Month: July 2019

Probe human rights violations in Kashmir: UN Report

Editor

The United Nations has accused India again of human rights violations in Kashmir and has called for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the allegations. A 43-page report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday also called out Pakistan for detaining Kashmiri separatists in its portion of the disputed region. The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars so far over the Himalayan territory. The two countries came…

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India slams UN rights body over ‘False Narrative’ report on Kashmir

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India on Monday lodged a strong protest with the UN rights office over its report on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that it is merely a continuation of the earlier “false and motivated” narrative and ignores the core issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan. Last year, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its first-ever report on Kashmir and in an update of that report it claimed on Monday that “neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address…

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Allegations of land grab leveled against IPS officer Munir Ahmad Khan

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A week after top cop of Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) Munir Ahmad Khan was granted one-year extension as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, allegations of land grab have been levelled against him over a prime property in Srinagar. Munir Ahmad Khan and his wife Gulshareen had recently acquired a property in Srinagar. Trouble mounted for Munir Ahmad Khan after his Gupkar neighbour Bashir Ahmed Mir raised objections over the construction on the land and claimed it to be a “custodian land”. Bashir Ahmed Mir had…

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Committee framed to bring Kashmiri Pandits back: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

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In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind initiative, the separatist Hurriyat Conference (HC), led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and a four-member team of Kashmiri Pandits have come together to facilitate the return of Pandits who fled the Kashmir Valley by the thousands after militancy erupted in the state in 1989. A committee, comprising members from the separatist Hurriyat and Kashmiri civil society as well as migrant Pandits and those still living in the Valley, is being set up to coordinate the process, Mirwaiz said, “The return of Kashmiri Pandits is…

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Metropolitan development authorities meet to roll out Srinagar, Jammu Metro projects

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For a planned growth of twin capitals, the State Administrative Council has approved the areas to be included for the setting up of the Metropolitan Region Development Authorities for Jammu and Srinagar. The SAC, which met here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, also approved the Mass Rapid Transit Corporations for Jammu and Srinagar. The MRDA Act had been enacted in December 2018. “These Metropolitan Region Development Authorities are expected to serve the purpose of coordination, besides supervising proper, orderly and rapid development of the areas…

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Unknown Gunmen: Another reality of Kashmir

Editor

The encompassing proclivity of the armed conflict since decades has engulfed every corner of life in Kashmir. It is that part of the world where gunfights, strewn bodies of soldiers, mutilated militants—interminable wails in-between—and everything that tends to wrench a human heart transpires daily. The adamant duo, India and Pakistan, the nuclear-heads stakeholders of Kashmir conflict aren’t coming on the negotiating table, has only dragged the situation to a dead end in the Valley. During the 1990s, with militancy rising to a peak, the number of disappearances and unknown/unmarked graves…

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At 32.5 Srinagar records highest temperature of the season, Jammu at 41.0 continues to struggle with heat wave

Editor

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Wednesday recorded the season’s highest temperature at 32.5 degrees Celsius while the heatwave prevailed in Jammu, the metrological department said. The day temperature in Jammu settled at 41.0 degrees Celsius, around 4 degrees above normal. At 30.1 degrees Celsius, the night temperature in Jammu was up by around 4 degrees above season’s average. Jammu had recorded the season’s highest day temperature on June 10 when the mercury touched 44.4 degrees Celsius, while June 12 night was the hottest of the season at…

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Winning People’s Trust, Isolating Militant and Separatist, Strengthening Panchayat System, Centre’s strategy to improve Kashmir Situation

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With Parliament approving a six-month extension of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union government has initiated a three-pronged strategy to improve political and economic environment in the state, say officials. The Centre’s priority areas in the state are: wining people’s trust in the administrative system, isolating militant and separatist outfits, and strengthening the panchayat system, they said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state on June 26-27. Top officials, who attended the meetings Shah held during his visit, said they are expecting radical changes at all levels…

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Talks on Kashmir can be held only at highest level: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Editor

Even as the Narendra Modi government has articulated its intent to address the festering Kashmir issue — both houses of Parliament have seen a substantive debate on this — the Hurriyat Conference has indicated its willingness for a dialogue with the Centre but with the caveat that meaningful talks can only be held at the highest political level. “It is better to have a dialogue at the level of the home minister and prime minister, like we did during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee’s time,” Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Kashmir…

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Religious affair turned into ‘Military Exercise’: Curbs on highway for Hindu pilgrimage anger local residents

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The ban on civilian traffic on the crucial highway in Kashmir during daytime and train services in the wake of the ongoing Amarnath yatra has triggered chaos and anger across the Kashmir valley. Two back-to-back orders were issued on Monday and Tuesday to ban the civilian traffic between Kashmir and Jammu divisions for five hours daily and to suspend rail service between Qazigund in Kashmir and Banihal station in the Jammu division, respectively. The unprecedented orders were taken in the wake of the ongoing pilgrimage and will continue for the…

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