Pellet terror returns to hunt Kashmir, scores injured in Shopian, Kulgam

At least ninety persons sustained fire arm injuries, sixty of them from pellets, after they clashed with the government forces in South Kashmir’s Kulgam and Shopian districts One of the injured includes, Yawar Ahmad, who received bullet in his abdomen at Kulgam and is reported to be in critical condition. In Kulgam clashes erupted after youth tried to break the cordon laid down by the forces to save the trapped militants after the pre-dawn Ramzan meals were over. Thousands of people thronged the gunfight site at Mohamadpura, Kulgam and clashed…

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India not allowing us to visit, allegations of human rights violations very grave: UN Special Rapporteur

Nilz Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, said that the allegations that ‘550-page report on human torture in Kashmir’ by two local NGOs is making are very serious and might be very grave violations of human rights. He said that despite making several requests to the Indian government for the visit, “He hasn’t received any response so far.” When asked in an interview, if the Indian state can be held accountable under the UN convention against torture, he responded that while no state can be forced to ratify a…

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To Create ‘Hindu Soldiers’ Hindu Mahasabha gave knives to Schoolkids

“If Hindus want to protect themselves and their nation, they should learn how to use weapons,” says Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha has distributed knives among students from class X to XII to commemorate the birth anniversary of Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. At the event on Tuesday, Mahasabha spokesperson Ashok Pandey said that Savarkar’s dream was “Rajniti ka hindukaran and Hinduo ka Sainikikaran (Hinduisation of politics and militarisation of Hindus). Modiji has fulfilled the first part of his dream with his landslide victory in…

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Muslims community facing severe difficulties as VDC in a Nizamabad village declare social boycott against them

The Village Development Committee in Balkonda, Nizamabad district, has decided to levy heavy penalty on those who maintain any social or commercial relations with the Muslims in the village. According to a published report, the VDA is targeting the Muslims with the social and commercial boycott to pressurize them to give up their claim over a graveyard. The panel has resorted to severe embargo when the local mosque committee which has filed a case in the local court declined to withdraw it. The committee said that any person who speaks…

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Kashmir Issue close to our hearts, linking it with terrorism violation of international law: OIC

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday said the Jammu and Kashmir issue “is close to our hearts” and “linking it with terrorism is a violation of international law”. “The Jammu and Kashmir crises is close to our hearts and is one of the most important issues on the agenda of the organization of Islamic Cooperation, and therefore our commitment to the Jammu and Kashmir cause has been and will remain firm,” said OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen. He said Kashmir movement is a “legitimate struggle” of…

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GDP slipping, Unemployment on rise and we still voted for Vikas?

Promises around development and economic growth were aplenty in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections 2019 but did they have any desirable effect on voters’ mindset? Detailed accounts and reports suggest that the country’s overall growth was not among top factors that helped Narendra Modi’s party cruise to a landslide victory. Modi’s social outreachIndependent journalist Kunal Purohit, who travelled extensively across the country’s hinterlands before the 2019 elections, reported that rising unemployment, farm distress and growth slowdown were not major concerns among voters residing in India’s poverty-stricken rural belts.…

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PDP advocating for a joint initiative to safeguard J&K’s interests

Expressing concern on the attempts being made to fragment the mandate in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today asserted that it shall be open for a joint response to the new political challenges the state was facing. A PDP spokesman, in a statement, said that the concerns were expressed by the members of political affairs committee of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ Democratic Party which met here under the chairmanship of party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. He said that the party patron Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Abdul…

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Juma-tul-Vida will be observed as Youm-e-Qudus, Youm-e-Kashmir: Hurriyat Conference (M)

As a convention, Hurriyat Conference (M) has announced that Juma-tul-Vida (last Friday of Ramadan) will be observed as Youm-e-Qudus and Youm-e-Kashmir—urging imams and khateebs to raise their voice for the peaceful settlement of the world’s two oldest and lingering disputes—Palestine and Kashmir on this day and to press on the international community to play its role towards solution of these disputes. Hurriyat spokesperson said that “that on the occasion of Youm-e-Qudus and Youm-e-Kashmir, a resolution framed by the Joint Resistance Leadership will be passed in all the masjids, shrines, and…

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At 42.8°C Jammu sizzles witnesses season’s hottest day

A blistering heat wave swept across the Jammu region on Wednesday as the day temperature soared to season’s highest so far. At 42.8°C, the city recorded 3.7 degrees above the normal temperature. According to the meteorological department, Jammu record the hottest day of this summer so far with the mercury rising to 42.8°C. On Tuesday, Jammu day’s temperature was 41.1 degrees Celsius and it was two notches above the normal. In Katra, the base camp of the holy cave shrine of Goddess Vaishno Devi, the day temperature settled at 38.9°C…

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One Civilian killed, 70 injured as protestors help rebels escape the siege

A man was killed and at least 70 people were injured in clashes in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday as protestors helped rebels escape two separate sieges by government forces, police and hospital authorities said. While protests in support of the surrounded rebels have increased on the Indian side of the divided territory in recent years, it is rare for insurgents to escape. Militant groups fighting the 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed there demand independence or a merger with Pakistan. Thousands of villagers poured onto roads Wednesday as two suspected rebels fought…

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