Category: Today

Restoration of peace in Kashmir top priority: Jaitley

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Minister doesn’t outrightly reject dialogue with separatists Union minister Arun Jaitley today did not outrightly reject the possibility of talks with separatists, but said the focus at the moment was to first improve the situation in the Kashmir valley. When asked whether the Central government will have a dialogue with the Hurrriyat Conference, Jaitely responded with: “Let the situation become normal that is the top priority. As and when we decide, the Central government will make a statement.” The Peoples Democratic Party which shares power with the BJP in J&K…

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Students stopped from taking march triggers fresh clashes in Srinagar

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Stone-pelting students of a college in old Srinagar on Wednesday clashed with the security forces after they were stopped from taking out a march to press for release of those arrested during earlier such protests. Stone-pelting students of a college in old Srinagar on Wednesday clashed with the security forces after they were stopped from taking out a march to press for release of those arrested during earlier such protests. The students of Gandhi College boycotted their classes and came out on the main road at Babademb in downtown city…

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Student protests continue; Scores injured

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Forces use teargas, pellet shelling to restrain protesters from blocking Srinagar highway At least 15 students were injured during clashes with security forces in north Kashmir after posters carrying the Hizbul Mujahideen stamp surfaced on the premises of educational institutes, asking students to protest. Hundreds of college and higher secondary school students came out on roads, chanting anti-India slogans and threw stones at the security forces personnel deployed at Pattan in Baramulla district, nearly 30 km north of Srinagar. Police officers said the students were asked to protest after the…

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Separatists respond to Zakir’s threat, say disunity will sabotage movement

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In a joint statement, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik asked all political and militant organisations to fight for freedom with “vision and wisdom”. In their first reaction to a death threat issued by militant commander Zakir Rashid Bhat, Kashmir’s separatist leaders on Sunday evening warned that any disunity in the “freedom camp” will give the Indian government a chance to sabotage the movement. In a joint statement, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik asked all political and…

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‘Be Tough but Just’, Centre’s message to officials in Kashmir

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Amid continued unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre has asked the state government to be tough against those taking law into their hands but ensure no innocent person is harassed. The message was put across by Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi during the meetings he had with top civil and police officials in the course of his visit to the Kashmir valley on Thursday. The message of the central government is clear that security forces have to be tough against terrorists and those involved in stone pelting but no…

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Army’s Cordon and Search Ops (CASO) return to Kashmir after 15 Years

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Cordon and Search operations in Kashmir were abandoned 15 years ago by the army in view of inconveniences faced by locals Two days after terrorists dragged out a young army officer, tortured and murdered him, the army decided to make “cordon and search operations” a permanent feature of its anti-terror operations in Kashmir. The procedure, which was followed rigorously at the height of militancy in Kashmir in the 1990s, had been abandoned 15 years ago in view of the inconvenience locals faced during such operations. The biggest cordon and search…

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BJP under fire as south Kashmir turns into ‘Safe Zone’ for militants

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Faces flak over coalition partner PDP’s soft approach towards ultras The BJP is facing intense pressure, within and outside the party, to prevail upon its coalition partner PDP to take effective steps to wipe out terrorism from south Kashmir, which is being touted as a “liberated zone” by militants on the social media. With the killing of soldiers going on unabated in different parts of the state, the BJP has been pushed to the wall by its sister organisations for not taking up the issue with the PDP. As many…

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Fresh clashes across Valley, Students skip classes to clash with forces

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There is no let-up in student protests in the valley with fresh clashes breaking out between the protestors and government forces in Srinagar city and Pulwama town on Tuesday. The busy Maulana Azad Road near Lal Chowk witnessed pitched battle between students and forces disrupting traffic and business activities in the commercial hub of the city. Students of S P Higher Secondary School and Women’s College clashed with the forces who fired several tear gas shells to chase them away. The students have been demanding stern action against the police…

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Nothing to do with ISIS, Al-Qaeda: Resistance Group

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‘Struggle for freedom a local movement… no link with global movements’ Three separatist leaders in the Kashmir valley, who refer to themselves as ‘joint resistance leadership’, on Monday said the region’s separatist movement was indigenous and it had nothing to do with “global (jihadi) movements”. Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik issued a joint statement denouncing any attempt to change the “dimension” of Kashmir’s separatism and termed it as a conspiracy of intelligence agencies. The three separatist leaders spoke against the changing character of Kashmir’s separatism at…

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Fourty bank branches in Valley go ‘Cashless’ shifting transactions to safer zones

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J&K Bank units in Shopian, Pulwama to shift transactions to safer zones Rattled by robberies, the J&K Police have directed 40 banks in vulnerable areas of south Kashmir to shift the cash transactions to safer zones. The police have asked J&K Bank to stop cash transactions in 40 vulnerable branches in the twin districts of militancy-infested Shopian and Pulwama and shift the transactions to safer branches. This measure has been taken to avoid bank robberies in deep rural pockets of militancy-infested districts. “We have been asked by the police to…

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