Month: September 2020

If GoI can talk to China, why is it ‘Difficult’ to hold dialogue with Kashmiri’s: Waheed-ur-Rehman Para

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Peoples Democratic Party leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Para on Wednesday asked the government why is it “difficult” for it to engage in dialogue with the people of Kashmir when it can hold talks with China. He was speaking to reporters after the first meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5 last year. Authorities allowed several leaders to leave their residences after remaining in detention for over a year. Besides Para, PDP leaders Abdul Rehman Veeri,…

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Family accuse J&K Police of killing Irfan Dar in Custody, Question ‘Escape’ Story

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Irfan Ahmad Dar was arrested for allegedly sheltering militants but then somehow escaped from custody only to be found dead a few hours later, the police say. The cause of death has not been disclosed but locals allege torture. Auqib Javeed At around 12 pm, on Tuesday, members of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operation Group (SOG) raided the house of Irfan Ahmad Dar, a 23-year-old shopkeeper, at Sidiq Colony in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Irfan was arrested from the shop he owned, adjacent to…

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UN Chief urged India and Pakistan to move in a positive direction for the settlement of Kashmir Issue

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged India and Pakistan to move in a positive direction to resolve differences with respect to the border issue along the Line of Control. At a time when border issues are the most pressing issues India is facing on both its fronts, with Pakistan as well as China, the United Nations on Wednesday called for a “positive” resolution to the matter. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged India and Pakistan to move in a positive direction to resolve differences with respect to the border issue along the…

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‘End of the road’ for Pro-India politicians in Kashmir

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Many politicians have fallen silent and disappeared from public life after India stripped the region’s autonomy. by Rifat Fareed Sakina Itoo used to motivate Kashmiris to believe that India is better for their future. But the 48-year-old pro-India politician says New Delhi’s decision to strip the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy last August has made her lose face and vulnerable. “We don’t know how to go to people again. We have no answers ourselves, what will we tell them,” Itoo, a former minister in the regional government, told Al Jazeera. Prime Minister…

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Kashmir Issue draws Indian-Americans to Republican Camp

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Though Joe Biden still holds lead over Trump among Indian-American voters, a survey has shown that Donald Trump is making inroads into the Indian-American vote bank. Sharp criticism of India’s Kashmir policies by Democrats served as a wake-up call for many, Republican Indian-Americans say. Seema Sirohi The aggressive stand of some Democrats on the Kashmir issue during last year’s Congressional hearings is the main reason behind the shift in Indian-American vote towards Republicans.Republican Indian-Americans say the sharp criticism of India’s Kashmir policies by Democratic Party members on Capitol Hill served…

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Kashmiris fear domicile certificates exercise to change demographics: Saifuddin Soz

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Congress leader and former Union minister Saifuddin Soz has said the issuance of a large number of domicile certificates in J&K has led to apprehensions of demographic changes among Kashmiris. In a statement on Wednesday he said it is alarming that the UT administration has issued over 17 lakh Domicile Certficates, of these, 12.44 lakh certificates have been issued in Jammu, while 4.16 lakh certificates have been issued in Kashmir. “The most worrying aspect of this hot-haste exercise is that these certificates have been issued to those persons also who…

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When should schools be reopened?

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State governments are in a dilemma – should schools be opened when the epidemic is still raging? T Jacob John, Dhanya Dharmapalan Across India, about 1.5 million schools were shut as part of the nation-wide lockdown, affecting 247 million children, from midnight of 24 March 2020. During the initial lockdown period, which was set at 21 days, the number of infections increased 2,100 per cent, from 536 to 11,487, according to official figures. Although the spread of the epidemic was disappointing, yet, by removing school children as vectors of transmission,…

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Three rebels, woman killed; CRPF officer wounded in Batmaloo gunfight

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Three rebels and a 45-year-old woman were killed and an officer of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) injured in a gunfight in Batmaloo area of Srinagar district on Thursday. In a tweet, a police spokesman said that three rebels were killed in the gunfight whose identity is being ascertained. He said searches are still going on in the area. A senior police officer told news agency GNS that a woman identified as Kounsar Riyaz of Batmaloo received a bullet wound during the gunfight. She was immediately shifted to Police hospital,…

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Internet Snapped in Sopore after protests erupted over alleged custodial death

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Protests have erupted in Jammu and Kashmir’s restive Sopore town after a shopkeeper was allegedly killed in police custody. The police maintain the man worked with terrorists and he died after escaping from police custody. All internet services have been snapped in north Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore town after death of a shopkeeper, allegedly in police custody, led to protests. The family has alleged that Irfan Ahmad Dar was tortured to death after he and his brother, Javid Ahmad, were picked up by police from their shop on Tuesday afternoon.…

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21 Deaths and 1329 fresh coronavirus cases reported from across J&K

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Deaths and new positive cases of COVID19 continued to mount on Tuesday in J&K. With 21 succumbing and 1329 cases, the mortality reached 921 while the total number of cases detected was 56654. Among the new cases, Jammu division had 741 positives, while Kashmir division had 588. The number of active cases in Jammu has surpassed the number of active cases in Kashmir, putting a load on the existing healthcare infrastructure. The total of active cases in Kashmir reached 8270 out of the 37688 reported so far. In Jammu, with…

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