Category: Community

10 most wanted rebels in Kashmir Valley

Editor

The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have released a list of top 10 wanted rebels in the Kashmir valley. The list is part of the efforts of the security agencies to combat terrorism in the Valley. Hizbul Mujahideen chief in the valley Riyaz Ahmed Naiku, who has been associated with the terror group since 2010, tops the list. Also in the list are Mohammad Ashraq Khan in Srinagar, Mehraj-ud-din in Baramula, Dr Saifulla in Srinagar, Ajaj Ahmed Malik in Kupwara and Arshaid-ul-Haq of the same terror outfit in Pulwama.…

Read More

Search for ‘Lost Homeland’ continues by displaced Kashmiri Pandits

Editor

As thousands of devotees are expected to throng Tulmulla for the annual Mela Kheer Bhawani celebrations on Monday, a group of 252 displaced Kashmir Pandits will be visiting the shrine of Ragnya Devi in Ganderbal district in the form of a yatra with a mission. Their mission will be to ‘search for the lost homeland’, rekindle bond with Muslims and take a step towards their return. Members of the miniority community will start the yatra from New Delhi on Saturday morning, after converging in the capital city from different parts…

Read More

Revenue officer, Nusrat Aziz takes on land mafia, retrieves land illegally held by top bureaucrats, police officials

Editor

A woman revenue officer has shot to fame after launching a crusade against the land mafia, including people close to the power corridors in Kashmir. Nusrat Aziz, 40, has retrieved around 10 kanals of government land at Friends Enclave, Humhama locality, near the Srinagar International Airport, which were occupied by people close to politicians and some senior retired and serving officers.Nusrat is seen in videos leading encroachment drives despite opposition from land grabbers, who are now facing charges for interrupting her official work. “We have retrieved 10 kanals from some…

Read More

India not allowing us to visit, allegations of human rights violations very grave: UN Special Rapporteur

Editor

Nilz Melzer, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, said that the allegations that ‘550-page report on human torture in Kashmir’ by two local NGOs is making are very serious and might be very grave violations of human rights. He said that despite making several requests to the Indian government for the visit, “He hasn’t received any response so far.” When asked in an interview, if the Indian state can be held accountable under the UN convention against torture, he responded that while no state can be forced to ratify a…

Read More

Medical report rules out rape in infamous Sumbal rape case

Editor

The medical examination conducted by doctors at SKIMS medical college, Bemina has ruled out rape of minor girl of Sumbal area in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district earlier this month. In contrary, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Srinagar result of the underwear, seized by police from the accused, has substantiated that DNA profile of accused matched with the 3-year-old victim. The case is sub-judice and the special court of District and session judge Bandipora would hear the case FIR No. 81 /2019 of police station Sumbal on June 1 against the accused…

Read More

India using torture as ‘Instrument of control’ to quash rebellions in Kashmir

Editor

Prisoners in Indian-administered Kashmir have been subjected to abuse and torture, including “water-boarding, sleep deprivation and sexualised torture”, according to a report by two rights bodies. The 560-page report released on Monday mentions solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and sexualised torture including rape and sodomy, used as torture techniques against Kashmiris. Other torture methods included electrocution, hanging from a ceiling, dunking detainees’ head in water (which is sometimes mixed with chili powder), said the report by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society…

Read More

Police crackdown across city leaves migrant beggars staring at an uncertain future

Editor

“Walaiy bobai’y traavi niyaazah,” pleaded Anisur Rahman, in flawless Kashmiri, as he sat on the steps leading to the shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom in Srinagar’s Old City. “Come, mother, show some generosity.” Nearly every morning, Rahman, 50, leaves his rented room in the Old City and makes his way to the shrine. He gets by on alms from devotees who throng the shrine every day. “I have been sitting here each day for 10 years now,” he said. “No one who visits the shrine returns empty handed. People…

Read More

As many 43% newly elected LS MPs have criminal record: Association of Democratic Reforms

Editor

Nearly half of the newly-elected Lok Sabha members have criminal charges against them, a 26 per cent increase as compared to 2014, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms. Of the 539 winning candidates analysed by the ADR, as many as 233 MPs or 43 per cent have criminal charges. The BJP has 116 MPs or 39 per cent of its winning candidates with criminal cases, followed by 29 MPs (57 per cent) from the Congress, 13 (81 per cent) from the JDU, 10 (43 per cent) from the DMK…

Read More

As BJP returns to power, Kashmiris fear demographic change

Editor

With the BJP returning to power in the Centre, the people in Kashmir fear that the party may bring demographic change in the Valley by removing Articles 370 and 35A, which provide constitutional safeguards to the region within the Union of India. A majority of Kashmiris may have stayed away from the polls, but they kept track of the results. More than results of the Valley, they were keen to see who will come to power in the Centre. And as the day progressed, with the BJP emerging the clear…

Read More

Zakir Musa’s journey from tech student to most-wanted rebel from Valley

Editor

From an engineering student to one of the most wanted militants, Zakir Musa’s journey had all ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler. Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Zakir Musa (25), had joined the militant ranks in 2013 and four years later he parted ways and founded the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. Musa, a close aide of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing in 2016 sparked nearly five-month-long unrest and led to the killing of nearly 90 civilians, was gunned down in south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district. Musa was trapped inside…

Read More