Families being forced to ask sons to return home: Hizb Commander Riyaz Naikoo

Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo has alleged that government forces are forcing families of militants to make appeals to their sons to return home. In an audiotape that went viral on social media on Saturday, Naikoo said that militant outfits do not “force any Kashmiri youth to join their ranks, nor do they force anyone to stay with them.” “The Indian forces are going to the homes of militants to press them for the return of their kin. They are being pressurised to make appeal to their sons in…

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Sopore has traces of 5000-year-old civilisation: Heritage Expert

Atiqa Bano paid tributes for contribution to redefine vernacular heritage Traces of Sopore being a civilisation have been found, a noted heritage expert of Kashmir said Sunday. Delivering Atiqa Bano memorial lecture to mark the heritage week, heritage expert and former Director General (DG) Tourism, Saleem Beg said in the north Kashmir’s apple-rich town of Sopore and adjoining areas, traces had been found that prove it was a 5000-year-old civilisation. Beg said “this makes it imperative to explore it further with new dimensions.” “This is important to know our past…

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Resistance Camp asks people to observe shutdown, Admin places restrictions across Srinagar

Reiterating shutdown call for 27 November (Monday), the joint resistance leadership on Sunday stated that “gruesome atrocities committed by Indian forces across North and South Kashmir are crossing limits.” A joint statement issued by JRL comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Muhammad Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik said that “condition of thousands of innocents languishing in jails and police stations is also worsening with each passing day.” “Kashmiris are always protesting against these human rights violations and strike call for Monday (27 November 2017) is also intended to highlight these…

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Amnesty to Kashmir youth on Dineshwar Sharma’s urge, will it help his image?

On thursday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti ordered review of cases lodged against “first-time stone pelters” in the past three years. An already constituted committee is to review the cases and furnish its recommendations within 10 days. But while Mehbooba has announced the measure, she wasn’t the one who decided on it. Days before, the proposal was okayed by the Home Ministry on the recommendation of the new J&K interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma. To highlight the genesis of the move, the state government announced the review on the eve…

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Surrendered a week ago, but footballer Majid Khan not yet home

A week after Anantnag footballer-turned-militant gave himself up before the security forces, Majid Irshad Khan is yet to return home. After a brief rendezvous with militancy and appeals by his family to return home, Majid gave himself in before security forces in Anantnag on November 16. His only public appearance since has been during a press conference at Army’s Victor Force headquarters in Awantipora on November 17. Wearing a black ‘pherun’ and a skull cap, pulled well below his ears, a sombre Majid was presented before mediapersons for less than…

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State lacks infrastructure, pumping more electricity won’t solve power crisis

The allocation of additional electricity to Jammu and Kashmir by the union power ministry is unlikely to address the ongoing power crisis in Kashmir as the state doesn’t have required infrastructure to handle the energy quota, an official said on Wednesday. The official, well versed with the electricity system in Kashmir, said: “Not to talk of additional power, we don’t have the required grid capacity and transmission infrastructure either in Jammu or Kashmir to handle the present power demand. The state won’t benefit from this additional allocation because we are…

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‘Kashmir Banega Dar al-Salam’ WhatsApp group admin held

The police have arrested the administrator of a WhatsApp group on Tuesday from the Srinagar Airport. Junaid Parray, administrator of a WhatsApp group called ‘Kashmir Banega Dar al-Salam’, was wanted in many law and order incidents, the police said. Parray, who belongs to the Noorbagh locality of Srinagar, was also the administrator of WhatsApp groups called ‘Noorbagh rebels’ and ‘Rizwan news 24’. “He was avoiding arrest for one month but today, a special police party of MR Gunj police subdivision arrested him at the airport,” the police said.

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Power Crisis to worsen this winter as faulty transformers may not be repaired

What could worsen power crisis across Kashmir this winter, the industrial units involved in repairing of damaged transformers have stopped taking fresh orders from the power department due to pending liabilities of around Rs 20 crore with the government. An official told Kashmir Post on Wednesday that since the winter has already set in, a deadlock between the small scale industrial units and the power department is worrying because the transformer damage rate in Kashmir goes up 50 to 60 percent due to overloading. There are around 24 small scale…

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India plans to fast-track Hydro Projects in Kashmir Region

Deputy chief minister says hydro power could quintuple Pakistan has previously expressed concern on water shortages India plans to as much as quintuple development of hydroelectric power in Jammu and Kashmir, a northern state that has one of the world’s most militarized borders and faces water disputes. The local government is planning to add more than 5,000 megawatts of power using the flow of its rivers within the next five to six years, according to Nirmal Kumar Singh, the state’s deputy chief minister and minister for the power-development department. While…

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‘Khoje-e-Digar’, 400 year-old tradition at Khanqah-i-Naqshbandia today

Thousands of people would assemble at the revered shrine of Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) at Khawja Bazar in Downtown here on Wednesday afternoon to offer ‘Khawja Digar’, the centuries old practice of offering congregational Asr (post noon prayers) at the shrine on 3rd Rabi-ul-Awal. Soon after the prayers, the Imam would recite the Awraad-e-Asriya, (a booklet comprising verses of repentance and faith), the great sufi saint used to recite along with his hundreds’ of disciples 700 years ago at Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) was born in 718…

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