo village Pulwama

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A youth was killed after the government forces fired live ammunition into protesters in Gusoo village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday. Reports said that youth hurled stones on the forces’ vehicles during a cordon-and-search-operation in the village. The forces, they said, responded by firing tear gas, pellets and live ammunition. A youth, identified as Fayaz Ahmad Wani, son of Muhammad Ahsan Wani of Chewa-Kalan, sustained a firearm injury during the clashes. Reports said that the injured has been shifted to district hospital Pulwama where from he was referred…

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