Year: 2018

Before seeking law’s repeal to lift AFSPA in J&K, ask separatists to halt Protests, Violence

Editor

The government deserves praise for lifting Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and most parts of Arunachal Pradesh. However, this must not act as a precedent to lift the law in Jammu and Kashmir. There has been no significant violence in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh as opposed to Jammu and Kashmir. It must be stressed that the application of AFSPA in itself can’t be condemned in isolation. Application of AFSPA is a necessary evil if the army is to operate in any given area. The recent statement by…

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Cash starving J&K first state to approve 7th pay commission

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Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday became the first state to approve the implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations for state government employees and pensioners with effect from January 2016. “The cabinet decision will benefit around five lakh employees and pensioners in the state. The financial implications will be Rs 4,201 crore per year while one-time arrears would cost the government Rs 7,477 crore,” J&K finance minister Altaf Bukhari said. “State government employees can now draw the salary for April 2018 as per the revised scales. Arrears of pensioners will…

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Exchange of fire in Tral forests, Policeman wounded, Army soldier succumbs; militants escape

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A gunfight broke out between militants and government forces at Laam forest area of Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday morning. Official sources said that a joint team of army’s 42 RR, SOG and CRPF have cordoned the forest of Goitango in Laam in Tral. As such the joint team intensified the combing operation, the militants hiding opened the fire triggering off a gunfight, they said. Following the brief exchange of gunfight, the militants believed to be three in number reportedly fled from the spot. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of…

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213 Militants, 80 Security personals, 40 Civilians, 2017 was bloodiest in past decade

Editor

With all parameters of violence and conflict-related deaths marking a spurt in Jammu and Kashmir, 2017 has emerged as the bloodiest year of the decade, according to official data. The number of conflict-related deaths in 2017 totalled 333, which was three times higher than the lowest number of 102 deaths recorded in 2012, the calmest year in the region in three decades. The latest spurt in violence, most of it centred in the Valley is, however, part of the growing reversal of efforts to contain insurgency which is gaining increasing…

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Jammu communally-divided on Kathua rape-murder

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From VHP to civil society, everyone making peace efforts Former minister ‘spreading hate’ in public rallies Congress defaming Govt: Dy CM Three months after the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in Rasana, Kathua, a debate has started across Jammu on whether the society had been divided on “communal lines” with certain politicians and rightwing groups “sowing seeds of hate and suspicion” creating a sense of insecurity among different communities. After the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008, Jammu witnessed a sharp divide among the different communities but…

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Two accused cops in Kathua rape- murder case move HC to quash Crime Branch probe

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The infamous Kathua rape and murder case on Monday took a new turn when two of the accused in the case filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking quashing of the Crime Branch investigation and a fresh inquiry into the case by the CBI. Advocate Veenu Gupta on Monday filed a writ petition on the behalf of Sub-Inspector Anand Dutta and Special Police Officer Deepak Khajuria. He said, “The chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch is full of discrepancies. “The investigation was shifted on three occasions from the…

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AFSPA goes from Meghalaya, restricted in Arunachal, Call for lifting from Kashmir Valley grows louder

Editor

The Union Home Ministry has removed Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya and reduced it to eight police stations in Arunachal Pradesh, an official said on Monday. “AFSPA was totally withdrawn from all areas of Meghalaya from April 1. In Arunachal, it is down from 16 police stations to eight,” the official said. The Act has however been extended by another six months in three eastern districts of Arunachal Pradesh — Tirap, Longding and Changlang — which border Myanmar and specific areas under eight police stations of seven…

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PDP’s Political Affairs Committee likely to discuss coalition issues, Kathua case

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The Peoples Democratic Party’s newly constituted Political Affairs Committee (PAC), during its first meeting scheduled this week, will review and discuss the emerging political situation in J&K. The 11-member PAC — the party’s highest decision-making body — was constituted by PDP president and Chief Minster Mehbooba Mufti three days ago. “The PAC will meet this week,” PDP spokesman Rafi Mir told Kashmir Post. PDP sources said while no major decision was expected to be taken in the first meeting of PAC, all issues about the party, its alliance with the…

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Ahead of cabinet reshuffle, BJP ministers seek slots by playing caste card

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The BJP is facing pressure from MLAs seeking portfolios in the council of ministers based on their caste ahead of the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet reshuffle which is likely to be carried out before 27 April. The Governor’s Office and the Chief Minister’s Office is slated to close in Jammu and open in Srinagar in May. According to BJP leaders, they are seeking an adequate representation of different castes, including Scheduled Castes (SCs) MLAs, Gaddis (Hindu nomads), Rajputs and Brahmins in the council. Of the 25 MLAs, the BJP has…

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Why India cannot accommodate a small Muslim majority state: Former RAW chief A S Dulat

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Amarjit Singh Dulat, former chief of the research and analysis wing (RAW) and the former special director of the intelligence bureau (IB), criticised India for not being able to “accommodate Kashmir”. He was speaking on Kashmir and the need of the hour to solve the problem, while delivering a lecture at Patrakar Bhavan in Pune, organised by Kakasaheb Gadgil Pratishthan. “I do not think we understand how much a Kashmiri wants to talk and how much he wants to be heard. When there is so much chaos, no one wants…

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