March 2023 | Page 7 of 8

Kashmir in Spring: A Vibrant Medley of Colors and Scents

March 7, 2023 Editor

Kashmir, also known as “Paradise on Earth,” is a place of unparalleled beauty, and the spring season brings out the best of it. As the winter chill recedes, and the snow begins to melt, the valley comes to life with a riot of colors and fragrances. The spring season in Kashmir starts in March and lasts until May. It is a time when the landscape is transformed into a canvas of flowers, with colorful blooms dotting the meadows, gardens, and roadsides. The valley is covered with a carpet of vibrant…

Article 370 abrogation only on paper: Sanjay Raut

March 6, 2023 Editor

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said abrogation of Article 370, which ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, by the Narendra Modi Government was only on paper and was done to serve the political interests of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In his weekly column ‘Rokthok’ in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Raut said Kashmiri Pandits had not got their rights despite this move, and BJP leaders have no answers to their woes. A Kashmiri Pandit was killed by terrorists in Pulwama recently but the BJP poured…

Turkey backstabs ‘Dost’? Raises Kashmir issue at UNHRC, India hits back

March 6, 2023 Editor

Exercising its right of reply at the High-Level Segment of 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, Seema Pujani, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, dismissed the reference to the statement made by Turkey and the OIC representative. “As regards the OIC statement, we reject the unwarranted references to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Turkey must to refrain from making unsolicited comments on our internal matters,” Pujani said in a statement on Friday. India slams Pakistan India also highlighted the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan,…

Staged Encounter: Army Court gives life imprisonment for army captain involved in Amshipura ‘Fake Encounter Case’

March 6, 2023 Editor

An army court has awarded life imprisonment to an officer involved in a staged encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district. Captain Bhupinder Singh, accused in the fake encounter, was sentenced to life imprisonment after court martial proceedings were completed a few days ago, official sources said. In July 2020, three labourers were killed at Amshipora in Shopian district. Army officers had claimed they were Pakistani terrorists and with their killing, terror threat was eliminated in the district. But days later, locals alleged that the three young men killed were…

Tardy police verification leaves many Kashmiris without Jobs, Passports

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023 Editor

Kashmir Valley residents feel police are delaying the process of clearance to ‘punish’ people who may have relatives with separatist leanings; hundreds of applicants denied passports for ‘security reasons’ There’s a new source of anxiety in Kashmir after the Centre ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional position in 2019. Delayed or no police verification or adverse police reports have left hundreds without jobs and passports. According to top official sources, these have reached a five-digit mark in Kashmir, the highest in the past decade. Several J&K politicians, including former Chief Minister…

We Surrender: As authorities stop salaries, Kashmiri Pandit employees suspend their 310 days strike for relocation

March 5, 2023 Editor

Kashmiri Pandit government employees demanding relocation outside the Kashmir Valley in the wake of targeted killings by terrorists, suspended their 310 days long strike, saying they were “surrendering” as authorities had “stopped” their salaries. The protesters comprised Kashmiri Pandits working in different government departments under a prime minister’s employment package. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has neither accepted nor rejected the demand but the protest had to be suspended as stopping of salaries is “choking us financially”, protesters affiliated to the All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir (AMEAK) said. Last…

India rejects OIC’s ‘Unwarranted References’ on J&K at Human Rights Council

March 5, 2023 Editor

India has assailed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its “unwarranted references” to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and for allowing Pakistan to hijack and misuse its platform for carrying out Islamabad’s “nefarious agenda” against New Delhi. Exercising its right of reply at the High-Level Segment of 52nd session of the Human Rights Council, Seema Pujani, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India in Geneva, outrightly rejected the reference to the statement made by the OIC representative. “The fact is that the entire territories of the Union Territories…

Sedentary lifestyle, Junk food pushing more children towards obesity in Kashmir: DAK

March 5, 2023March 5, 2023 Editor

On world obesity day, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Saturday expressed pressing concern over rise in the number of obesity cases among children in Kashmir valley. “Junk food and sedentary lifestyle are pushing more children towards obesity,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan. According to a latest survey by National family Health Survey (NFHS-5), Kashmir has registered an increase in the percentage of obesity among children. The number of overweight children increased from 2.1 percent in NFHS-4 survey conducted in 2015-16 to 3.4 percent in NFHS -5 which was conducted in…

GoI wants to keep Kashmir pot boiling for garnering votes: Mehbooba Mufti

March 4, 2023March 4, 2023 Editor

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said the Centre wants to keep the pot boiling in Jammu and Kashmir to garner more votes in elections. Her remarks come in the wake of the dismissal of three employees by the Jammu and Kashmir government for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities and the attaching of properties of militants. “In the name of fighting militancy, govt employees are dismissed arbitrarily & houses attached without giving the families any chance to avail the due legal course. This is collective punishment for innocent families…

Modi blowing my country to smithereens, Democracy under attack in India: Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University

March 4, 2023 Editor

Rahul Gandhi’s speech at Cambridge University earlier this week drew the BJP’s ire as it was learnt that the Congress leader spoke of the “threat to democracy” in India and alleged that several politicians, including him, were under surveillance. Gandhi made the remarks during a lecture at the Cambridge Judge Business School (Cambridge JBS) on “Learning to Listen in the 21st Century”. BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill tweeted, “Instead of introspecting on loss of 172 seats out of 180 in N East polls, loss of 50+ elections out of 54…