Month: May 2019

Turkish president, Erdogan calls on Muslim countries to unite and confront Israel

Editor

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Muslim leaders to unite and confront Israel, days after scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers as they marked 70 years of Israeli occupation. Speaking at an extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Friday, Erdogan said Israel should be held accountable over the killings which drew widespread international condemnation and triggered a wave of protests from Asia, through the Middle East, to North Africa. “To take action for Palestinians massacred by Israeli bandits is to show the whole world that humanity…

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Mohammad Jammal, PDP worker paid by his life as his family cast 5 of 7 votes in south Kashmir

Editor

Police officials said militants were behind Mohammad Jammal’s killing as they want to create fear among the people for the next elections to the assembly for which dates are yet to be announced. PDP worker Mohammad Jammal from South Kashmir’s Kulgam district knew casting his vote would not be easy this time, yet he insisted he and his family would not stay away from the polling booths. On April 29, the polling day, the 65-year-old from Zungalpora was unwell and could not go out to vote. But he made sure…

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As UN demands details on Civilian killings in Kashmir, India stops engagement on topic

Editor

UN experts have asked for clarification on 76 cases of torture and killings of civilians in the last 29 years. Three special rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) have written to India asking for details on steps taken to punish or provide justice to victims and their next of kin in 76 cases of torture and arbitrary killing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. The letter to the Indian government, dated March 18, is written by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard,…

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To prevent Eidgah march restrictions imposed in Downtown

Editor

Authorities have imposed restrictions in Srinagar on Tuesday to prevent a separatist-called commemoration march. The Hurriyat Conference has called for the march to the Martyrs Graveyard in the Old City’s Eidgah area to pay homage to two senior separatist leaders, Mirwaiz Moulana Moulvi Muhammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone, who were killed by unidentified assailants on this day in 1990 and 2002. Mirwaiz Moulana Moulvi Muhammad Farooq, the father of Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was killed at his residence in the outskirts of the city on May 21,…

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Caged within smartphones

Editor

While walking down the memory lane, we pre-2000 generation has a lot to cherish. Starting from open baths in nearby streams and rivers to playing gilli danda, all was pristine and natural. We still remember and cherish the social pluralism and shared neighbourhood wherein borderlines were irrelevant. It was breakfast at home, lunch at Payri jee’s house and dinner at Khal soab’s house. From every household the feeling of home was consistent and persistent. After the paddy harvest, the collection of left out individual paddy straws for some monetary benefits…

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Zanskar demands repolling

Editor

In a major political development ahead of the counting of votes on May 23, three of the four candidates from the Ladakh parliamentary constituency on Monday jointly wrote to the J&K Chief Electoral Officer, demanding repolling in the Zanskar subdivision of the region. Congress nominee Rigzin Spalbar and two Independents — Haji Asgar Ali Karbalai, who is a Congress rebel, and Sajjad Hussain Kargili, who has been backed by the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party and the influential Islamia School Kargil — have alleged malpractices at all polling stations in…

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Construction work continues by Nirmal Singh’s family against Army, HC order

Editor

Construction of a building by senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh’s family near an Army depot in the city’s outskirts is near completion, despite the High Court directing them last year to maintain status quo at the disputed site, officials said. The HC on May 7 last year had asked them to maintain status quo until final disposition of an Army plea which has claimed that the building was in violation of laid down norms.A palatial building is nearing completion in Ban village despite the order,…

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Ready to support India-Pakistan dialogue: Hurriyat

Editor

Urging India and Pakistan to take confidence-building measures (CBMs) or adopt a “step-by-step approach” over Kashmir, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Sunday said the Hurriyat was ready to support the dialogue if India and Pakistan initiated a fresh process over the issue. Mirwaiz said this while addressing a seminar. “The importance of dialogue in the backdrop of strained Indo-Pak relations” at the Rajbagh Hurriyat headquarters, organised by the amalgam to commemorate the anniversaries of Moulvi Muhammad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone. “We ask the BJP leadership to change…

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Won’t forgive Pragya Thakur for her remarks on ‘Bapu’: PM Modi

Editor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hammered his party’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur for calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, underlining that this kind of a language could not tolerated in a civilized society. “She has apologised. That is a different thing. But in my heart, I cannot forgive her,” said PM Modi. In an interview, the prime minister said: “Everything that has been said about Godse and Gandhi is horribly wrong and fit to be hated and criticised. Those who say this should think a 100 times…

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Man killed over allegation of cow smuggling in Bhaderwah

Editor

A Muslim man was fatally shot and another was injured by Hindu vigilantes in Bhaderwah, Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday over allegations of cow smuggling. A group of Hindu men intercepted the two Muslims in the outskirts of southeastern Bhaderwah town before dawn and shot at them after an altercation, police said. A 50-year-old man died and another man was injured. Residents say the attack was carried out by so-called cow vigilantes. The injured man, Yasin Hussain, told reporters the two were taking three horses, not cows, with them. He…

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