Year: 2018

Amarnath Yatra flagged off from Jammu, Gets largest-ever security cover

Editor

The first batch of 2,995 pilgrims, including 120 sadhus, left the Jammu base camp in 110 vehicles on Wednesday morning for the holy Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir. The convoy was escorted by security forces. K Vijay Kumar and BB Vyas, both Advisers to the Governor, along with Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam flagged off the first batch of pilgrims. A traditional puja was performed before the flagging off ceremony at Bhagwati Nagar here. This year, two convoys departed from Jammu — one for Chandanwari at Pahalgam and another for Baltal…

Read More

Bipin Rawat dismisses UN report on alleged rights violations in Kashmir as ‘Motivated’

Editor

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday dismissed the recent UN report on alleged human rights violations in Kashmir as “motivated” and asserted that Indian Army’s record in this regard is “absolutely above board”. “I don’t need to speak about the human rights record of the Indian Army. It is well known to all of you, it is well known to the people of Kashmir, and to the international community,” Gen. Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on cyber security here. “The human rights record of the…

Read More

UN report opportunity for India, Pakistan to reboot Kashmir Policy

Editor

The exhaustive 49-page report, which urged all parties to end the cycles of violence and ensure accountability for past and present abuses, has generated palpable buzz in both India and Pakistan. The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, noted the report, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. “It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, and continues to this day inflict untold suffering,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urging…

Read More

Heavy rains likely across Kashmir Valley in next few days

Editor

Kashmir is likely to receive downpour over the next few days with the state weather department predicting heavy rainfall at isolated places in the region. A spell of rain is expected to begin tonight or tomorrow and will intensify across many parts of the Valley from Thursday, the Srinagar Meteorological Centre said in its forecast bulletin on Tuesday. The Centre’s forecast said fairly widespread rainfall was likely across the Kashmir valley between Thursday and Saturday, while rainfall at scattered locations was expected tomorrow. It also warned that heavy rainfall was…

Read More

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits to counter UNHRC report on Kashmir

Editor

Two weeks after the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a controversial report on Kashmir, the displaced Kashmiri Hindus have decided to counter the document by formulating a comprehensive report on the excesses and massacres committed by Pakistan-supported terror groups in J&K since 1989-90. Activists and representative groups of 3.5 lakh Pandits have already rejected the first-ever document prepared under UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, for its allegedly biased and partisan view. The community has said that the UN had ignored the plight of…

Read More

‘You don’t need any security as you are our guests’: Hizb welcomes Amarnath pilgrims

Editor

Two days ahead of the beginning of the annual Amarnath yatra, the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group in Kashmir has apparently said it has no plans to attack the pilgrimage. An audio message believed to be from Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo sought to assure pilgrims that they could go on the yatra this year even without security cover. “You don’t need any security as you are our guests,’’ Naikoo said in the 15-minute audio clip being circulated on social media. It also stated Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from…

Read More

High alert ahead of Yatra, Defence minister visits Valley to take stock of security arrangments

Editor

The Nunwan Base Camp here has been converted into a fortress ahead of the commencement of the annual Amarnath Yatra, which will begin on Thursday, as security for this year’s pilgrimage was heightened to thwart any rerun of last year’s militant attack that left eight pilgrims dead and several injured. Police and CRPF and other forces have been deployed in large numbers around the Nunwan Base Camp located at the entry of this buzzing tourist town. The first security checkpoint was established and activated near the Langanbal bridge where police…

Read More

Governor’s rule in J&K presents chance to formalise ‘All-Party Long-Term Strategy’ for state

Editor

The recent collapse of the PDP-BJP political coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, has once again led to the imposition of Governor’s Rule in the state. This is undoubtedly a combination of political gamesmanship and the deteriorating security situation in the Valley. The killing of the journalist, police personnel and the army soldier on his way home for Eid, were the proverbial ‘last nail in the coffin’. The timing of the abrogation of the alliance was to a great extent, influenced by the increased threats to the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra. A…

Read More

Sardar Patel was ready to give Kashmir to Pakistan in lieu of Hyderabad: Saifuddin Soz

Editor

Calling Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel “great sons of India”, Soz said Sardar Patel was a pragmatist and in “good faith, offered Kashmir to Liaquat Ali Khan”, the first prime minister of Pakistan. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was willing to give Kashmir to Pakistan in exchange of Hyderabad, but Jawaharlal Nehru was keen that the region remained with India, senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz said on Monday at the release of his book on Kashmir. The Congress had asked all its leaders to stay away from the event, but former Union minister…

Read More

Cops seek to ensure low-key funeral of militants in Kashmir Valley

Editor

While there is no change in policy under governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on handing over bodies of local terrorists killed in anti-terror operations to their families, J&K police are ensuring that their funerals remain uneventful with only close relatives and limited number of people from the village in attendance. “The bodies of all four Islamic State-influenced terrorists killed in Anantnag on Friday were handed over to their respective families. Mobile internet services in the home village/town of the slain terrorists as well as adjoining areas were suspended to…

Read More