Category: Community

Ultimate wake-up call for New Delhi

Editor

The happenings in the ongoing month of Ramadan should serve as an ultimate wake-up call for New Delhi about the enormity of the situation in Kashmir. It is headed towards a catastrophe. The place is becoming immune to all sorts of measures initiated to help it come out of the vortex of violence and bloodshed. And, the simple reason is that the anti-peace forces are violently jolting the structure of peace and normalcy that the Centre so painstakingly attempted to build by announcing ceasefire during this month of prayers. New…

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Local recruitment in militant groups rising: Agencies

Editor

The unilateral ceasefire during the holy month of Ramzan may have brought a halt to anti-militancy operations in Kashmir but security agencies have warned of a rise in recruitment of local youth into militant groups, that has crossed 80. Security officials said more youth from the highly-volatile Shopian and Pulwama districts in south Kashmir continued to join militant groups, including ISIS-Kashmir and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, a group which claims support of the Al-Qaeda. As many as 20 more youth have joined the militant groups in May, the officials said. The officials…

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CRPF terms ‘Run over’ charges ‘Baseless’ even as victim’s family presses for murder case

Editor

Ahmed died on Friday after being run over by a CRPF vehicle outside Jamia Masjid—Kashmir’s largest mosque—after he offered prayers. Meanwhile, Ahmed’s family has demanded that CRPF personnel, including a senior officer who was in the vehicle, be booked for murder. Even as Kaiser succumbed to his injuries on Friday, Mohammad Younis Bhat was wounded and is undergoing treatment at the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). Ahmed’s family said he had not been pelting stones and was heading home to the nearby Fatehkadal area on his motorbike. Jammu and…

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After inputs of Jaish infiltration Kashmir Valley on High alert

Editor

The Kashmir valley is on a high alert and the security forces are on tenterhooks following inputs that around two dozen battle-hardened Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, believed to have infiltrated recently, have split themselves in smaller groups in south Kashmir. The immediate worry for the security grid is the anniversary of the first battle of Islam — the Battle of Badr — that falls on Saturday. Intelligence inputs indicate that militants may carry out attacks on the day. Last year, the Jaish had carried out six attacks on the anniversary of Badr…

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Top Kashmiri bureaucrats hold insignificant posts

Editor

One way to marginalise Kashmiri presence in the top bureaucracy is to limit the number of officers in the services. Another is to install the remaining officers in positions where their presence is not impactful. The secretariat at present is witness to both. A senior Kashmiri bureaucrat, requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said most of the administrative secretaries from the Valley hold inconsequential departments, some of which have less than 500 employees. No Kashmiri officer heads important departments like finance, planning, home, roads…

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Desecrating militant graves, Attacking their houses unacceptable: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Editor

Chairman Hurriyat Conference (M) and president Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Thursday strongly condemned the vandalising of properties of militant commanders and desecrating the graves of slain militants in southern districts of the Valley. Addressing religious gatherings at Narwara and Nowshehra areas, Mirwaiz welcomed the decision of the DGMOs of India and Pakistan for deciding to honor the 2003 ceasefire and to follow it in letter and spirit. “Such a decision will at least provide a huge sigh of relief to the people on both sides of LoC, who…

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Police, Auqaf agree on ‘Truce Plan’ inside Jamia Masjid premises

Editor

In a rare move, Jammu and Kashmir police and the caretaker body of historical Jamia Masjid, Anjuman-e-Auqaf, have agreed on a ‘truce plan’ that would see at least 40 volunteers deployed at the entry and exit points of Jamia Masjid so that no protester is allowed inside fences after the prayers. Police, the Auqaf members disclosed, have also agreed not to depute any police or force personnel inside the Masjid premises. Head of Anjuman-e-Auqaf and the key resistance leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has approved the need to involve volunteers “in…

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Two witnesses depose before CoI probing Major’s conduct in Hotel Case

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday submitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, a report on the case involving the brief detention of Major Leetul Gogoi and a local girl at a city hotel on May 23. Meanwhile, two witnesses have deposed and recorded statements before the Court of Inquiry panel, which was ordered by the Army to probe the conduct of Major Gogoi in the hotel fracas. In the two-page report, supported by the statement made by the girl before a Magistrate and the school certificate which mentions…

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Bar Association concerned about free-hand given to Lal Singh exposes BJP’s mindset

Editor

Kashmir High Court Bar Association Srinagar on Wednesday expressed its deep concern over the endorsement of BJP top brass in giving “free hand” to formed Minister Lal Singh for galvanizing support and intensifying campaign for a CBI probe in the kidnapping, gang rape and murder of an 8-year-old Nomad girl of Kathua. In a statement issued here a spokesman of KHCBA said, “It’s shameful for those, who are ruling in Delhi and J&K and are supposed to uphold the rule of law but are covertly and overtly extending their support…

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Hizbul commander tells Kashmiri women to avoid chatting with soldiers on Social Media

Editor

One week after police detained army Major Leetul Gogoi along with a local army man and a young woman in Srinagar, a Hizbul Mujahideen commander has asked Kashmiri women to avoid chatting with soldiers and strangers on social media. In an audio statement on Wednesday, Hizbul Mujahideen’s Riyaz Naikoo also asked young men to post their experiences on social media if army “pushes them” for providing information about militants. “We have got information that army and policemen are developing relationships with women particularly school girls to prompt them for providing…

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