Year: 2019

Modi wave hits Kashmir wall got less than 10000 votes across Valley

Editor

Even as the BJP had claimed that it had 4.5 lakh members in the Valley, the saffron party managed less than 20,000 votes from the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir. As this figure included 9,835 migrant votes, the BJP technically managed to get less than 10,000 votes from the EVMs during the polling in Valley. BJP’s Srinagar candidate Sheikh Khalid Jehangir got 4,631 votes that accounted for mere 2.48 per cent of the total ballots polled. Of the 4,631 votes, 2,584 were of migrants besides 85 postal ballots. Similarly,…

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Zakir Musa’s journey from tech student to most-wanted rebel from Valley

Editor

From an engineering student to one of the most wanted militants, Zakir Musa’s journey had all ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler. Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Zakir Musa (25), had joined the militant ranks in 2013 and four years later he parted ways and founded the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. Musa, a close aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing in 2016 sparked nearly five-month-long unrest and led to the killing of nearly 90 civilians, was gunned down in south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district. Musa was trapped inside…

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Engineer Rashid credits Facebook for getting over a lakh vote in Kashmir

Editor

He ran the election campaign on his Facebook page and surprised everyone with over 1 lakh votes in his kitty. Engineer Rashid, an independent candidate from Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency has become a challenger to regional parties in the Valley. “I’m extremely thankful to Facebook. Without Facebook, it was impossible for me to connect with people and ask for votes. Reaching everywhere across three districts of north Kashmir was not possible. I had no money for campaigning. Facebook became an effective medium,” said Engineer Rashid. His effective use of…

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Indications what lies ahead in J&K post BJP 2.0

Editor

The right wing party’s stance on Kashmir and increased attempts to polarise Jammu will only aggravate the situation in the valley, which had witnessed unprecedented oppression accompanied by a rise in militancy under the previous Modi regime. Ever since exit polls came out, people in the Kashmir valley have been too anxious about the prospects of Bharatiya Janata Party coming back to power. And now that the BJP has won, it seems that their worst fears are going to come true. Despite a myriad of issues plaguing the Indian population–…

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Despite the win, Modi can’t scrap 370, neither authority to decide next CM: Farooq Abdullah

Editor

Farooq Abdullah, National Conference (NC) chief and newly elected Member of Parliament from Srinagar, said on Friday that no matter how powerful the electoral mandate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he could not remove Articles 370 and 35A. He said the preservation of Articles 35A and 370, besides grant of regional autonomy to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, would be the main plank of his party, while exuding confidence that NC would form the next government in the state on its own. “No matter how powerful the Prime Minister has become after winning…

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Restrictions imposed in parts of Srinagar to prevent protests post Musa’s killing, Mobile internet service suspended across Kashmir

Editor

Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in parts of Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday to prevent protests against the killing of militant commander Zakir Musa late last night. Reports and witnesses said that the police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength in various sensitive areas of the city. They have erected barricades at various intersections to restrict the movement of the people, said a motorist who was stopped at Hyderpora and Parraypora in uptown Srinagar. Another witness said that curfew was announced in Maisuma area of…

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NC sweeps Kashmir, BJP wins Jammu & Ladakh, India gets Modi 2.0

Editor

The BJP has repeated its 2014 victory by retaining the Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh Lok Sabha constituencies, while the National Conference swept all three seats in the Valley. The saffron party has scripted a new history by increasing victory margins on the seats manifold due to the Modi wave. Notably, two arch-rivals — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — had supported the Congress candidates on both the Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats, but the party failed to win any seat. Union minister and sitting Lok Sabha member Jitendra…

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Zakir Musa, Kashmir’s most wanted rebel killed in Tral

Editor

Zakir Rasheed Bhat alias Zakir Musa, Kashmir’s most-wanted rebel and chief of terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH), an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, is believed to have been killed today evening in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Musa was on top of the most-wanted list for quite some time now and had been eluding the security forces for more than six years. He had joined Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in July 2013, leaving his engineering degree at a Punjab college midway. Son of an engineer working with the Jammu and Kashmir Government, Musa…

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Amid EVM Row, Nationwide alert sounded about violence on counting day

Editor

The Home Ministry on Wednesday put out a nation-wide alert to states about possible eruption of violence in different parts of the country in connection with the counting of votes. The Centre’s advisory comes just a day after former union minister Upendra Kushwaha threatened of bloodshed in Bihar if any attempt is made to steal “the peoples’ votes”. Ram Vilas Paswan, the union minister and the BJP ally in Bihar, had responded to Kushwaha’s warning of bloodshed. Paswan, who spoke after the dinner for NDA allies hosted by BJP chief…

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Modern “Halal” meat is a mockery of Islam

Editor

Eating meat in Islam is not a right or a duty. Eating meat is a privilege, extended to us by Allah with responsibilities attached. Unfortunately, many Muslims today don’t seem to care about the food they eat, at the expense of their akirah. This article is a warning to Muslims around the world to start paying attention before its too late. Industrial meat, egg and dairy operations operate under a capitalist system, not the Shariah. Consequently the only important component is money, not animal welfare or health. Under the Shariah…

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