Year: 2018

Peace remains elusive in Kashmir as Valley remains on edge

Editor

Kashmir is the biggest internal security challenge that successive state governments and the Centre have had to grapple with. Modi promised to take Vajpayee’s formula of Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat forward, but peace remains a serious casualty. April 1 this year was not an ordinary Sunday. That day, 17 local Kashmiri men died. Of them, 13 were armed local militants and four were civilians — killed when they rushed to the encounter sites to protest against military action. The bloody Sunday was a reminder of the festering insurgency in Jammu…

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Churn in J&K BJP after Ministers’ exit

Editor

Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Singh was assigned two additional portfolios on Tuesday, which fell vacant after the resignation of two BJP Ministers in the wake of the Kathua rape-and-murder case. The decision has fuelled a rebellion within the party as BJP leaders insisted on “immediate reallocation of portfolios”. Party sources said all nine BJP Ministers have offered to resign before the State BJP president Sat Sharma, apparently miffed at the delay in reallocation. “No resignation was accepted and all leaders were asked to resume work,” said…

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How Kashmir’s women view the youth taking to guns

Editor

In times of war, they say, truth becomes the first casualty. To say that women become the second-biggest casualty in a conflict zone like Kashmir will be an understatement. Catch looks at the many ways in which the conflict is impacting the lives of women in the restive Valley since 1989 on a daily basis. More often than not, the narrative of victimhood remains the main contention in restive regions. The sufferings of women cannot be underestimated by any stretch of the imagination. In Kashmir, though, many women have also stood up…

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Cash crunch at ATMs could be the after-effects of demonetisation

Editor

Analysis suggests shortage of cash in ATMs could be a result of persistence of tightness in overall money supply after demonetisation. Over the past few days, multiple reports of non-functional ATMs have revived fears of a cash shortage in the economy. A statement issued by the ministry of finance on Tuesday tried to allay such fears. The statement notes that “there has been unusual spurt in currency demand in the country in last three months”. The statement also held out an assurance that adequate currency notes would be supplied to…

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Govt evicts 25 ex-MPs, MLAs, others from ‘illegally’ occupied quarters

Editor

The State government has evicted 25 former legislators and parliamentarians from the official quarters “illegally” occupied by them, while the eviction notices have been sent to 32 other political persons mostly former MLAs and ministers. The official documents accessed by the Kashmir Post reveal that the “eviction was not restrictive in nature but was initiated against all those occupants who have ceased to be entitled to retain the same”. The J&K Estates department has started the eviction process of vacating official quarters “illegally” occupied by the former ministers, legislators, Members…

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Expedite sanction for prosecution of accused CRPF personnel in Khanyar Massacre: SHRC to Govt

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The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has asked the government to expedite sanction for prosecution of the accused CRPF personnel for opening fire on a procession in Khanyar area in Downtown on 8 May 1991, killing 28 people. The accused CRPF personnel had opened fire on a procession at Khanyar carrying bodies of civilians killed in Dachigam and SaidaKadal, killing 28 civilians and injuring 52 people. Despite passing of 27 years, police is yet to translate the case file into English, causing delay in according sanction for prosecution of the…

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Govt to announce shifting of exam session to March before Darbar Move

Editor

The government is likely to make official announcement for implementation of March exam session in schools of the Valley before the shifting of offices from Jammu to summer capital Srinagar. The minister for education Syed Muhammad AltafBukhari said the official announcement for shifting of exams will be made before shifting of Darbar. “Order will be issued before Darbar moves from Jammu,” said Bukhari. The government is deliberating on shifting exam session from November to March for students from lower to higher secondary level. However the delay in official announcement is…

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Lal Singh defies BJP, returns to Kathua with a rallying cry for CBI probe, BJP dissociates from rally

Editor

BJP legislator Choudhary Lal Singh, who was reportedly asked by his party to resign for attending a rally in March in support of the accused in rape and murder of an eight-year-old child, addressed more than a dozen rallies on Tuesday to drum up support for a CBI-led investigation into the case. Singh addressed gatherings at Kootah, where family members and relatives of the accused have been holding a protest, and Satwari, Samba, Dayalachak, Barnoti, Chadwal, Rajpura, Hiranagar, Kali Bari, Kathua and some other places along the Jammu-Pathankot highway. He…

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It’s nostalgic to shoot in Kashmir: Abhishek Bachchan

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Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, who is here for the filmming of director Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Manmarziyaan’, said he has a special bond with Kashmir as he often accompanied father Amitabh Bachchan as a child during film shootings. “It is nostalgic for me because I have come here when my father used to shoot his films here. It is truly a heaven on earth and I am very happy to be back. It is still as beautiful as it used to be,” the actor said. Kashmir was once the favourite shooting location…

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Hope Beats Hate:Kathua rape-murder case petition biggest-ever Indian petition on Change.org

Editor

A Change.org petition started by a group of women from Jammu and Kashmir on the Kathua rape case has mobilised the support of over 15 lakh Indian citizens and has become the biggest ever Change.org petition in India. The petition started by a collective called Women’s Initiative for Justice for Kathua is addressed to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and asks for fair and fast tracked investigations by the Crime Branch to ensure justice for the victim. The petition, which has been widely tweeted by film and television celebrities like Hansal…

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