Month: April 2020

BJP hoped to win Kashmir by abrogating article 370 but lost Jammu in the process

Editor

More than five months after Parliament voted to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir to “fully integrate” the erstwhile state with India, even the people in Jammu are voicing their open displeasure. There is little to show that the purpose of diluting Article 370 has been achieved or is anywhere near being achieved. The BJP-supporting, Hindu majority population of Jammu has always resented the Kashmiri dominance in matters of development, jobs, and politics. But now, it has started questioning, albeit in hushed voices, the rationale behind the Modi…

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Indian Expats in the Middle East warned of arrest, cancellation of Visa harboring RSS Ideology

Editor

A prominent Keralite businessman in the UAE has apologised for unintentionally hurting religious sentiments through his poem about coronavirus.  In recent days several Indian expats have been called out for spreading hatred through Islamphobic posts in wake of the pandemic. Many have been subsequently fired and referred to authorities. And one RSS ideology  Expat who been found linked corona virus with religion cornered by local watch dog associations put up with a open suicide note open in social media raised many eyebrows . Titled ‘Viddi Janman’ (Fool’s life), the short…

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Arab World up in arms against India’s Corona-virus related Islamophobia

Editor

Thanks to anti-Muslim bias in the media and even official messaging over the coronavirus, the intelligentsia in India-friendly Gulf countries has started critically examining the ruling BJP’s attitudes towards Muslims and Arabs. A pandemic that has claimed the lives of 170,000 people and infected close to 2.5 million people worldwide (at last count), acquired a religion on its arrival on Indian shores. The spread of the virus has not only created a health emergency in the country but also brought India on the verge of a new kind of polarisation, thanks…

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How the coronavirus outbreak in India was blamed on Muslims

Editor

The COVID-19 pandemic has been turned into yet another Islamophobic conspiracy theory. The outbreak of COVID-19 in India has presented yet another opportunity to launch a fresh attack on the Muslim community. Physical, verbal and psychological warfare is being waged against Muslims, pushing further their ostracisation in Indian society. Violent attacks on Muslims perceived to be carriers of the virus have been reported from different parts of the country. There have been reports of meetings in gated communities discussing the prohibition on Muslims being allowed in. Elsewhere, gangs of youth…

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OIC, Imran Khan criticize India over the treatment of Muslims

Editor

In recent months, Khan has repeatedly criticised the Indian government’s attitude towards the country’s Muslim minority and the external affairs ministry has pushed back against his remarks. Pakistan’s top leadership and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday criticised what they described as the deliberate targeting of Muslims by the Indian government against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan followed up on tweets by the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the OIC on the issue and compared the Indian government’s treatment of Muslims to…

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Gund Jahangir hamlet in Bandipora witnessing the first community transmission of the novel Coronavirus

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing the first community transmission of the novel coronavirus at Gund Jahangir hamlet in Bandipora and in surrounding areas. Sixty-four positive cases have been reported in 10 days. The administration is grappling with poor medical staff and a slow rate of testing. It started with the sudden death of Ghulam Nabi Mir, 54, on April 7. With no travel history or contact with a positive case, Mir, a fruit dealer, died within a day of his admission to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar. “Mir…

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You say you understand the pain of Kashmiri’s now that you are in lock-down. Do you really?

Editor

An open letter to fellow Indians.By Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal Dear fellow citizens, Presuming that you are all English speaking, reasonably well-off or better and, like me, safely ensconced in your homes with enough provisions to last as the lockdown has been further extended, let me begin by dispelling all your romantic notions about the great leveler that this pandemic is and about the virtues of humanism and compassion it can kindle within our souls. Amidst this nationwide lockdown as you find yourself trapped in your homes, you may all be trying…

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India’s new Kashmir domicile law mirrors Israel’s settler-colonial blueprint

Editor

As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic amid a global race to stop its spread, India has passed a new law in Kashmir which residents fear will change the demographic status of the Muslim-majority territory.  The new domicile law announced by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on 1 April grants permanent residency rights, which entails owning and buying property and access to government jobs, for anyone who has resided in Indian-administered Kashmir for a period of 15 years.  The move has sparked anger in the contested region, with civilians from a range of political opinions questioning…

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Study shows no link between COVID19 and Pollen, But govt orders 42000 Poplars axed across Kashmir Valley

Editor

The order, which is already being followed through, will wreak havoc with local livelihoods and green cover in the Valley. With the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Kashmir and the resulting fear psychosis in the general population, the government of the Union territory is forcing growers of a common poplar tree species known locally as “Russi” to cut them to prevent allergies in the spring season. “A meeting held under the chairmanship of Pandurang K. Pole, IAS, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir on April 2, 2020 to discuss the…

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‘Third world region of a Third world country’: How Kashmir struggles with the Coronavirus

Editor

While a lockdown is nothing new, a healthcare system in shambles and a sluggish internet make Kashmir particularly suited for the virus to spread as India looks away. Soon after the first patient of COVID-19 – a 67-year-old woman who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia — tested positive on March 18, a team of health professionals and volunteers were sent to Khanyar to sanitise the area. They were also tasked with tracing the people the woman may have had contact with.  Meanwhile, police personnel began patrolling in their jeeps. With…

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