Year: 2019

What does Narendra Modi’s return to power mean for India’s Muslims?

Editor

After a landslide victory, India’s PM reaches out to Muslims, who fear they will continue to be a target of Hindu hardliners. Days after returning to power with a resounding mandate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a conciliatory tone by saying his party needed to win the trust of Muslims – the country’s largest minority.  Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a landslide win on the back of a divisive campaign that ostensibly targeted Muslims.  The Indian prime minister said that the opposition parties “deceived minorities” by not addressing their…

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The decision on Article 35A soon: Jugal Kishore Sharma

Editor

Elected to the Lok Sabha for the second time, Jugal Kishore Sharma, while talking to us, said besides taking forward the development tasks, the party’s priority would be to abrogate Article 35A as was included in the ‘Sankalp Patr’. After getting second term to represent J&K in the Lok Sabha, what are your priorities?I have been always a representative of the people of my constituency in the LS. My priorities are the same as were after 2014 to extend maximum Central beneficial schemes which alleviate problems of the constituency, including…

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Protecting Article 370 top priority: Akbar Lone

Editor

After winning the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, NC’s Mohammad Akbar Lone is looking forward to defend Article 370 and take steps to find a resolution to the Kashmir issue. Lone spells out his priorities and goals. As the NC will be representing all three Lok Sabha seats from Kashmir in Parliament, what will be your priorities? Our biggest priority will be to safeguard Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution in Parliament. Our party will also strive for the resolution of the Kashmir issue…this has been our motive always. What…

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Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr traffic gridlocks return to Srinagar

Editor

Most of the areas in Srinagar witnessed a gridlock on Monday ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr here, leaving the commuters to suffer. The commuters remained stuck for a long time in the gridlock today, which was witnessed in several city areas including Rajouri Kadal, Lal Chowk, Habba Kadal, Fateh Kadal, Nowhatta, Rainawari, Dalgat, TRc junction, Sonwar, Hari Singh High Street, Jahangir Chowk and many other places. The vehicles in large numbers were seen stranded on the roads for a long time while the traffic cops were seen grappling to regulate the…

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India using torture as ‘Instrument of control’ to quash rebellions in Kashmir

Editor

Prisoners in Indian-administered Kashmir have been subjected to abuse and torture, including “water-boarding, sleep deprivation and sexualised torture”, according to a report by two rights bodies. The 560-page report released on Monday mentions solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and sexualised torture including rape and sodomy, used as torture techniques against Kashmiris. Other torture methods included electrocution, hanging from a ceiling, dunking detainees’ head in water (which is sometimes mixed with chili powder), said the report by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society…

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Police crackdown across city leaves migrant beggars staring at an uncertain future

Editor

“Walaiy bobai’y traavi niyaazah,” pleaded Anisur Rahman, in flawless Kashmiri, as he sat on the steps leading to the shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom in Srinagar’s Old City. “Come, mother, show some generosity.” Nearly every morning, Rahman, 50, leaves his rented room in the Old City and makes his way to the shrine. He gets by on alms from devotees who throng the shrine every day. “I have been sitting here each day for 10 years now,” he said. “No one who visits the shrine returns empty handed. People…

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As many 43% newly elected LS MPs have criminal record: Association of Democratic Reforms

Editor

Nearly half of the newly-elected Lok Sabha members have criminal charges against them, a 26 per cent increase as compared to 2014, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms. Of the 539 winning candidates analysed by the ADR, as many as 233 MPs or 43 per cent have criminal charges. The BJP has 116 MPs or 39 per cent of its winning candidates with criminal cases, followed by 29 MPs (57 per cent) from the Congress, 13 (81 per cent) from the JDU, 10 (43 per cent) from the DMK…

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BJP bating for the early abrogation of Article 370, 35A

Editor

State BJP chief Ravinder Raina Sunday said his party was for early abrogation of Articles 370 and Article 35-A of the constitution. He also exhorted confidence that the BJP would form the next government in the State on its own. Raina said his party would work for de-freezing of the eight assembly seats reserved for the refugees from Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) and revoking of the cumbersome M-Form exercise for Kashmiri migrant pandits before the next assembly polls. “Article 370, a temporary transititional provision, is the biggest injustice with the…

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As BJP returns to power, Kashmiris fear demographic change

Editor

With the BJP returning to power in the Centre, the people in Kashmir fear that the party may bring demographic change in the Valley by removing Articles 370 and 35A, which provide constitutional safeguards to the region within the Union of India. A majority of Kashmiris may have stayed away from the polls, but they kept track of the results. More than results of the Valley, they were keen to see who will come to power in the Centre. And as the day progressed, with the BJP emerging the clear…

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How Narendra Modi seduced India with Envy and Hate

Editor

The prime minister has won re-election on a tide of violence, fake news and resentment. Before dawn on Feb. 26, Narendra Modi, the Hindu nationalist prime minister of India, ordered an aerial attack on the country’s nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan. There were thick clouds that morning over the border. But Mr. Modi claimed earlier this month, during his successful campaign for re-election, that he had overruled advisers who worried about them. He is ignorant of science, he admitted, but nevertheless trusted his “raw wisdom,” which told him that the cloud cover…

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