Valley groups say talks sans Hurriyat futile; Jammu voices predict failure The Centre’s decision to send an all-party delegation to Kashmir to hold dialogue with all stakeholders for defusing the turmoil has divergence in views of civil society groups of Jammu region and Kashmir valley. While Jammu groups dismiss the the step as another ‘ritual as usual’ performed by the Centre ignoring the ground reality and actual stakeholders, Kashmir-based groups term it as a futile exercise if Hurriyat is not taken on board. “The Government of India has to shun…
Read MoreCategory: Community
24×7 Grievances redressal helpline for J&K People, Students
The grievances can be reported, 24×7, on the following phone numbers: 011-23092923, 011-23092885 and email: dirmjk-mha@nic.in A 24×7 grievance redressal helpline was on Tuesday set-up for Jammu and Kashmir people, particularly students residing out of the state. The Union Home Ministry has nominated Sanjay Roy, Director (Media), as the nodal officer for grievances relating to Jammu and Kashmir persons, particularly students residing outside the state, a government release said. The grievances can be reported, 24×7, on the following phone numbers: 011-23092923, 011-23092885 and email: dirmjk-mha@nic.in The nodal officer will receive…
Read MoreCurfew teaches women art of survival in Valley
The curfew in the Valley has changed the schedule of Amina Begum, 50, who lives in the congested locality of Nawab Bazar in Srinagar. Before security personnel take control of streets at 5 am to impose curfew, she makes sure to buy milk and vegetables for a day or two from the vendors in the locality who come from various places. This has remained the norm for the past 50 days of curfew in most of the localities in old Srinagar city. People get up at the crack of dawn…
Read MoreBringing up kids under curfew in Kashmir no child’s play
Had it not been for the 51 days of curfew, Hadi would have been going to his preparatory school. His mother, Uzra, tells him he is the guy who can get a ‘100’ in school. But Hadi’s hero is Nobita, the boy who gets zero, in the cartoon series Doraemon. What is worrying Uzra more is her four-year-old’s obsession with cartoons – which is understandable – and with news – which is not – is exposing him to words and images that are too fraught for him to understand. In…
Read MoreNight patrols across Kashmir emerge in order to tackle police raids
On a dimly-lit road in the restive area of Tahab at Pulwama in Kashmir, young boys hurled stones at the security force personnel. The forces retaliated with teargas shells and tried to chase them away, but the boys held their positions. The stone pelting continued even though it was getting darker. A few meters away, a narrow alley remained blocked with hundreds of youth wearing green headbands, waving Pakistani flags. It was the beginning of the spell of night protests, which after 50 days of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen…
Read MoreStrict Curfew after dusk makes life more difficult
“Bhago yahan se” (go away from here)–a voice suddenly booms from a dark corner of a street in curfew-bound Srinagar as dusk falls. This is the voice of a para-military personnel behind a concertina wire who tries to prevent movement of people on the main road here and is unwilling to listen to anyone even if one is carrying a curfew pass or has some emergency. Srinagar like any other part of Kashmir is witnessing the longest spell of curfew since July 8 when unrest broke out in the Valley.…
Read MoreChilli-based PAVA shells being considered as replacement for pellet guns
With eye injuries caused by use of pellet guns in Jammu & Kashmir turning into a major controversy, an expert panel of the home ministry is exploring whether these can be replaced with newly-developed PAVA shells, a chilli-based non-lethal munition which temporarily incapacitates the targets and renders them immobile for several minutes. Though a final decision is yet to be taken, government sources said a seven-member panel involving officers from home ministry, BSF, CRPF, J&K Police , IIT-Delhi and Ordnance Factory Board is considering their use for control crowd. The…
Read MoreWhen Life Comes to a Halt in Kashmir; Living Under Curfew
Twelve-year-old Ryan Riyaz recalls the exact number of days his school has been shut: “One month and 18 days, since Burhan died. We take private tuitions now”. A resident of Khanyar in downtown Srinagar, the class VI student says life in the valley has been morose. Ryaz and many others now take private tuitions to complete their syllabus and gear up for the impending exams post curfew. “My syllabus is incomplete, but exams will happen as per schedule, as per newspaper reports”, says Ryan. Irked by the civic meltdown, the…
Read MoreUnrest pushes mutton off Kashmir menu
In the curfew-bound Kashmir, mutton has gone off the menu. With the region reeling under shutdowns and restrictions for the past 46 days, the import of mutton has come down from a whopping 95 truckloads to bare three per day as the people now prefer vegetables over mutton. Last July was the peak of the marriage season that usually involves abundant mutton consumption. However, it has trickled down to merely three per cent due to curfew, restrictions and shutdowns. Owing to the prevailing unrest, scores of marriages, which were scheduled…
Read MoreModi calls for dialogue, accepts development alone can’t bring ‘Lasting Solution’ to Kashmir
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday acknowledged that “only development can’t resolve the problem in Jammu and Kashmir”, said former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who led a delegation of opposition parties from the state to meet central leaders in the national capital. “The Prime Minister has acknowledged that development alone can’t resolve the problem in the state,” Abdullah told the media after the meeeting. As curfew continued for the 45th day in Kashmir, the delegation told the Prime Minister that a “political solution” would have to be found to the…
Read More
