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…
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When 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 MoreCurbs on ferrying patients at night after firing on ambulance driver
The decision has been taken to avoid confrontation with Army and CRPF personnel patrolling roads and highways at night. A day after an ambulance driver was shot at by the CRPF at Safa Kadal area of the city, officials Friday asked district and sub-district hospitals to manage critical patients at rural health centres at night instead of taking the risk of moving them to Srinagar. The decision has been taken to avoid confrontation with Army and CRPF personnel patrolling roads and highways at night. Night curfew has been imposed stringently in…
Read MoreVolunteers disallow ‘Fact-Finding team’ from Delhi to meet injured; People’s anger in genuine, Team
Aiyer, Jha face resistance at SMHS hospital; Delegation says ‘We are here to listen to people’ People’s anger in Kashmir genuine: Civil society delegation A fact-finding non-governmental team from New Delhi arrived here on Thursday to meet civilians injured during the ongoing unrest in Kashmir. However, two members of the team—Mani Shankar Aiyar (MP) and Prem Shankar Jha (Journalist)— were not allowed to meet the injured by volunteers at SMHS hospital here. Sources told Kashmir Post that the team comprising Aiyar, Jha,Vinod Sharma, MK Venu, Ruby Arun, Shabnam Hashmi (social…
Read MoreBSNL Stops sale of post-paid SIMs on security grounds
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) Jammu Customer Service Centre (CSC) at Bahu Plaza has stopped issuing new post-paid SIM cards from today after it was directed by the government to do so on security grounds. Sources said the Jammu CSC had been witnessing a heavy rush of customers from the Valley to get new post-paid SIM cards for the past few days. However, keeping in mind the unrest, the BSNL decided to immediately stop the sale of new post-paid SIM cards, fearing that it might create more security-related problems.…
Read MoreResidents despair as Communication Gag continues
Today marks the 39th day of curfew in Kashmir. The private mobile phone networks remain suspended. Internet blocked. Roads deserted. In the current scenario, when all sources of communication have been snapped, people are increasingly getting desperate to know what is happening in others parts of the Valley. “The situation is getting worse than the 2010 unrest. We are suffocating. Phones are not working. At least children used to surf the internet and tell us what is happening in other parts of the Valley, but now we have been deprived…
Read More9 Year-old boy is battling for life at SMHS hospital
His head and face are wrapped in bandage. Since Monday evening, he is lying motionless on a bed in Srinagar’s SMHS hospital. And the only signs of life in him are the beeps on vital-signs monitor wired to his body. Just 20 hours earlier, nine-year-old Irfan Ahmed Sofi was playing his favorite game Football with his friends in Bijbehera area in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Today, the “football champ” as he is known in his locality, is battling for life at the Surgical ICU of the SMHS hospital after he…
Read MoreSedition case registered against Amnesty International India over ‘Pro-freedom Slogans’
An FIR was on Monday registered against Amnesty International India in connection with alleged raising of “independence” slogans by “pro-freedom” Kashmiris who entered into heated arguments with a Kashmiri Pandit leader for hailing Indian Army. A police official involved in the investigation said that a First Information Report has been registered and investigations will proceed. The FIR has been registered under IPC sections– 142 (being member of an unlawful assembly), 143 (whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on…
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