Community Archives | Page 38 of 183

Secret burials in faraway places denies kins of slain militants right to grieve

December 24, 2021 Editor

Since April of last year, the government has used COVID-19 as a premise to avoid returning the bodies of slain militants in Kashmir to their kin. By: Siddiqa Ahmed One sunny morning, we entered the modest home of Abdul Rashid Wani. Wani is a farmer from the Pulwama district in southern Kashmir. The wiry, middle-aged man directed us to his damp living room and began frantically puffing away at his jajeer (Kashmiri hookah). Then he began narrating the story of his son, Junaid Rashid. A former college student, 20-year-old Rashid…

Govt identifies 19 ‘Transit Accommodations’ across Kashmir for pandits

December 11, 2021 Editor

In order to rehabilitate the Kashmir pandits who have or will return to Kashmir for job opportunities, the government has identified 19 locations in the valley to build 6000 flats for their transit accommodation. The project is a part of the Prime Minister’s Development Package [PMDP] in which the Government of India [GoI] was supposed to provide 6000 state government jobs and the construction of 6000 transit accommodations to the displaced Kashmiri Pandits. The total cost of the package has been estimated at Rs 920 crore. Talking to NW, Nazim…

International bodies should help resolve Kashmir Issue: Hurriyat(M)

December 11, 2021 Editor

The Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Friday appealed to the international human rights organizations to play their part in “ensuring” that the “Kashmir conflict is resolved” and the fundamental human rights of the people of J&K are “respected and reinstated”. In a statement issued on International Human Rights Day, Hurriyat said that for the last three decades, the “abysmal” human rights situation in J&K due to the “lingering conflict” had shown no sign of improvement. “Instead, it has grown worse. Since August 5, 2019 (when the Centre…

506 Inquiries, Zero Reports: How Kashmir’s ‘Probes’ have little meaning

December 1, 2021 Editor

Around 506 magisterial probes have been ordered by the administration, of which only one is completed. Ishfaq Reshi Following the massive outrage over the killing of three civilians in an alleged Hyderpora gunfight on 15 November, Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha-led administration swung into action and ordered a magisterial probe into the killings on an immediate basis. This was not the first time that a probe was ordered to bring justice to victims killed by security forces. In the past, hundreds of such cases have been reported in the region, but…

Why is anger rising over secretive militant burials in Kashmir?

December 1, 2021 Editor

Families of militants killed by Indian forces are decrying a ban on returning the bodies. Authorities have cited COVID-19 and fears of new recruitment as reasons for burying those killed in remote border areas. Mushtaq Ahmad Wani cried out for public support after Indian security forces refused to return the body of his teenage son, who was killed in a controversial operation on the outskirts of Srinagar, Jammu, and Kashmir. “Today it’s about my son. Tomorrow it will be your son as well,” Wani shouted while he was being taken…

Stray dogs on prowl in Srinagar

November 29, 2021 Editor

Amid rise in the stray dog population and canine bite cases in the summer capital, Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) is only able to carry out sterilisation of just 10 to 15 dogs per day. The 10 to 15 dogs sterilisation per day is as per official figures which residents in Srinagar believe can be much lower otherwise. Locals said SMC’s ambitious dog sterilisation program is yet to take off while the increasing population of dogs is posing threat to human beings. To gear up the sterilisation and have satisfactory results,…

J&K hosts 12.58% poor population: NITI Aayog

November 26, 2021 Editor

The first-ever Multidimensional Poor Index (MPI) report of India has revealed that 12.58 percent population in Jammu and Kashmir is poor. As per the report prepared by the government of India’s think-tank body – NITI Aayog, 12.58 percent population in the erstwhile state of J&K which included the newly created UT of Ladakh is poor. The multidimensional poor index has taken into consideration various factors which include the percentage of population deprived of nutrition, maternal health, and school education. The report states that 25.9 percent of the population is deprived…

Cantonment Board serves property tax notices to residents residing within its jurisdiction: Allege locals

November 25, 2021 Editor

The resident living within the jurisdiction of Badami Bagh Cantonment Board has been served fresh property tax bills from the board, asking them to pay tax, while some of them have received property attachment notices, asking them to clear the tax amount or face attachment proceedings, locals alleged here. The residents alleged that some days ago, the Board had also published a notice, asking residents falling within the domain of Board, to clear tax payments by depositing them to Board account or through online mode. “It is for the information…

With soaring vegetable prices platter are getting expensive with every passing day

November 25, 2021November 25, 2021 Editor

Consumers suffer as ‘clueless’ FCSCA fails to regulate prices The prices of vegetables and fruits are at an all-time high in Kashmir owing to the non-regulation of the prices by the Department of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCSCA). The sluggishness on the part of the competent authorities to regulate the rates of eatables and essentials is giving a tough time to the consumers. The market prices of eatables have witnessed exorbitant hikes in absence of any enforcement by the FCSCA in markets to regulate the rates of essential…

Press Colony being evacuated of Press

November 24, 2021November 24, 2021 Editor

On Thursday evening a truck was outside the office of the largest circulating English daily of Kashmir, Greater Kashmir. Several laborers were loading chairs, tables, computers, printers, and other office equipment into the vehicle. The estate department made Greater Kashmir vacate the building allotted to the paper in the 1990s. Last year the government had asked former BCC correspondent Yousuf Jameel to vacate his office from the press colony. On October 19, 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir estates department sealed the Srinagar office of the Kashmir Times. The newspaper, one…