Category: Community

Mehbooba meets Rajnath amid row over JK’s Special Status

Editor

Meeting seen as part of efforts to stall abrogation of Art 370 CM likely to meet PM, President today Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Thursday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh amid reports that she had come to the national capital to drum up support for preventing attempts to remove special status to the state under the Constitution. The meeting lasted for nearly 45 minutes, officials said without elaborating about the topics that were discussed. The meeting comes in the backdrop of growing pressure on Mehbooba, who is caught in a…

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Article 35A is unconstitutional : BJP

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The BJP today accused Kashmir-centric parties of misleading citizens on various issues, including Article 35A. The party observed that the stand of these parties exposed their double standard on this issue. “Article 35A is an unconstitutional provision of law, finds no place in the Constitution and is supposed to be in operation without being passed in the Parliament of India. It is a great paradox that some Article is being discussed in public domain without understanding its legal position,” said BJP spokesman Arun Gupta, in a statement issued here today.…

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Amarnath Yatra 2017 ends on high note

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Despite terror attack, over 2.6 lakh devotees paid obeisance during 40-day pilgrimage The last batch of pilgrims performed the final puja at the holy Amarnath cave shrine on the auspicious occasion of Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan), marking the conclusion of this year’s yatra. The 40-day-long yatra started on June 29 on the occasion of Purshotam Purnima from the Chandanwari and Baltal routes and concluded today with a special puja at the cave with the holy mace (Chhari Mubarak). After performing the daylong puja, devotees started their return journey towards Panjtarni…

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Concern raised in parts of kashmir over privacy as security forces allegedly scan phones of suspected civilians

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Concern over privacy was raised in some parts of Kashmir, after reports of security forces checking citizens’ phones surfaced in the media. Reportedly, security forces in Kashmir, particularly in its volatile southern areas, are prying into cellphones of residents during roadside searches. While according to officials it is a routine procedure in the state where militants use social media to propagate their agenda and garner mass support, several incidents of citizen abuse were reported in such situations if anything incriminating was found on the phones. According to IANS, officials denied…

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When stones turn to song in Kashmir

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Music has become a potent weapon of dissent in Kashmir At the cosy, wood-panelled Ground Zero café in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, Mohammad Muneem, the singer-songwriter-frontman of the Pune-based Kashmiri rock band Alif, is in the house. It is an informal afternoon gathering: Conversation, acoustic guitar-backed singing by Muneem and Kashmiri noon chai (salty tea) are on the menu. About a dozen young people have gathered; several of them profess to be poets or aficionados of poetry. A couple of girls, veils loosely wrapped around their faces, seem to be captivated…

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Court snubs lawyer for asking Shabir Shah to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’

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A Delhi court today snubbed an overenthusiastic prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for asking separatist leader Shabir Shah to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ to prove his patriotism, saying that it was not a television studio. Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma chided the lawyer for his remark and later allowed the ED’s plea for extension by six days Shah’s custodial interrogation in a decade-old money laundering case. Counsel for the ED Rajeev Awasthi alleged that Shah (64) was ruining the country by using money to fund terror and breached…

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Govt should investigate wealth sources of mainstream leaders: Er Rashid

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Awami Itihad Party (AIP) chief and MLA Langate Er Rashid Thursday urged government to investigate sources of wealth of mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. He accused some television channels of “character assassination” of people of Kashmir and announced that his party will not participate in any debate on these channels as a mark of protest Disclosing his assets during a press conference here, Rashid urged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to direct state Crime Investigation department (CID) and Crime Branch to investigate the source of wealth of every mainstream politician.…

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Travel, Trade to resume on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route from Monday

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The cross-Line of Control trade and travel on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, which was suspended on July 21, will resume from Monday following a meeting between authorities from Jammu and Kashmir and PoK at Kaman Post in Baramulla district on Thursday. The travel on the weekly bus service will resume from Monday, while the trade will resume from Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, Nasir Ahmad Naqash told PTI. Naqash said the two sides agreed to have regular monthly meetings to sort out any differences arising during the course of the cross-LoC travel…

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NIA crackdown on terror funding in Kashmir has left leaders of both factions of Hurriyat isolated

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On Wednesday afternoon, the road leading to the residence-cum-office of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani in Srinagar wore a deserted look. Outside, the policeman inside a bunker-type vehicle, with a CCTV camera fitted on to it, scanned every passerby coming towards the residence of the octogenarian leader who has been mostly confined to this house since 2010 by the state government. “No one comes here these days,” the policeman on duty said from inside the stationed vehicle. “Not even his relatives visit this place now. It has never been…

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‘Hardouk Ooush’ film directed by Wasaf Jeelani makes it to Spain film festival

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A short film, written and directed by a young Kashmiri boy, is set for screening at an international film festival in Spain. 24-year-old Wasaf Jeelani said his film, ‘Hardouk Ooush-Tears of the autumn’, has been selected for International India film festival Spain. The film, produced by Vivek Budakoti and Rajita Sharna, has been made under the banner of Magic Lantern Productions. Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s short story ‘Misery’, the film is an attempt to present a perspective on enforced disappearances in Kashmir, said Jeelani.

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