J&K Sex-Racket Raids Raise Bigger Questions: Is Human Trafficking Hiding Behind Legitimate Businesses?

J&K Sex-Racket Raids Raise Bigger Questions: Is Human Trafficking Hiding Behind Legitimate Businesses?

J&K Sex-Racket Raids Put Human Trafficking, Exploitation and Victim Protection Under Spotlight By: News Desk | 06 September 2026 Recent police raids in Jammu, arrests in alleged prostitution cases and earlier trafficking investigations involving Srinagar are exposing a darker question: how effectively can Jammu and Kashmir distinguish organised exploitation from consensual adult sex work while protecting women and children caught in criminal networks? The latest raids may have begun with intelligence inputs and searches of private premises, but the larger story is considerably more complicated. Across Jammu and Kashmir, police…

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J&K Declared Fully Literate Under ULLAS: The 98.43% Milestone and What Comes Next

J&K Declared Fully Literate Under ULLAS: The 98.43% Milestone and What Comes Next

J&K Declared Fully Literate Under ULLAS: The 98.43% Milestone and What Comes Next By: News Desk | 05 September 2026 Srinagar: A classroom milestone in Jammu and Kashmir has taken on a much bigger meaning. The Union Territory has been declared “Fully Literate” under the Centre’s ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram, with Education Minister Sakina Itoo highlighting a literacy figure of 98.43 per cent at a Teachers’ Day programme in Srinagar. Itoo made the announcement at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), crediting teachers, education officers, volunteers and, most importantly, adult…

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Kashmir Walnut Harvest Turns Deadly: Four Workers Die in Tree Falls as Safety Concerns Grow

Kashmir Walnut Harvest Turns Deadly: Four Workers Die in Tree Falls as Safety Concerns Grow

Kashmir’s Walnut Harvest Turns Deadly Again: Four Workers Die as Farmers Demand Safer Orchards By: News Desk | 03 September 2026 Four fatal falls in Qazigund, Tral, Uri and Pulwama at the start of the 2026 walnut season have revived a long-standing question: why does harvesting one of Kashmir’s most valuable crops still require workers to climb trees 40–75 feet high with little protection? Srinagar: The first walnuts of autumn should normally signal the beginning of one of Kashmir’s most important agricultural seasons. Instead, this year’s harvest has opened with…

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NC Held Back, BJP Marched On? The Uncomfortable Questions From Srinagar’s Protest Day

NC Held Back, BJP Marched On? The Uncomfortable Questions From Srinagar's Protest Day

NC-BJP Face-Off in Srinagar: Where Did the Power Tilt as Police Held Back One Protest and Cleared the Way for Another? By: News Desk | 02 September 2026 Srinagar: By Wednesday morning, Srinagar had begun to look less like a city preparing for a political demonstration and more like a city preparing for a controlled confrontation. Barricades appeared at strategic points. Police and security personnel were deployed around sensitive locations. Movement towards the BJP office in Jawahar Nagar was restricted as the National Conference prepared its counter-protest, while BJP workers…

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Sergio Gor in Kashmir: Why the US Ambassador’s First J&K Visit Matters More Than a Courtesy Call

Sergio Gor in Kashmir: Why the US Ambassador’s First J&K Visit Matters More Than a Courtesy Call

Sergio Gor Kashmir Visit: Why the US Ambassador Is in J&K and What It Means for India-US Ties By: Javid Amin | 19 Aug 2026 There is a temptation to read US Ambassador Sergio Gor’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir as either a routine diplomatic tour or a coded American intervention in the Kashmir question. Neither interpretation fully captures what is happening. The timing, the itinerary and Gor’s position make the visit significant. But the available evidence also points to something more practical: Washington is expanding its engagement with…

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Mehbooba Mufti Says “Dimagi Naxal” Over Article 370: What Her Remark Means for Kashmir

Mehbooba Mufti Says “Dimagi Naxal” Over Article 370: What Her Remark Means for Kashmir

Mehbooba Mufti Says She Is a “Dimagi Naxal” Over Article 370 Stand, Escalating Kashmir Political Row By: News Desk | 17 Aug 2026 Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has embraced the controversial “dimagi Naxal” label after Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the term in his Independence Day address, saying she will continue to support Article 370 despite criticism and political attacks. Her remark has added a fresh layer to the already intense debate over Article 370, dissent, Kashmir’s political identity and the limits of…

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Omar Abdullah on 1947 and 2019: Independence Day Remark Reopens Kashmir Debate

Omar Abdullah on 1947 and 2019: Independence Day Remark Reopens Kashmir Debate

Omar Abdullah on 1947 and 2019: Independence Day Remark Reopens Kashmir’s Constitutional Debate By: News Desk | 15 Aug 2026 Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah used Independence Day to revisit one of the most politically contested chapters in the region’s history, arguing that developments across the Line of Control (LoC) have vindicated the decision taken in 1947 by his grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, to resist tribal raiders and support Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India. The remark, delivered on August 15, 2026, carried a clear political message:…

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Mirwaiz House Arrest Ahead of Rabi-ul-Awwal: Kashmir’s Old Debate Over Faith, Freedom & Security Returns

Mirwaiz House Arrest Ahead of Rabi-ul-Awwal: Kashmir's Old Debate Over Faith, Freedom & Security Returns

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq House Arrest: Why the Latest Restriction Ahead of Rabi-ul-Awwal Matters in Kashmir By: News Desk | 14 Aug 2026 Srinagar: The reported restriction on Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric and chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, has once again brought the sensitive intersection of religion, civil liberties and security policy into focus. According to the claim attributed to Mirwaiz and his supporters, authorities have restricted his movement at his Nigeen residence, preventing him from attending Friday prayers and carrying out his customary religious responsibilities at Srinagar’s historic…

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Udhampur VDG Firing: One Killed, Another Injured After Brawl; What VDC-to-VDG History Reveals

Udhampur VDG Firing: One Killed, Another Injured After Brawl; What VDC-to-VDG History Reveals

Udhampur VDG Firing: One Killed, Another Injured as Village Defence Guard Opens Fire After Brawl By: News Desk | 15 Aug 2026 Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir: A violent incident involving members of the Village Defence Guard (VDG) system in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district has raised fresh questions about the risks and responsibilities associated with arming civilians in the region. A Village Defence Guard was killed and another was critically injured on Friday after a colleague allegedly opened fire following a brawl, officials said. The incident occurred amid an altercation…

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Kashmir Women Safety Crisis: Rape Cases Raise Questions on Justice & Society

Kashmir Women Safety Crisis: Rape Cases Raise Questions on Justice & Society

Kashmir’s Women Safety Crisis: Two Rape Cases Raise Hard Questions About Justice, Society and Youth By: Javid Amin | 13 Aug 2026 Srinagar: Two disturbing sexual-violence cases in Kashmir have once again forced a difficult question into public conversation: how effectively is society protecting women and children, and what happens after a crime is committed? The question is not only about the accused or the police investigation. It is also about the environment in which sexual violence occurs, the support available to survivors, the speed with which institutions respond, the…

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