Kashmir Archives | Page 104 of 230

RSP (Secular) leader files nomination for Srinagar LS bypoll

March 18, 2017 Editor

Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular) candidate Sajad Reshid today filed his nomination papers for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat where bypoll is scheduled next month. Reshi, a resident of Bemina locality of Srinagar, filed his nomination papers as Rashtriya Samajwadi Party (Secular) candidate before the Returning Officer here, an official spokesman said. He is the first candidate to file papers from the seat where the bypoll was necessitated due to resignation of Tariq Hameed Karra from Lok Sabha as well as PDP. Bypolls are being held in Srinagar along with Anantnag parliamentary…

Uncertainty, Harsh weather cast shadow on Zojila tunnel project

March 17, 2017 Editor

Bidders have shown reluctance to execute the ambitious South East Asia’s longest Zojila tunnel project, connecting Kashmir with the strategic Ladakh region, owing to “uncertainty” in the Valley and “very hostile weather conditions”. This is in spite of change in the mode of execution from the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) (Annuity) basis to Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis. Under the new EPC model, the government is fully funding the project. “Uncertainty hangs over the execution of the project as bidders have shown strong reluctance to the project due to large-scale tension…

Resistance leaders detained, Barred from briefing media

March 17, 2017March 17, 2017 Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Police today arrested senior separatist leaders — Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — after disallowing them to hold a joint press conference. Before being whisked away by the police to the nearby Humhama police station and placing them under preventive custody, the three leaders staged a protest and called for boycott of the forthcoming by elections. Sources said the three separatists were scheduled to discuss the emerging political situation in the Valley and the response of the “joint resistance” to the bypolls.…

Killings in Kashmir, Pellet guns figure in US report

March 16, 2017 Editor

A report by State Department of United States about human rights situation in different countries has highlighted the civilian killings in Kashmir during 2016 uprising and rampant use of pellet shotguns. The report “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” for 2016 has been submitted to US Congress by the Department of State in the first week of March. The report said the use of “shotguns loaded with birdshot by security forces to control crowds, including violent protests, in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in 87 civilian deaths and blinded hundreds more,…

National Conference, Congress to jointly fight LS bypolls

March 16, 2017March 16, 2017 Editor

Farooq Abdullah to contest from Srinagar constituency, Ghulam Mir from Anantnag The state’s two main opposition parties, National Conference and Congress, on Wednesday announced that they would jointly contest the upcoming by elections to the two parliamentary constituencies in the Kashmir valley and field their senior most leaders. The National Conference and Congress have also agreed on a seat-sharing agreement, said NC working president Omar Abdullah while addressing a press conference attended by several leaders of the two parties. Farooq Abdullah, the most senior leader in the NC and the…

After 27 Years, Govt admits forces killed 22 unarmed protestors: Gaw Kadal Massacre

March 15, 2017 Editor

After 27 years of the Gaw Kadal massacre, the government has admitted that 22 unarmed protesters were killed while as only 12 sustained injuries in the incident. The government’s reply has come in response to a petition filed by human rights activist Ahsan Untoo before the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in April 2012. Notably, after the petition filed by Untoo, the SHRC had appointed Superintendent of Police (SP) SHRC in 2012 to investigate the matter. The investigation continued for 51 months. The SHRC report reveals, that “the report received…

Local support for militants changes front lines in Kashmir

March 14, 2017 Editor

The road to Begumbagh passes through hauntingly silent villages. The houses and shuttered shops looked abandoned and fewer people walked the potholed road on Saturday, the third day of a shutdown to mourn the killing of two militants and a teenaged civilian. An overwhelming eeriness competed with a cloudy grey sky. Begumbagh is a quiet village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the new heartland of Kashmir’s ageing conflict and home to a dangerous trend of civilians trying to storm the cordoned-off sites to rescue militants. It was here in this…

Tassaduq Mufti, Mehbooba Mufti’s brother may contest from Anantnag

March 11, 2017 Editor

With the election process for the Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary seats in Kashmir beginning next week, major political parties are in the process of finalising their contestants for the byelections, being held less than three years after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition National Conference and the Congress will come out with the list of contesting candidates by early next week before the notification for the first phase (Srinagar) is issued on March 14 and for the second phase (Anantnag) on March…

Joint resistance calls for shutdown today, protests after Friday prayers

March 10, 2017 Editor

The joint resistance leadership Thursday called for a complete shutdown on March 10 against the civilian killing in South Kashmir’s Pulwama and asked people to protest after Friday congregational prayers. The joint leadership—Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik expressed grief over killing of a student Amir Nazir Wani at Padgampora, Pulwama. According to a statement issued here, the trio urged people to observe complete shutdown on Friday and hold peaceful protest after Friday prayers. While paying tributes to slain youth of Padgampora, Pulwama, the leaders said…