Category: Community

18 Month old baby among 50 injured by pellets, bullets during Shopian clashes

Editor

An 18-month-old baby was among more than 50 persons injured by pellets and bullets in south Kashmir’s Shopian and Kulgam districts on Sunday during clashes between locals and security forces following an encounter with militants in Batagund village. Health officials of Shopian and Kulgam said that they received 51 people wounded by pellets and bullets in the two district hospitals following clashes that erupted after security forces killed six militants in Shopian. Batagund is a border village in Shopian which connects with Kulgam district. Medical superintendent of district hospital Kulgam,…

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Three Questions for Satya Pal about his decision to dissolve the Assembly

Editor

The communique from the Jammu and Kashmir Raj Bhawan, explaining the governor’s decision to dissolve the state assembly, raises many questions. One, It cites the “impossibility of forming a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies.” What common grounds did the BJP have with Mufti Mohd Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) when the two came together in 2015? The former prided itself on a Hindutva brand of nationalism, while the latter has never shied from using a soft separatist narrative to mobilise the anti-India…

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What they achieved being loyal to Delhi for 70 years? Separatists mock arch rivals

Editor

After being dubbed by the BJP leadership as the parties working at the behest of Pakistan in Kashmir, the mainstream parties on Friday came under fire from the separatists who questioned them what have they achieved by being loyal to Delhi for 70 years. This stinging remark against the NC and PDP was made by All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Twitter: “NC, PDP despite doing New Delhi’s biddings at the cost of betraying their own people, have not been able to earn New Delhi’s trust.” He…

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How BJP was outsmarted in Kashmir

Editor

‘Although the tactical move to outflank the BJP fell through with New Delhi’s decisive intervention and eventual dissolution of the state assembly, the PDP, NC and the Congress appeared to be more than satisfied.’ ‘They see the assembly dissolution as their ‘great achievement’.’ ‘If one were to believe what they say, this was also their main objective,’ reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the doyen of Kashmiri commentators. For once — just once — in Kashmir history, it was the tail that wagged the proverbial dog to re-set the balance of forces on…

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Hizbul meet held in Srinagar; Alert sounded across city post major security breach

Editor

In a massive security breach, terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen reportedly held a meeting at the heart of Srinagar city, at Hazratbal Shrine on Tuesday. Terrorists from Hizbul, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror groups participated in the meeting, as claimed by Hizbul in a letter. In light of the recent developments, security forces have reportedly sounded an alert in the city. In fact, a photograph of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Umar alias Hanzalla posing in front of Ghanta Ghar at Lal Chowk in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar surfaced on Thursday, with…

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Raj bhawan’s fax becomes a butt of ridicule

Editor

The fax machine in Governor Satya Pal Malik’s office became a butt of ridicule with National Conference (NC) Vice President and former chief minister Omar Abdullah Thursday holding it responsible for the “death of democracy” in the State. Addressing a news conference, a sarcastic Omar said there should be an investigation why the fax machine in the Governor’s office was not able to receive a fax from PDP chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti staking claim to form the government, but was able to send a communique about the…

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For the Authorities there are no civilians in Shopian, only militants

Editor

As the security situation in the Valley remains precarious, restive Shopian in south Kashmir is fast turning into a war zone with nearly 40 militants and at least a dozen civilians killed in the district by government forces this year alone. In the latest counter insurgency operation in the district’s Nadigam village, four militants, all of them local youths affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, were gunned down by security forces in an encounter in the small hours of yesterday. An army Para commando was also killed while two…

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Omar tweets, Mehbooba likes – In thank you note to rival Omar, Mehbooba stinging jibe at BJP

Editor

An indication of a new bonhomie between arch-rivals Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti was witnessed on microblogging site Twitter when the latter liked a tweet by the former immediately after the confirmation of alliance between the two parties. Omar, who is the working president of the National Conference (NC), tweeted: “Whoever said ‘may you live in interesting times’ knew what they were talking about.” Mehbooba, president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was quick to ‘like’ Omar’s tweet — a virtual confirmation that the two former Chief Ministers of the…

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What compelled rival parties in J&K to foster alliance

Editor

Two arch-rivals in Kashmir politics — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — had come under intense pressure from their MLAs to form government in Jammu and Kashmir as it was feared that continuing political hostility would pave way for the success of “BJP’s machinations” to break these groups. The decision on the alliance came before the annoucement of the dissolution of the Assembly and sought to utilise the remaining period of more than two years of the six-year term of the Assemblyto unite all for “Kashmir’s special status”. It…

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Mourning as well fear across valley after rebels abducted, executes civilians

Editor

After spending four harrowing hours in the custody of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants at an unidentified location, Farooq Ahmed Thokar and Shahid Ganai found themselves blindfolded, standing on what they could tell was a macadamised road somewhere in south Kashmir. They were accompanied by two militants, who had just interrogated them. Thokar and Ganai were asked to turn their backs towards the car that had been used as transportation. “[Then] they removed our blindfolds. A voice came from behind and told us that we were free to go. One of…

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