Category: Kashmir

Kashmir

Pellets to Sound Cannon: BJP’s ‘Non-Violent’ methods to handle Kashmir Conflict

Editor

Calling protesters “human obstacles”, media reports suggest that the government forces in Kashmir will switch to a sonic weapon – sound cannon or Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – from shotguns used to shoot pellets at the protesters. On June 24, 2019, news about the use of the sound cannons appeared in a newspaper. The report said that Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Bhartiya Janata Party’s former president Amit Shah has approved the use of the sonic weapon in Kashmir to shoo the protesters away. Experts say that LRAD…

Read More

Probe human rights violations in Kashmir: UN Report

Editor

The United Nations has accused India again of human rights violations in Kashmir and has called for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the allegations. A 43-page report released by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Monday also called out Pakistan for detaining Kashmiri separatists in its portion of the disputed region. The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars so far over the Himalayan territory. The two countries came…

Read More

Kashmir witnessed 271 Killings, 177 CASO’s, 51 Internet Blockades during last six months

Editor

The first half of 2019 in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir (IAJK) witnessed continued and increased violence. The first six months of 2019 recorded 271 killings in IAJK in various incidents of violence, which include 43 civilians, 120 militants and 108 Indian armed forces personnel. Killing Figures (January to June 2019) Month Civilians Militants Armed Forces Total Killings January 2019 02 17 08 27 February 2019 05 22 60 87 March 2019 14 19 15 48 April 2019 05 11 03 19 May 2019 11 27 04 42 June 2019…

Read More

Amarnath Yatra: NH out of bounds for civil traffic for 5 hours on daily basis

Editor

The government Monday disallowed civil vehicles from playing on Qazigund-Nashri stretch of Jammu-Srinagar highway for five hours to ensure smooth passage of Amarnath yatra vehicles. The 46-day annual Amarnath Yatra began from both Pahalgam and Baltal routes on Monday. It will conclude on 15 August. The decision to restrict the civil traffic on Qazigund-Nashri stretch during Yatra convoy movements was taken in a meeting which was chaired by Advisor to Governor, Vijay Kumar on June 29. “There will be no vehicle movement in the opposite or same direction as the…

Read More

Kashmir hopes Shah to extend an olive branch to resistance camp during two-day visit

Editor

Shah, who is visiting the state for the first time after taking charge of the home ministry, will make a detailed security review of the Amarnath Yatra and address a party gathering followed by meetings with the state administration. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday for the first time after taking charge of the ministry and local political leaders are expecting him to announce talks with separatists. Shah will reach the state’s summer capital, Srinagar, in the afternoon and stay in the…

Read More

Worrying trend across Kashmir Valley as more locals joining rebel ranks

Editor

Mohammad Salman Khan and Shabir Ahmad Dar deserted the Jammu and Kashmir police’s counter-insurgency wing to cross over to the other side on June 5. The special police officers (SPOs) left Pulwama’s district police lines with their automatic weapons and joined Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad four months after it carried out one of the deadliest attacks in Kashmir on February 14 that left 40 paramilitary troopers dead. Within hours of their desertion, security forces raided a house where security forces were tipped off about the duo’s presence at Panjran Lassipora,…

Read More

‘No Locus Standi’, India rejects OIC stand on Kashmir

Editor

Three months after New Delhi had toned down its criticism of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) reference to Jammu and Kashmir, India on Monday raised the decibel and rejected the OIC’s reference to Kashmir as “unacceptable” and said that the grouping has “no locus standi”. This is a turnaround from the March 2 statement earlier this year when India had merely said that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India”. But, unlike previous statements, it did not say in…

Read More

In BJP 2.0, Amit Shah to focus on Kashmir

Editor

On his first day in North Block, the Home Minister Amit Shah got a detailed briefing on the situation in Jammu Kashmir. J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik also flew to Delhi and briefed him on the very first day in office. Reports appearing in Delhi media suggest that Shah was briefed by Director, Intelligence Bureau, Rajiv Jain and Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Later, he spent 15-minutes in a closed-door meeting with Satya Pal Malik. “I had a brief discussion with the Home Minister on the law and order situation…

Read More

Juma-tul-Vida will be observed as Youm-e-Qudus, Youm-e-Kashmir: Hurriyat Conference (M)

Editor

As a convention, Hurriyat Conference (M) has announced that Juma-tul-Vida (last Friday of Ramadan) will be observed as Youm-e-Qudus and Youm-e-Kashmir—urging imams and khateebs to raise their voice for the peaceful settlement of the world’s two oldest and lingering disputes—Palestine and Kashmir on this day and to press on the international community to play its role towards solution of these disputes. Hurriyat spokesperson said that “that on the occasion of Youm-e-Qudus and Youm-e-Kashmir, a resolution framed by the Joint Resistance Leadership will be passed in all the masjids, shrines, and…

Read More

Is BJP’s second term more disastrous for Kashmir?

Editor

The provocative statements made by top BJP leaders pertaining to the abolition of Article 35-A and Article 370, along with the usual rants of following a more hard and muscular policy in the state has led to the rise of anxieties within the state. With the return to power of BJP under Narendra Modi with a much bigger mandate as compared to 2014, many new anxieties are arising in the country, especially due to what was witnessed during the last 5 years under Modi and also during the campaigning for…

Read More