Community Archives | Page 65 of 184

BJP rally in Rafiabad sees an attendance of 78 people

April 2, 2019April 2, 2019 Editor

It must be a record of sorts in Kashmir, even for the BJP. The party, which hopes to win “all three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir”, managed to get only 78 people for its maiden rally in the area of Rafiabad in north Kashmir on Sunday. It was an embarrassing moment for Mohammed Maqbool War, who is fighting on a BJP ticket, and lives just three kilometres from the venue of the rally in Rohama area of Rafiabad. There were more security personnel guarding the venue than the number of…

Arrogance and Miscalculations have weakened Modi’s Hand in Kashmir

April 1, 2019April 1, 2019 Editor

The Centre’s decision to appoint a ‘representative’ for dialogue with Kashmir comes from a position of self-inflicted weakness. It is a good thing that the Centre has appointed a ‘representative’ to talk to Kashmiris of all shades. It would have been a far better thing if this sort of inclusive move had been made before a lot of Kashmiris got the impression that the Centre was running out of options. The tragic irony is that it is exactly three years to the day since Prime Minister Narendra Modi began to toss away…

SC hearing of Articles 35-A and 370, Bar asks members to remain available

March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 Editor

Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Srinagar has asked the following members of the association to remain available in the Supreme Court on 27 and 28 of March, 2019—so as to cause their appearance in the cases relating to the setting aside of Articles 35-A and 370 of the constitution of India, if those cases are taken up for consideration, on any of the aforesaid dates: M. A. Qayoom, President, Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, General Secretary, Z. A. Shah, Senior Advocate & Executive Member, Z. A. Qureshi, Senior Advocate &…

Why young Kashmiris are joining an insurgency against India

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 Editor

He was the kind of professor students adored, always ready to help with books, advice or small loans. His colleagues in the sociology department found him reliable and ambitious, a scholar whose research on consumerism might propel him to a post elsewhere in India. So it was out of character when Mohammad Rafi Bhat failed to attend a faculty meeting at the University of Kashmir one Friday afternoon last year. His family, too, had no idea where he was. Two days later, when his colleagues turned on their televisions, their…

Pak approves plan to open Sharda Peeth in PaK, KP group hails the decision

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 Editor

The Pakistan government on Monday approved a proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Sharda Peeth, an ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK), according to a media report. The Sharda Peeth corridor, when opened, will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled territory that will connect the two neighbouring nations. India had already sent a proposal to Pakistan to open the temple corridor, the Express Tribune reported quoting sources in Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.“After…

The sequence of events in Awantipora custodial death points to holes in police theory

March 25, 2019March 25, 2019 Editor

Magisterial inquiry not handled by administration where the death occurred. The sequence of events following the custodial death of a 28-year-old teacher, Rizwan Asad Pandit, from south Kashmir’s Awantipora area points to the gaping holes in the police theory. Three days after the death of Pandit on March 19 in police custody at Srinagar’s special counter-insurgency cell, Cargo, an FIR was lodged against the deceased for “an attempt to escape from a police vehicle” on the way to a location in south Kashmir. Of the three main police stations of the Awantipora…

Nauroz, Holi celebrated across J&K with fervor

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 Editor

The festivals of Holi and Nauroz were Thursday celebrated across Jammu and Kashmir with fervour and gaiety. Nauroz marks the onset of spring and is celebrated in different ways in different parts of the world. People in Kashmir usually undertake plantation on this day, while people expect light to moderate rains to take place on the festive occasion. Incidentally, Kashmir areas Thursday witnessed light rains. The traditional Nauroz dish in Kashmir is ‘nadur’ (lotus stem) and fish, apart from dried turnip cooked with chicken. On the day of Nauroz, people…

Centre misusing NIA to target Kashmiris: Saifuddin Soz

March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 Editor

Alleging that Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre was misusing National Investigation Agency (NIA) to target Kashmiris, senior Congress leader Prof Saifuddin Soz on Tuesday said this will be useless and counter-productive. The former union minister supported chairman of Hurriyat (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who has asked NIA to question him in Srinagar as he cannot travel Delhi for security reasons. In a statement here this afternoon, Prof Soz said, “I give credence to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s stand that he should be questioned anywhere in Srinagar and not asked to…

Farooq Abdullah to contest from Srinagar, Akbar Lone from Baramulla

March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 Editor

A high-level meeting of the National Conference’s parliamentary board decided on Monday that the party president Farooq Abdullah will contest the Lok Sabha election from Srinagar and senior leader Mohammad Akbar Lone will contest from Baramulla. Sources in the party said the decision was taken after a lengthy meeting of the party’s parliamentary board, which is headed by Farooq and was attended by several senior leaders of the party, including vice-president Omar Abdullah and general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar. The meeting took place at the party headquarters in the city…

Kashmir safe for tourists, media projecting it as war zone: Margia Thomas

March 19, 2019March 19, 2019 Editor

Noted Australian travel planner Margia Thomas Sunday slammed the “negative publicity” of the Kashmir situation, saying a section of media was projecting the Valley as a “war zone”. “Kashmir is safe for tourists. Unfortunately, sections of domestic and international media project it as a war zone when, in fact, nothing could be further from truth. As a tourist I would be more concerned about going to London, Paris or Bangkok,” Margia, who has been frequently visiting Kashmir for the past 15 years, told Kashmir Post. Margia’s first visit to Kashmir…