Month: August 2021

Notion of normality is far from reality, ‘Further alienating Kashmiri’s by its actions’: Yashwant Sinha

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Notion of normality is far from reality, ‘Further alienating Kashmiri's by its actions' - Yashwant Sinha

Contesting the central government’s belief that everything is normal in Kashmir, former Union finance minister and Trinamool leader Yashwant Sinha says this notion “is completely wrong and far from the reality”. The former BJP leader said that people in Kashmir still have a strong resentment in their minds against what the Modi government did on August 05, 2019. “It is good to see that Kashmiris are not offering themselves to get killed on roads and they have resumed the normal activities (post-August 05, 2019), but that does not mean that…

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Hurriyat Conference likely to be banned under UAPA, TeH removes sign board from its office in Hyderpora

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Hurriyat Conference likely to be banned under UAPA, TeH removes sign board from its office in Hyderpora

A ban under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act may be imposed on both factions of the secessionist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference which has been spearheading the separatist movement in Jammu and Kashmir for over two decades, officials said. They said a recent probe into the granting of MBBS seats to Kashmiri students by institutions in Pakistan indicates that the money collected from aspirants by some organisations which were part of the Hurriyat Conference conglomerate was being used for funding terror organisations in the union territory. The officials said both the…

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Kashmiri’s accuse Indian forces of Arbitrary Arrests, Intimidation

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Kashmiri's accuse Indian forces of Arbitrary Arrests, Intimidation

Arbitrary arrests and intimidation by security forces wielding batons and snatching phones leave many too scared to voice dissent. Public protests in Indian-administered Kashmir were once an almost weekly occurrence. But two years after New Delhi imposed direct rule on the region, locals say arbitrary arrests and intimidation by security forces wielding batons and snatching phones have left many too scared to voice dissent. A week before the region’s partial autonomy was abolished, and as a massive troop deployment fanned out to help forestall a local backlash, Rafiq (name changed)…

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Kashmir governor’s public relations blitz leaves the press in tatters

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Kashmir governor’s public relations blitz leaves the press in tatters

Newspapers now publish little more than government handouts about Manoj Sinha and his supposed feats. By Rayan Naqash In Kashmir’s front-page headlines, there’s just one newsmaker. His utterances and field trips are not only prominently placed, some newspapers dedicate nearly all their pages to his feats and often print several pictures of his on the same page. A glance at Kashmir’s newspaper stands and you won’t miss the multitude of mastheads – there are 171 titles registered in Kashmir currently and 180 in Jammu – but look closely and you…

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Ex Deputy CM of J&K, who slammed govt land transfer was himself an illegal occupant of State Land: RTI

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Ex Deputy CM of J&K, who slammed govt land transfer was himself an illegal occupant of State Land - RTI

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta, who described the transfer of state land under the controversial Roshni Act (now annulled) to private individuals as “land jihad” in the run-up to the District Development Council (DDC) elections last November, was himself an illegal occupant of state land from 2010 till the beginning of 2017. According to information obtained from the Bhalwal Tehsildar under an RTI application filed by Advocate Sheikh Shakeel, Kavinder Gupta along with two others — Subash Sharma and Shiv Rattan…

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Ashiq Mir, Associate of Shahid Imran arrested in ‘Extortion Case’ in Baramulla, Police gets 7 days remand

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Ashiq Mir, Associate of Shahid Imran arrested in 'Extortion Case' in Baramulla, Police gets 7 days remand

Police on Saturday got seven days remand of a person, allegedly associated with a Facebook user running news and current affairs, in connection with an extortion case registered against him in Police station Baramulla. The police arrested the person, Ashiq Mir, in connection with FIR 177/2021 under IPC sections 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Confirming the arrest and subsequent police remand of seven days by the court of jurisdiction, a police officer said more arrests are expected in the coming days. He said at the instance of the Ashiq…

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Restore Article 370, resolve Kashmir for everlasting peace in sub-continent: Mehbooba to GoI

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Restore Article 370, resolve Kashmir for everlasting peace in sub-continent - Mehbooba to GoI

‘Taliban forced US forces to flee, but world watching their behavior; I urge Taliban no to commit any act that goes against Afghan people’ Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti Saturday said that if New Delhi is really interested in ensuring peace in J&K and the sub-continent, it must restore article 370 and resolve Kashmir through dialogue. Addressing a gathering at the southern district of Kulgam, Mehbooba said for everlasting peace in Kashmir, the Government of India must restore the special status which they snatched illegally on August 5,…

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How can J&K leaders justify their presence in the meeting if they could not convince the leaders to talk about 370: Sajad Gani Lone

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How can J&K leaders justify their presence in the meeting if they could not convince the leaders to talk about 370 - Sajad Gani Lone

With the opposition parties’ joint statement skipping mention of Article 370, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone on Saturday said how can J &K leaders justify their presence in the meeting if they could not convince the leaders to talk about 370. In a series of tweets, news agency Lone asked why leaders from J&K have become part and parcel of the “don’t talk about 370” discourse. “No mention of Article 370 in opposition parties meet. In wonderment how can J and K leaders justify their presence in the meeting…

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Why three decades later Kashmir is cool to Taliban

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Why three decades later Kashmir is cool to Taliban

By Ahmed Ali Fayyaz Kashmir’s politicians, both separatists as well as mainstream, have maintained near-total silence over the Taliban’s capture of Afghanistan after prolonged strife of 20 long years. However, the visibility of a wave of jubilation among the separatists, militants and their shrinking supporters is not completely concealed. As news of the fall of Kabul flashed in the media on Sunday, 15 August, Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, formerly a professor of Law at the University of Kashmir and the Central University of Kashmir gave vent to his euphoria. “And…

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US issues a fresh travel advisory, warns Americans travelling to India to avoid J&K

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US issues a fresh travel advisory, warns Americans travelling to India to avoid J&K

In good news for those in the US wanting to travel to India, the US government on Monday eased its travel advisory for India and lowered it to Level 2 or ‘Moderate’ but has urged  Americans not to travel to Jammu and Kashmir (except the eastern Ladakh region and its capital, Leh) due to terrorism and civil unrest. Travel advisory Level 2 is considered ‘Safe’ and has come in the wake if a significant improvement in the COVID-19 situation in India. Early this year, the US had put India in…

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