Month: September 2018

Day began with Abductions, ended with Funeral; Three Cops abducted, shot dead in Shopian

Editor

On Thursday evening, Firdous Ahmad, 28, a police follower from Batagund — a sleepy village in Shopian — had returned home to announce his public resignation during the Friday congregational prayers at Jamia Masjid in the district due to the constant militant threats. But hours before he could do that, he was abducted by militants along with two other policemen from adjacent villages and shot dead. The killings of the two police employees and a special police officer have sent shock waves across the country. Villagers say the toll could…

Read More

Resignation videos emerge across Kashmir after three cops where kidnaped and killed

Editor

Shortly after the bodies of three policemen killed by militants were found in south Kashmir’s Shopian today, several videos messages emerged on social media that purportedly show special police officers announcing their decision to resign. A senior Kashmir police officer said they are yet to authenticate the claims being made in the video messages. At least six such messages have emerged and are being circulated widely. The Union Home Ministry in Delhi, however, rebutted the claims. “Jammu and Kashmir Police have confirmed that these reports are untrue and motivated. These…

Read More

Ahead of Local Elections, Panchayat offices under attack in Kashmir

Editor

In the first 48 hours of nominations opening for 422 municipal wards, not a single candidate has applied. Just weeks ahead of local elections in Jammu and Kashmir, panchayat offices are being set on fire in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last four days, eight panchayat offices have been set on fire. The police complaints or FIRs accuse only unnamed people and so far nobody has been arrested. The centre is determined to go ahead with the polls despite boycott by the two main regional parties – National Conference and…

Read More

Three Special Police Officers’s, Cop’s brother abducted by militants in Shopian

Editor

Militants abducted three policemen and the brother of a cop in Shopian district of south Kashmir last night. An official said that the militants abducted three Special Police Officers (SPOs) and a civilian during raids in two villages of the district. Those abducted were identified as Firdous Ahmad Kuchey and Kuldeep Singh – both residents of Batgund Shopian, and Nisar Ahmad Dhobi and Fayaz Ahmad Bhat, residents of Kapran. Nisar Ahmad is the brother of a policeman. Last month, militants abducted eleven relatives of the state police personnel in retaliation…

Read More

Pakistan releases special stamps of Burhan, Pellet Victims

Editor

Slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani has been declared a ‘freedom icon’ by Pakistan as they expressed their solidarity with Kashmiris in their ‘fight against the Indian oppression’. To commemorate the ‘victims of atrocities by Indian troops in Kashmir’, Pakistan has issued 20 such special postage stamps. A Times of India report quoted a senior official of Pakistan Post as saying that stamps — many with disturbing images – were issued from its headquarters in Karachi on July 24 to locally and internationally highlight the plight of people living in…

Read More

HC seeks action taken report, particulars of officers who approved substandard drugs in J&K

Editor

Disapproving government’s tardy approach to act against influx of substandard drugs, the High Court has sought action taken report with regard to the substandard drugs especially found to have been supplied by J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd. “Let the State of Jammu & Kashmir to file an affidavit placing before this Court the action taken in respect of the sub-standard medical samples more specifically the sub-standard drugs found to have been supplied by J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Ltd,” division bench of Chief Justice Gita Mittal and justice D S Thakur…

Read More

Imran seeks resumption of Indo-Pak talks, writes to Modi

Editor

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the Foreign Office said here Thursday, seeking to re-start the bilateral talks on key issues “challenging the relationship” including on terrorism and Kashmir. In the letter dated September 14, the cricketer-turned-politician, who became the prime minister last month, proposed a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month. “Building on the mutual desire for peace between…

Read More

Article 35A Row united Kashmir: Saif-u-Din Soz

Editor

Senior Congress leader Professor Saif-u-Din Soz Wednesday said Kashmir must unite for seeking dismissal of petitions challenging Article 35A before the Supreme Court, and advised New Delhi to take the course of talks with the angry people of Kashmir. “Perhaps, the Joint Resistance Leadership could talk better, if the talks had opened,” Soz said, addressing reporters at his Humhama residence. “I congratulate the Kashmiris for showing unity in defending the special position of Jammu and Kashmir enshrined in constitution of India and in constitution of J&K.” The veteran Congress leader…

Read More

Amid boycott calls, Congress to fight local polls in J&K

Editor

The Congress on Wednesday announced its participation in the local bodies’ elections being held in Jammu and Kashmir from October to December days after saying the situation was not conducive for the polls amid a spike in militant violence in the state. “We cannot leave the field open for the BJP and the RSS,’’ said state Congress chief Ghulam Ahmad Mir. He said the secular forces should have joined hands to stop the “communal forces”. “The BJP was happy that some parties are not participating,’’ said Mir, while referring to…

Read More

Shambhulal Regar, Rajasthan man accused of murdering Muslim on camera set to contest Lok Sabha election

Editor

A lesser known political outfit, Uttar Pradesh Navnirman Sena, has decided to field Shambhulal Regar — accused of hacking a Muslim man to death and burning his body in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand — as its candidate from Agra Lok Sabha seat. Though Regar is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail, party leaders are confident that he would win the election. The Agra (reserved) Lok Sabha seat is presently represented by former union minister Ram Shankar Katheria who is the chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC). National president of UP…

Read More