Category: Community

Wearing Off the Ikhwan Taint

Editor

A defiant populace and new crop of militants are challenging the might of the State. The phenomenon of Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen (Muslim brotherhood), a paradoxically named militia propped up by the State in the mid 90s across Kashmir to fight militancy, is permanently imprinted on the landscape of Hajin area of Bandipora district. So much so that nearly all the recent media analyses have been linking the resurgence of militancy in Hajin to the dark era of Ikhwan. Local residents also have been saying that they risk their lives to save militants…

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Move to impound taxis operating from batamaloo leaves drivers, commuters in a spot

Editor

The ongoing drive to impound taxis operating from the entry and exit points of the erstwhile Batamaloo bus stand and other parts of the city has increased the problems for commuters. In the absence of any alternative modes of transport to the city centre, passengers are stranded, particularly during evenings when public transport disappears from Srinagar roads. Lateef Ahmad, who drives a taxi from the city to other districts, said the decision to not allow taxis into the city and the impounding of vehicles by the traffic authorities had hit…

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Harissa is a hot favourite in freezing Kashmir

Editor

The 40-day harshest spell of winter, locally called the Chillai Kalan, began in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday, with locals queueing up outside traditional shops selling harissa, the sizzling breakfast mutton dish. Nazeer Ahmad, 64, a resident of the old city’s Naid Kadal area, has been selling harissa for the past four decades. His shop, which remains shut during the summer months, has reopened with the winter setting in. “Chillai Kalan is the period when harissa-gaers (harissa-makers) do brisk business. People line up at the crack of dawn in freezing…

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Police admit ‘Misuse’ of pellets, top officer cautions SSP’s

Editor

The police have admitted that pellets fired by its men and other forces in Kashmir are hitting the protesters on their faces and above-waist in violation of the standard operating procedures governing crowd control. A communiqué issued by Kashmir range inspector general of police Muneer Khan to all senior superintendents of police reads that it has been observed that still in certain cases pellets are being fired above the waist and sometimes on the faces which is completely against the “prescribed SOP devised for the use of pellet guns.” “More…

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An interlocutor’s doomed mission

Editor

Given the situation in Kashmir — continuing military operations, toothless polity — Dineshwar Sharma initiative appears futile. The Government of India’s special representative Dineshwar Sharma’s close-door interactions with individuals, groups and organisations in Jammu and Kashmir are certainly not an icebreaker, a prelude to some bigger and more serious political initiative for resolving the dispute. What, then, is the purpose of his mission? So far, he appears to be surveying the results of the BJP-led government’s iron-fisted policies on Kashmir. Previous such initiatives would be rolled out in sugar-coated rhetoric…

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Movie halls in Kashmir to reopen three decades after they were forced to be shut

Editor

Just a couple of weeks ago, one of the world’s most conservative countries, Saudi Arabia had announced its plan to open cinema halls in the kingdom. Now, the government in Jammu and Kashmir is taking a cue from Riyadh and has proposed to re-open the movie halls in the state. Cinemas across Jammu and Kashmir were forced to shut in the 90’s during the peak of insurgency in the valley after threats from extremists called ‘Allah Tigers’. Since then, they have remained shut and efforts to bring them back have…

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Court orders AAI to install SAL System at Srinagar airport

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC) Tuesday directed the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to execute the work of installing Simple Approach Lighting System (SALS) at the Srinagar International Airport. The division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey said, “AAI shall proceed with the execution of work, they shall not wait for further directions.” The court was informed that installation of SALS will help in reducing the visibility from 1300 meters to 1000 meters, which will allow the proper landing of flights at the airport…

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Pellet terror returns, 4 teens among 10 pellet-hit admitted at SMHS

Editor

At least ten youth received injuries due to use of pellet guns Tuesday while two others were hit by bullets after the encounter between government forces and militants in Shopian area of South Kashmir. Nineteen year old Farooq Ahmad was among those hit by pellets. “I was at home and a young boy knocked at our door and said that Farooq has received pellets. When we reached the spot he was not able to see and fell unconscious,” Farooq’s elder brother Mudasir Ahmad said. A 10-th class student, Farooq, who…

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Highest Militant, Civilian casualties in J&K this year: Union Minister Hansraj

Editor

As many as 203 militants, the highest in the past four years, were killed by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year and the number of civilians killed in “militancy-related violence” in the period was also the highest, the government of India informed the Parliament on Tuesday. Union minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that 203 militants were killed in the state this year till December 10, as compared to 150 in the calendar year 2016, 108 in…

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SMC seals structure built on temple land in Barbarshah

Editor

Following the High Court’s reprimand, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has taken action against land mafia involved in encroachment and illegal construction on temple land belonging to displaced Kashmiri Hindus. The corporation has stopped the construction of a hotel-cum-shopping complex on the land belonging to the Mandir Devi Bajrang in the Barbarshah area of Srinagar. It has also sealed the structure. The shrine was abandoned in 1990 when 3.50 lakh Hindus left the Valley at the onset of militancy. Till the Deputy Commissioner gets the property demarcated as per the…

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