Category: Community

Quit or face boycott: Hizb to policemen

Editor

Militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen today asked policemen to leave their duties and be back home within a week, failing which their families would be subjected to a social boycott. Posters printed on a Hizb letter head and sealed “District Commander, Islamabad, HizbulMujahideen” were today found pasted outside many mosques across Anantnag and Bijbehara towns here in south Kashmir. “People working in the Police Department should return to their homes within a week or action will be taken against them. In case they fail to return, their families will face a social…

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Locals in Valley taking care of migrant labourers amidst turmoil

Editor

Shankar Pasi, 25, a labourer from the Siwan district of Bihar is among hundreds of migrant labourers who either have chosen to stay or have not been able to leave amid the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir valley. Many people, like Pasi, have been left entirely dependent on the relief being distributed by local youth to locals as well as non-locals. “We don’t have money and we have nothing to eat. Had it not been for the local youth, we would have starved,” said Pasi, who lives in a rented…

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Burhan Wani poem poses new challenges for security forces in Valley

Editor

Senior security officials in the valley are currently facing a challenging job of arresting the protesters. They believe that poems such as these are being used as propaganda tool to encourage youth to confront forces violently. A tarana (poem) eulogising Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani seems to have become a major concern for security forces posted in the most volatile parts of south Kashmir that are already witnessing pitched battles between forces and local residents. The poem titled – ‘Main Burwan Koon’ – a part of which was apparently written…

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People reviving age-old water transport amid restrictions in Valley

Editor

Amid restrictions and road blocks people are reviving the age-old practice of water transport using various routes here in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district. People in the district are transporting goods and travelling to other places amid restrictions using age-old routes through River Jhelum and Wular Lake, River Jhelum is proving more helpful these days than the macadamized but blocked roads here in Bandipora. Donga-boats (shikaras) are used to move from one place to another in the district. Even some boats are being used to reach Sopore, Srinagar, Patan and Baramulla.…

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Joint Resistance leaders urges govt employees to donate for Poor, Daily wagers

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Joint Resistance leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani , Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have fervently appealed to the people especially the employees in the Government, Public and Private sector and resourceful person of the society to donate from their salaries and income to the local Masjid committees/Bait ul maal in their locality. In a statement they said, “The Masjid committees /Bait ul Maal are requested to identify the poor and daily wage earners in the locality whose earnings have greatly been affected by the current wave of oppression,…

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Pellet injuries continue amid voices on ban, Avoid using against protesters says Rajnath

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Despite a public outcry against the use of pellet guns against protesters, youth with pellet injuries are pouring into hospitals from different parts of Kashmir. In the past four days, Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital has received over 100 youth with pellet injuries while some have been admitted to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) and district hospitals. Twelve-year-old Mir Arafat of Khanbal in south Kashmir has been kept under observation at the intensive care unit of the SMHS Hospital. Arafat has received hundreds of pellets in vital organs,…

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Communication blackout in valley undermines Human Rights: Amnesty International

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The suspension of phone and internet services in the Kashmir valley is enabling a range of human rights violations, Amnesty International said on Saturday. Since 9 July, when widespread protests broke out in Kashmir following the killing of a leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen armed group, private landline, mobile and internet service providers have suspended their services in large parts of Jammu and Kashmir on orders from state authorities. Only services provided by the state-run telecommunications company, BSNL, are functional in many areas. One order issued by the Jammu and…

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Children aged 4, 11, 12: Old enough for police to get pellets, bullets!

Editor

“I want to go home. I want to be with my friends,” says Zuhra, unmindful of the pellets, fired by police, which have pierced her body. Asked how she got injured, Zuhra blames “firecrackers by police uncle.” Four-year-old Zuhra Majeed, undergoing treatment at SMHS Hospital here, has been insisting on meeting her friends. She wants to show them her video that has gone viral on social networking sites. “I want to go home. I want to be with my friends,” says Zuhra, unmindful of the pellets, fired by police, which…

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Pellets wreak Havoc, Nasir(5) battles Injuries

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20 Persons have eyes severely damaged, 10 Victims completely lost 1 eye, most of 170 injured need retinal surgery, Nasir(5) Battles pellet injuries Of over 170 persons admitted at general specialty SMHS hospital here with eye-injuries, at least 20 have their both eyes “severely damaged” by pellets while another 10 persons have completely lost their one eye to the ‘lethal’ ammunition. While doctors have started to operate upon these patients, they fear the damage caused by the pellets to many persons may be “irreparable.” A senior eye specialist at the…

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JK’s ‘Non-lethal’ Pellet guns, and the Injuries, Blindness they cause

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh has announced an expert panel to suggest alternatives to pellets in crowd control. Indian Express explains this most emotive aspect of the current round of protests in the Valley. Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the pellet guns fired on protesters in Kashmir had killed one person and given eye injuries to 53 during the current round of unrest, and that the government was looking out for non-lethal alternatives for crowd control. Opthalmologists at Srinagar’s Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital…

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