Category: Community

NC-PDP should stake claim for govt formation, ready to join hands on Article 35A: Altaf Bukhari

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The People’s Democratic Party and National Conference should come together to form the government in the “larger interests” of Jammu and Kashmir, the senior PDP leader and former finance minister Syed Altaf Bukhari said on Friday. “This is the right thing to do (to have the NC-PDP alliance) in the present situation when our identity is under attack,” Bukhari said, when asked about the possibility of the two arch-rivals coming together to form the next government in the state, which is presently under Governor’s rule. Talking to media on the…

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SPO Adil Bashir posted at PDP MLA’s residence in Srinagar flees with 10 weapons

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A  Special police officer (SPO) posted at the residence of PDP MLA from Wachi constituency Aijaz Ahmad Mir fled on Friday with 10 weapons. According to the police, SPO Adil Bashir went missing from the Jawahar Nagar residence of the PDP MLA where he was posted. SPO Adil Bashir went missing, along with 10 weapons, from the guard room at the residence of PDP MLA from Wachi constituency Aijaz Ahmad Mir, the police said. The SPO, who hails from the militancy-hit Shopian district of south Kashmir, has taken away 10…

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Chance for BJP to fill vacuum as NC, PDP boycott but terror threats may deter mass participation

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In 2011, as Jammu and Kashmir geared up for panchayat elections after a long hiatus, Ghulam Hassan Panzoo, then a teacher in the government’s service, resigned from his job to contest the polls from his village with the hope to drive forward development projects there. He won with 740 votes in the village – Panzoo in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district – that had about as many households, he said. After years of neglect infrastructure schemes had started to be undertaken but the awe that the law on papers inspired in…

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Ram Madhav takes a swipe at NC, PDP for fielding proxy candidates

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Despite militant threats, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday said he was glad to see the enthusiasm among the party cadre ahead of the urban local bodies (ULB) elections. He also mocked the National Conference (NC) and the PDP for fielding proxy candidates after calling for the boycott of the municipal polls. “Our party candidates are contesting from all municipal bodies of the Valley. I came here to take stock of the situation and encourage our candidates. Even in difficult (militancy affected) areas like south Kashmir, the party…

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139 Killed in 8 months, South Kashmir bears brunt of violence

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The four districts of south Kashmir have witnessed a higher level of militancy-related violence in the first eight months of this year with 139 deaths. According to data, at least 263 persons—civilians, militants and forces’ personnel—were killed in militancy-related incidents across the Valley in first eight months this year. Of 263 causalities, south Kashmir’s four districts—Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam—have borne the maximum brunt of violence with highest 139 deaths witnessed in the region alone. This is followed by three districts of north Kashmir—Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara—with nearly 88 casualties…

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Congress accuses NC, PDP of fielding proxy candidates

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J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir on Tuesday accused the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of fielding proxy candidates for the upcoming urban local bodies elections. “They are fielding proxy candidates from various places,” Mir said while addressing a press conference here. He made the comments while referring to the NC and the PDP that had announced to boycott the local bodies elections. Mir had earlier questioned the decision of the NC and the PDP to boycott the polls, saying that they had kept the…

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Post killing of 3 Cops, PUDR appeals to militants to adhere to humanitarian norms

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Civil rights group Peoples’ Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) has criticised the abduction and killing of a constable and two Special Police Officers in Jammu and Kashmir and appealed to the militants to “adhere to humanitarian norms” and demanded that “the state forces desist from perpetrating actions which violate the fundamental rights of citizens.” In a statement, PUDR secretaries Shahana Bhattacharya and Sharmila Purkayastha said “a militaristic approach cannot be used to deal with the situation in Kashmir and we call for a political solution and democratic resolution of the…

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Burhan Wani’s commemoration during muharram leaves administration apprehensive

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Muharram, which commemorates the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussain, passed without a major incident in Kashmir barring few incidents of violence during the processions. The authorities, however, have become apprehensive in its aftermath, as multiple sections of Shia mourners also commemorated slain militant commander Burhan Wani of the Hizbul Mujahideen, principally a Sunni militant outfit. Wani was gunned down in an encounter in south Kashmir on July 8, 2016, triggering Valley-wide protests in which more than 100 civilians were killed. A senior police officer in Srinagar, requesting anonymity,…

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Joint Resistance Leaders warns of mass uprising against sale of J&K’s Economic Assets

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Joint Resistance Leaders (JRL), comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, today warned New Delhi of mass uprising against, what they said, “brazen sale of our economic assets and environmental beauty besides evil designs to change the demography of the state.” “Tinkering with the hereditary law, change in Muslim majority character of the state, elimination of state subject laws, privatization of electric projects, construction of military basements at Gulmarg and other health resorts of tourism destinations, are on the anvil to turn Jammu and Kashmir…

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Don’t visit home, officials tell cops after wave of attacks targeting policemen

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The Jammu & Kashmir administration is telling policemen and Special Police Officers in South Kashmir, which is seeing a wave of attacks against both, to not visit their families or homes. The advisory comes in the wake of the killings of three SPOs on Friday, and unconfirmed resignations of several others following a warning on Wednesday by Hizbul Mujahedeen commander, Riyaz Naikoo. The killings were in part responsible for India reconsidering its decision to agree to the meeting of the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York later…

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