Category: Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir based BJP leaders upset with ‘Arrogant’ Ministers

Editor

Kashmir-based BJP leaders today complained about the high-handed attitude of party ministers at a meeting with party general secretary Ram Madhav in Srinagar. The leaders condemned the arrogant style of functioning of party ministers while solving day-to-day problems of the people. Sources said that at the meeting, which was convened by Ram Madhav to discuss organisational matters, some annoyed leaders seized the opportunity to expose their nominees in the government. “In the meeting attended by over 40 prominent leaders of the Valley, the style of functioning of ministers was opposed…

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No let up in strike against shifting of batamaloo bus stand

Editor

Traders and transporters continued to protest against the shifting of the General Bus Stand from Batamaloo to Parimpora. They threatened to launch an agitation if their demand is not met. The transporters also continued with the shutdown in the Batamaloo area and said they would continue to oppose the shifting of the bus stand. The traders and transporters, under the banner of the All Traders’ Joint Coordination Committee, held a sit-in at Batamaloo. As soon as the protesters started their march towards the civil secretariat, where the office of the…

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Pellets force Kashmiri youths to drop out of schools and give up jobs post losing sight

Editor

Twenty-six-year-old, Mohammad Ashraf Wani has discontinued his college education. He was blinded in an eye after government forces fired pellets at him last year on 31 October near his home at Rohmoo in Pulwama. The pellets scarred his body and, despite multiple surgeries, he was unable to regain vision in right eye. In 2016, when protests in Kashmir had become fierce after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Muzafar Wani, the 26-year-old received pellets as he was watching the protests go on. Like Ashraf, there are other large number…

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Posters, Videos terming Zakir ‘Traitor’ surface in south Kashmir

Editor

A series of poorly scripted videos and dubious origin posters — attempting to cash on divisions between Al-Qaeda-linked commander Zakir Musa and his erstwhile group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen — have appeared in the region in recent weeks. The latest to appear is a poster written in Urdu with significant spelling errors. The contents of the poster accuse Zakir Musa of being a “traitor”, or “gaddar” — the word spelt wrongly, which has caused doubt about the origin of the message. The posters, which had the logo of Hizbul Mujahideen, appeared in Shopian…

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Three leaders (Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti) and their ways in Kashmir valley

Editor

It is very difficult to write about the powerful people whom one has known for decades. It becomes more difficult when they happen to be political rivals, each nursing Himalayan ego. As a journalist, I have encountered many such occasions when the powerful appreciated and ridiculed my reporting alternatively depending which part suited them. One theme is common they have zero tolerance to even slightest of criticism. At the moment, there are three powerful leaders in Kashmir’s deemed mainstream. Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar — both former Chief Ministers, and…

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Security forces wipe out LeT top brass, but militant outfit still enjoys vociferous support across Valley

Editor

Contrary to claims made by security forces, that a leadership vacuum has been created in the ranks of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) after the killing of its Kashmir chief Abu Ismail, the militant outfit still commands respect in the Valley and continues to draw local youth to its ranks. After the death of Ismail, police officials believed that two of his associates, Abu Furqan and Abu Mawya, who were also involved in the attack on Amarnath pilgrims in July that left seven dead, are capable of taking over as LeT commanders. Pakistan…

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Blacktopping work picks up pace across Valley

Editor

After failing to deliver on infrastructure development due to the unrest in the Valley last year, the government is showing its presence by taking up blacktopping of roads across the state on a massive scale. Only 30.64 km of the road length was blacktopped last year in Kashmir. Officials say that the carpeting of roads in rural and urban areas had been given priority in the current financial year. “The macadamisation of roads is in full swing and 1,302.46-km road length has been blacktopped till August 28 against the target…

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Schools remain Shut, Curbs cripple Downtown: Ismail killing fallout

Editor

Friday prayers disallowed at Jamia Masjid for 2nd week A day after Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Abu Ismail and his aide were killed in a gunfight with government forces, most educational institutions in Kashmir remained closed while authorities didn’t allow congregational Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid to thwart possible protests against the killing of militants. The government also imposed strict curbs in majority of Downtown areas and placed Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest. Meanwhile, JKLF leaders and activists staged a protest in uptown here against the NIA…

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Trauma, Memory loss, Anxiety; Inside the ‘Dark World’ of pellet victims, Amnesty calls for immediate ban

Editor

For them, the world is dark. It’s been almost a year since they lost their vision to deadly pellets fired ‘indiscriminately’ by government forces during the 2016 uprising in Kashmir. Aged between nine to 20 years, the pellet victims are in the midst of a dangerous conundrum: fast losing their memory due to psychological trauma they have gone through in the past more than a year. The victims, including girls, have remained confined to the four walls of their homes since the pellets snatched their eyesight. They say they only…

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Won’t go against sentiments of Kashmiris on Article 35A: Rajnath Singh

Editor

The Kashmir Valley has been hit by agitation against attempts to abrogate Article 35A of the Constitution, which gives special rights to permanent residents of the state. Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday the BJP-led government at the Centre will not go against the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir on constitutional provisions that guarantee special privileges to the restive state, amid a debate over articles 35A and 370. Singh is on a four-day visit to the state which comes at a time when the valley…

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