Community Archives | Page 55 of 184

‘Things have gone worse in Kashmir’ amid year’s lock-down: Rights Body

July 25, 2020July 25, 2020 Editor

Anger and alienation in Kashmir are having a disastrous economic, social and political impact, a New Delhi-based rights body says in a report released a year into India’s lockdown of the region. On Aug. 5 last year, New Delhi annulled Article 370 of the country’s constitution, which had guaranteed Kashmir’s special autonomous status and granted locals exclusive land and job rights. The move sparked widespread anger, which was met with a brutal response from India’s military, detention of political activists and civilians, suspensions of all democratic rights and a media…

All you need to know about J&K’s new Domicile Law

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 Editor

Difference between Article 35A and 3A of J&K Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020: Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was an article that empowered the Jammu and Kashmir’s state legislature to define “permanent residents” of the erstwhile state and provided employment opportunities only to those permanent residents. On the other hand, Section 3A of the J&K Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020, under the J&K civil services (decentralisation and recruitment) Act, defines “Domicile” for the purpose of appointment to the post carrying a pay scale not more…

GoI amended J&K Development Act for ‘Land Grabbing’: Regional Political Parties

July 19, 2020July 19, 2020 Editor

A day after the Jammu and Kashmir administrative council amended the Jammu and Kashmir Development Act, paving the way for armed forces to notify “strategic areas” for themselves, regional political parties accused the government of being “on a mission of a major land grab”. The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in a statement said the move could be anything ranging from establishing colonies to the special deployment of defense equipment to creating an army establishment in J&K. The party described the proposed amendment as a remnant of colonial era laws.…

Post the killing of Sheikh Bari, Resignation of BJP cadre started flowing in from across Kashmir Valley

July 17, 2020July 17, 2020 Editor

All is not well in BJP as activists from J&K Unit are continuously turned up with resignations in one pretext or other. A senior party leader admitted that the repeated delay from the administration in providing adequate security cover is the main reason for fear among party cadres which led distances by members while another admitted that efforts are on in this regard. Several BJP activists have given up the party either after receiving life threat by militants or having indifferences with party higher ups. At least three party activists…

GoI allowing Amarnath Yatra despite a huge spike in coronavirus cases across J&K

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020 Editor

Analysts say the resumption of annual Hindu pilgrimage shows the government’s ‘double standard’ as other gatherings prohibited. Authorities in Kashmir have decided to allow Hindu pilgrims to visit the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath – a decision Kashmiri analysts say contradicts the government’s coronavirus lockdown policy. The annual Amarnath Yatra (journey), which receives hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across India, will likely begin on July 21, but this year it has been shortened to two weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which manages…

Officially first time in history no martyr’s day observed in Kashmir, Martyr Day’s historical perspective

July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 Editor

Media reported it was the first time since the Partition that no holiday and official functions were held to commemorate the Kashmir Martyrs’ Day on July 13, today. Following the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, last year, India had issued a list of gazette holidays for the occupied territory, omitting July 13 from the list. “In December last year, the list of gazetted holidays had no mention of martyrs’ day on July 13. Therefore, the question doesn’t arise of holding any official function or declaring a holiday on…

Why GoI is planning Amarnath Yatra in the middle of the Pandemic?

July 6, 2020July 6, 2020 Editor

Amarnath Yatra 2020: The annual pilgrimage will begin on July 21 and end on August 3, thus making it the shortest ever Yatra till date. According to some reports, the yatra might be carried out by helicopters. Will the Indian government go-ahead with Amarnath Yatra (pilgrimage) 2020 despite the global pandemic? The annual Amarnath Yatra draws more than 600,000 people to the Kashmir Valley but critics have questioned why is India going ahead with annual pilgrimage? Due to the recent surge in COVID-19, an increasing number of health experts have…

Why a growing number of Kashmiri youth are picking up guns

July 3, 2020July 3, 2020 Editor

Sajad Ahmad Beigh, a 23-year-old herder from south Kashmir’s Shopian district, left his home with a flock of sheep into the nearby woods on a summer afternoon early last month. He never returned. A week later, his brother Khurshed Ahmad was informed by the Indian army officers that Sajad was shot dead in a gunfight in Sugg village, 4km (2.5 miles) away from his home. “He was very young. We had no idea what happened to him,” Khursheed, Sajad’s brother, told Al Jazeera. “It was not a thing he would discuss. We had…

Don’t sell Property to outsiders: APHC (M)

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 Editor

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has advised people to be very vigilant and not sell their land or any property to outsiders at any cost adding that government should stop issuing domicile certificates to outsiders “with the view to change the demographic character of Jammu and Kashmir, which is causing great concern among people and could have serious consequences for the region.” In a statement issued here, the APHC said executive members Prof. Abdul Ghani Bhat and Bilal Ghani lone called on ailing executive member and former APHC chairman Maulana…