Category: Kashmir

Kashmir

Eight Kashmiris detained in Bikaner

Editor

Eight Kashmiri men were today detained in the Bikaner district while they were on their way to the Bajju area, close to the Indo-Pak border. “They were detained on the basis of suspicion. They were travelling to the Bajju area in a bus,” said Gopal Singh Nathawat, Station House Officer (SHO), Kolayat police station. The SHO said they were detained following a tip-off. “Primarily, they said they had come from Kashmir to Bikaner to cut wood. Their credentials are being verified,” the police officer said. — PTI

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How Kashmir will get big attention for Fitoor

Editor

“Doodh maangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir maangoge to cheer denge,” was a rabble rousing dialogue that was made famous in Sunny Deol, Arbaaz Khan starrer Maa Tujhe Salaam. This dialogue finds its way into Abhishek Kapoor’s ambitious Fitoor based on Charles Dickens’s ‘The Great Expectations’. The film is based in Kashmir and Abhishek admitted at the promo launch in Mumbai today that Tabu’s character is somehow related to Pakistan . “It is not an Anti Pakistan film,” he specified. I told Abhishek that Haider was based on Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ but…

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Fresh snowfall drapes valley in white

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Fresh snowfall draped the Kashmir valley in white blanket and brought much-await cheer among locals and tourists on Monday, as first twelve days of the 40-day harshest winter spell went without any snowfall. “We witnessed snowfall first time today. We have reached Srinagar on December 30 and were eagerly waiting for the snowfall. We enjoyed the flakes since the morning’, said Sumit Kohli, a tourist from New Delhi. Rains and snowfall lashed the valley since Monday morning. The minimum temperature rose from minus 3.9 degrees Celsius to 2.2 degree Celsius,…

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JK Police wants ‘silent burial’ of non-local militants who die in Kashmir gunfights

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The J&K police have now decided to do away with the “practice” of handing over bodies of non-local militants—killed in gunfights with forces in Kashmir—to locals for burial, citing massive participation of people in their funerals and the resultant pro-freedom protests. A senior police officer, who wished not to be named, said the huge participation of people in the funeral of slain Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Abu Qasim in 2015 “became a major concern” for security agencies in the Valley. “This trend of mass participation of people in funerals of militants was…

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Valley gears up for year’s first snow

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The Kashmir region is likely to receive the season’s first snow tomorrow, according to a forecast issued by the Meteorological Department. The department said widespread downpour was expected on Monday, fairly widespread downpour on Tuesday and isolated downpour on Wednesday in the Kashmir region. It, however, warned of scattered but heavy snowfall on Monday in the region, which will be the first this season. The state government, in the past week, had reviewed the winter preparedness and had asked the administration to gear up to provide essential services on uninterrupted…

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In digital era, Srinagarities without Aadhaar cards

Editor

Signifying messy state of affairs in preparation of Aadhaar cards, majority of people in Srinagar are yet to receive the biometric identity. The Aaadhar card, which is mandatory for transferring direct cash subsidies to beneficiaries, is still a distant dream for people in Srinagar. While in other districts of Kashmir, the issuance of these cards has already been completed. Sources said only few percent of populace in Srinagar has received Aaadhar cards while remaining majority are yet to have biometric cards. While other districts of Kashmir has completed issuance of…

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Clashes erupt in Pulwama over ‘memorial’ for slain militants

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Protests erupted after the Friday prayers as a group of youth took out a protest march and shouted slogans in favour of two militants killed in an encounter Several youths were injured in south Kashmir on Friday as security forces broke up a group of youths who tried to raise a memorial for the slain militants, including Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Abu Qasim. Eyewitnesses told that some youths gathered in Pulwama district after Friday prayers and started marching towards the city centre to erect a memorial for the militants killed in 2015.…

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Govt not to hand over bodies of foreign militants to locals

Editor

To prevent people from attending funerals of foreign militants, the state government has changed the policy of handing over their bodies to locals and is instead burying them in secrecy in a sparsely populated town near the Line of Control. Two foreign militants killed in December in south Kashmir were buried at a faraway graveyard in a thinly populated frontier Uri town of north Kashmir as the police feared breakdown of “law and order” at the funerals of the militants if their bodies were handed over to locals. A police…

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Clashes in Old City; ISIS, Pak flags waved in Old City

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Clashes erupted in Old City areas here after Friday congregation prayers while the youths waved the flags of ISIS and Pakistan outside historical Jamia Masjid. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of youths staged anti-India and pro-freedom protests outside Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area and raised flags of ISIS and Pakistan. Reports informed GNS that the youths also offered absentia funeral for the militants killed in Pulwama recently. The youths, according to witnesses, later marched towards Nowhatta Police Station and resorted to stone-pelting on forces. The clashes in the area continued for…

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Hazratbal lights up with prayers

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Friday following Eid-e-Milad was observed with religious fervour and gaiety here today. Devotees thronged the Hazratbal shrine on the banks of the Dal Lake throughout the the day for prayers and supplications and to catch a glimpse of the holy relic of Prophet Muhammad. The maximum rush of devotees was witnessed in the afternoon when devotees converged at the shrine to offer Friday prayers. Even as Eid-e-Milad celebrations are held across the Valley, the Hazratbal shrine has remained the main centre for holding religious functions related to the birth anniversary…

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