Community Archives | Page 112 of 185

Govt spent over 10 Cr in 10 Years on security of Hurriyat leaders

February 3, 2018 Editor

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today told the Legislative Assembly that the state had spent around Rs 11 crore on the security and transportation fuel of Hurriyat Conference leaders in the past 10 years. Mehbooba, while responding to a cut motion moved by Independent MLA from Udhampur Pawan Gupta in the Assembly, shared the details of the funds spent on the security of 14 Hurriyat leaders from 2008 to 2017. She said an amount of Rs 10.86 crore had been spent on their security and transportation fuel of Hurriyat leaders during…

Yawar Mir tells Nirmal Singh to stop ‘Rhetorical’ tales, show result on ground

February 2, 2018 Editor

Ruling PDP MLA from Rafiabad Yawar Mir Thursday asked Deputy Chief Minister and in-charge power department Nirmal Kumar Singh to stop narrating rhetorical tales and start working on the ground. “Deputy Chief Minster’s personality and the functioning of the power department are in complete contrast to each other,” Mir said while participating in the discussion about grants of the power department. He said that the department under Singh has failed to implement all the central schemes and the funds allocated have been mostly remained unspent. “Every member across party lines…

How army escapes accountability in Kashmir

February 2, 2018February 2, 2018 Editor

On 27 January, the Army convoy took the route through Ganowpora village of Shopian, despite knowing that a large gathering was expected to pay tribute to a local boy working for Hizbul Mujahideen, who was killed. In a statement to the Jammu and Kashmir Police on 28 January, the Indian Army claimed that the 27 January firing in Ganowpora village of Shopian district had followed the “standard operating procedure” of issuing verbal warnings and firing aerial shots before opening fire to “disperse the crowd”. Three youths—Javed Ahmed Bhat (20), Suhail…

Budget fails to impress as no state-specific bounties, ‘Kashmir not even mentioned… disappointing’

February 2, 2018 Editor

With no specific announcements for Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has failed to impress people, trade and industrial bodies in the state. Unlike in the past when the Union Budget (since 2014) had announced J&K-specific projects, the last two years have seen a different trend. This year, the Budget has focused on strengthening the agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, micro, small and medium enterprises and infrastructure sectors. “There is a lot of confusion over how the industries, especially medium, small and micro…

Joint Resistance Leadership calls for Shopian Chalo on Feb 2

February 1, 2018February 1, 2018 Editor

Malik leads protest against Shopian killings The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik Wednesday called for “Shopian Chalo” on February 2 (Friday) while JKLF chairman led protest against the Shopian killings and human rights violations. As Geelani and Mirwaiz continued to remain under house arrest, the protest against Shopian killings and human rights violations in Valley was led by Malik at Nowhatta chowk. Large number of people and separatist leaders and activists participated in the protest. Geelani and Malik address the…

‘Drunken Banter’ – Video of an army officer boasting of bloodshed goes viral

January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 Editor

The video shows the man in military uniform in a hilly place much like Kashmir in winter saying he is not satisfied till there is bloodshed, and how people should worship weapons and not gods. A video showing a man in military uniform boasting about bloodshed and worship of weapons was widely shared on social media in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday when tension was already running high over the killing of two men by security forces. The authenticity of the clipping could not be independently verified and the officer…

Villagers living near LoC face death and destruction as escalation reaches three-year high

January 28, 2018 Editor

Fozia Bi ran frantically between what would have been a cluster of houses in the Jora Farm village, searching for her lost goat. The sudden escalation at the border last week forced the family to abandon their house and their livestock. The guns are comparably silent as she forces her husband to join the search. The road leading to the village is deserted. Only the clip-clop of horseshoes ringing against the road breaks the eerie silence. Few kilometers ahead, a group of village children are celebrating the Republic Day. One…

Have no faith in Govt ordered probe, A justice-delaying exercise

January 28, 2018 Editor

Day after the government ordered a magisterial enquiry into the killing of two civilians in army firing at Gawanpora village of Shopian district, the families of the slain civilians today said they “have no faith” in such probe. “When the like probes have yielded nothing in the past, how could they yield any fair result now,” the families of slain civilians asked. Talking to Kashmir Post, Abdul Rashid Bhat father of Javed Ahmed Bhat, said: “It is useless to wait for the government report which is expected to come within…

From Pune to Kashmir, ‘Mystery Jihadi’ woman’s unexplained journey

January 28, 2018 Editor

On the eve of Republic Day, a wireless message started circulating on Whatsapp across J&K about the arrival in the Jammu and Kashmir of a woman suicide bomber from Pune. The message said she “may cause suicide bomb (sic.) explosion near or inside the Republic Day venue”. All district police heads were, therefore, “directed to please ensure that frisking of ladies is done meticulously and with utmost caution so as to thwart the nefarious designs of ANEs (anti-national elements)”. On Republic Day itself, the Assistant Director General of Police Muneer…