Category: Kashmir

Kashmir

BJP grappling with identity crisis across Kashmir Valley

Editor

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign in the Valley has yet again brought to the fore the identity crisis it faces in the Muslim-dominated region. Like before, BJP leaders, during their election campaign in the Valley, avoided raking up the abrogation of Article 370, which has been used as a poll plank by the party in rallies outside Kashmir. The party’s local candidates also put up a ‘Muslim face’ during campaigning. Even as the BJP poll din was somewhat visible in south Kashmir, the campaigning was low key in north…

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Rain lashes parts of Kashmir, Sonmarg, Gurez receives fresh snowfall

Editor

Gurez and some other upper reaches, including tourist resort of Sonmarg, received fresh snowfall on Thursday while rain lashed other parts of Kashmir valley, resulting in considerable dip in the maximum temperature. A Met department spokesperson told a news agency fairly widespread rain and thundershowers would occur in Kashmir valley during the next 48 hours under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), which is active in the region. Much to the surprise, Gurez sector of Kashmir’s Bandipora district, received light to moderate snow since this afternoon, resulting in dip…

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Highway Ban, Landslides, Mismanagement cause shortage of essentials across Valley

Editor

The frequent shutdown of the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu highway — a crucial and the only route for the supply of essential commodities into the Kashmir valley — has led to a fresh shortage of goods in the region. Residents said the closure of the mountainous highway had led to a shortage of livestock and vegetables. It has even led to the cancellation of weddings as the marriage season begins in the region after the winter. A leading business body in the region, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had said on…

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Alliance with BJP, Poor Infrastructure may cost PDP on home turf

Editor

Of the six Assembly segments in Anantnag district going to polls in the first leg of the three-phased Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, Bijbehara, the hometown of the Muftis, may not bring the desired results for them this time. The situation has arisen for the party for the first time when it completes two decades of its existence, thanks to the neglect in developing the area and its “unholy alliance” with the BJP. The parliamentary elections have pitted the PDP against its traditional friends and rivals, the Congress and National…

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To make electoral gains BJP using Kashmir as scapegoat: Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

Hours after India suspended trade across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir saying the route was being misused by Pakistan-based elements to smuggle weapons, narcotics and fake currency, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday claimed that the BJP was using Kashmir as a scapegoat to make electoral gains. Taking to Twitter, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, “Using Kashmir as a scapegoat to claw its way back to power won’t help BJP. It’s an excuse to worsen ties with Pak (Pakistan) despite…

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Nuner pledge ‘Not To Vote’ at militant’s funeral, Budgam votes to safeguard Articles 370, 35A

Editor

The residents of this village in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir Thursday stayed away from polling booths after pledging to boycott voting at the funeral of a local militant, who was killed in an encounter with security forces earlier this month. Rahil Rashid Sheikh was killed in Imamsahib area of Shopian district on April 6.Sheikh, a resident of Nuner village of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district – 32 kms from the state’s summer capital Srinagar – was pursuing M Tech from a college in Chandigarh. He joined the militant ranks…

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SDM ‘Thrashed’ by Army in Anantnag, Soldiers booked

Editor

Army men on Tuesday allegedly thrashed and detained an on-duty Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) near the Qazigund area of Anantnag district along the NH-44.An FIRwas filed in the case late Tuesday evening, The SDM of the Dooru area in Anantnag district, Ghulam Rasool Wani, was travelling along with his four colleagues when the incident took place. Wani said the incident happened at the Dalwach crossing near Qazigund, where the Army had stopped civilian traffic unnecessarily. “We were also stopped despite the fact I was travelling in a government vehicle and had…

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Another day of anguish and despair as MHA defends Highway Ban; Protests continue in Kashmir

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Underlining that the ban became necessary in the backdrop of the Pulwama terror attack, it issued a statement on Wednesday and said the step has been taken for ensuring safe movement of forces till May 31. The statement comes at a time when the ministry has to file its reply to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which has directed it to respond by April 19 to a bunch of petitions challenging the decision. Facing criticism for closing down the national highway connecting Jammu with Srinagar, the Union Home Ministry…

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Anantnag Parliamentary seat has a Non-State subject candidate​ in the ​fray

Editor

For the first time in the electoral history of Jammu and Kashmir, a non-state subject is contesting Lok Sabha elections from the Anantnag parliamentary constituency. Shams Khwaja of Noida in Uttar Pradesh, a lawyer by profession is among the eighteen candidates whose nomination papers were accepted by the district election officer of Anantnag. Khwaja’s nominations as an independent candidate was contested by the opposition parties on the ground that his name was not in the electoral roles of the constituency. However, in his defense Khwaja argued that the constitutional requirement…

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As BJP vows to revoke special rights, Kashmir leaders warn of ‘Unimaginable Repercussions’

Editor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)is widely expected to retain power after the Lok Sabha election that starts on Thursday, though with a much smaller mandate, hit by concerns over a shortage of jobs and weak farm prices. It pledged to spend Rs 100 trillion rupees on infrastructure in the next five years to help create jobs for the millions entering the workforce each year. Pollsters say BJP’s re-election bid got a boost from recent hostilities with arch-rival Pakistan, after the Jaish-e-Mohammed based in the country claimed a…

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