Month: June 2020

Post revocation of Article 370, Has China become a ‘Third Party’ to Kashmir Dispute?

Editor

On May 30, Lt General B.S. Raju, the general officer commanding of 15 Corps, and Dilbag Singh, director general of police, Jammu and Kashmir, chaired a high-level meeting in which top officials of the civil administration, intelligence agencies and security forces participated. Held at the 15 Corps headquarters in Badami Bagh, Srinagar, the meeting had an urgent agenda: to “review the security situation and ensure readiness to meet anticipated security challenges”. The trigger was the tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. Sharing intelligence inputs, officials claimed…

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Why Chinese and Indian troops are scuffling?

Editor

By Archana Chaudhary China and India, two nuclear-armed powers with a combined population of 2.7 billion, have been gathering thousands of troops at a disputed border in a remote area of the Himalayas. It’s the latest flashpoint in a long history of border troubles between the two countries that includes a war in 1962 and a dust-up near Bhutan in 2017. The newest tensions along the 3,488 kilometer (2,167 miles) un-demarcated border come at a time of growing Chinese assertiveness in matters of sovereignty and as India grapples with a worsening…

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2550 Foreign Tablighi Jamaat members blacklisted by MHA from entering India for 10 years

Editor

A total of 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, who were staying in India in violation of visa rules during the nationwide lockdown implemented to combat the Covid-19 spread, have been blacklisted by the Home Ministry, according to a PTI report on Thursday. The 2,550 foreign nationals will not be allowed to enter into India for next 10 years, the news report said quoting MHA officials. A large congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in the Nizamuddin area of the national capital New Delhi in March had emerged as a major…

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Razing properties by the state forces during encounters a new collective punishment for Kashmiri’s

Editor

Nearly two dozen houses were reduced to rubble in recent encounters, a part of counter-insurgency. The state must answer if support for militancy has dwindled due to this coercive calculus. By -Basharat Shameem Kashmir, the destruction of houses and other properties by the state forces during encounters with militants—who are always vastly outnumbered—is a common act. But this unjust policy hardly ever makes news. During these encounters, numerous people are often left homeless and their earnings over a lifetime, along with their sources of living, are smashed to smithereens. The acts…

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Locals collect Rs 3 Crore in 7 Days to rebuild houses damaged in Nawa Kadal Encounter

Editor

Junaid Kathju Bashir Ahmad Darzi, a daily wager, had lost all hope. On May 19, his two-story house in a densely populated area in downtown Srinagar had been severely damaged after an encounter.  Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, one of whom was Junaid Ashraf Khan ‘Sehrai’, whose father is the chairman of the separatist conglomerate Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (a part of the composite All Parties Hurriyat Conference), were killed on the morning of May 19 after a 15-hour-long gun battle with security forces. For Darzi, the encounter had meant an expensive reconstruction effort.…

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Amidst standoff in Ladakh, China preparing for infiltration behind enemy lines

Editor

China is preparing for a massive infiltration into Eastern Ladakh amid nearly a month-long standoff between Chinese and Indian troops at the Himalaya heights where both sides claim that it is their territory. Media reports emanating from China have indicated that the PLA troops have been holding night-time high-altitude exercises in Tibetan Plateau to “infiltrate behind the enemy lines”. This is an unmistakable hint towards the Indian positions along the LAC in eastern Ladakh that lie adjacent to Tibetan plateau. It is for the first time that China has served…

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After spending close to 10 months in detention, PSA revoked against Shah Faesal and two PDP leaders

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By : Tahaa Yaseen Former bureaucrat turned Jammu and Kashmir politician Shah Faesal is likely to be released after spending close to 10 months in detention since August 14, following the Union Territory’s decision to revoke the Public Safety Act (PSA) slapped on him and two other senior politicians from the Peoples Democractic Party (PDP)- Sartaj Madani and Peer Mansoor—leaving former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti among the few prominent leaders from the region who continue to be in detention after the abrogation…

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Kashmir witnessed 3000 days of lockdown in over two decades: Trade bodies

Editor

In last over two decades, an amalgam of 30 trade bodies in the Valley on Wednesday said that Kashmir has witnessed 3000 days of lockdown, thus simultaneously deteriorated the situation of the business community here, which they claim are struggling to survive amid the prevalent situation in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the traders also stated that the special package of Rs 20, 000 Crore announced by the government has been announced for the people excluding the business community of Kashmir. Over 30 trade bodies including Kashmir Chamber of Commerce &…

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Why Indians get pissed off with Racism & Police Brutality in the US but don’t care about the same issues in their own country?

Editor

By Shamani Joshi Experts explain why some of us are so selective with the issues we outrage against. Over the weekend, I saw all my social media feeds flooded with illustrated quotes of Desmond Tutu that declared “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”, poignant protest signs that declared “I can’t breathe”, and the quintessential hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. These were all in solidarity against the incident that saw George Floyd, a black man, die after a police officer kneeled on his neck…

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Government’s move to open schools in J&K evokes strong reaction

Editor

A day after the Education Department announced to devise a strategy for opening schools in mid-June, former chairperson of the J&K Women Commission, Vasundra Pathak Masoodi, termed the action as “an abject contravention and violation of the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry under the National Disaster Act”. In a letter written to the Lieutenant Governor, Masoodi, who is a Supreme Court advocate, took strong exception of the circular issued by the School Education Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Civil Secretariat, Srinagar, in which it was mentioned that…

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