Author: hamid

Jammu, Jan 30: An informal meeting of some of the senior political leaders, academicians, legal luminaries, social activists and some like-minded people took place in Jammu on January 29, 2020.
The meeting took stock of the present socio-economic and political situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Declaring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as unprecedented, it said the situation needs to be addressed through extraordinary measures.
“It was seriously felt that people of the Jammu and Kashmir are caught in a difficult day-to-day situation and have been left at the mercy of an unresponsive administration.” The demands put forth by a group of political leaders led by Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari before the Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on January 7, 2020 were also taken up for discussion. Some of the measures taken up by the government in light of its memorandum-like release of some political prisoners, restoration of 2G-mobile internet service were termed as “insufficient”.
The participants in the meeting demanded a time-bound implementation of other demands put forth before the Lieutenant Governor which are within his jurisdiction.
The meeting also underlined urgency for release of all political prisoners, including three former chief ministers, lawyers, businessmen, trade leaders and youth, irrespective of their political affiliations, who have been under detention in J&K or rest of the country.
The meeting vehemently advocated for full restoration of mobile Internet speed as well as broadband services in Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking serious note of the present dismal economic situation, an immediate relief for the Agriculture, Horticulture, Handicrafts, Tourism, Hoteliers, Business, Trade, Houseboat owners and Transport community in Jammu and Kashmir was demanded in the meeting.
The participants in the meeting also expressed their concern with regard to interruption in implementation of other demands put forth in their memorandum and chalked out a future course of action for a vigorous follow-up through all available channels.
“It was unanimously decided that a group of the members led by Mr. Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari should call on the Honb’le Prime Minister and the Honb’le Home Minister of the country and pursue other demands like restoration of Statehood, Purpose Oriented Domicile Rights (for Land and Jobs) etc. which fall within the jurisdiction of the Government of India and the Parliament.
“The meeting also evolved a consensus for a need to provide the people of Jammu and Kashmir with a viable, democratic political alternative. Hectic deliberations were also held to reach out to the people for mobilizing a democratic grass roots movement aimed at developing strong local structures on the ground.
“During the course of meeting two committees were framed. One that will deliberate on the nuances of constitutionality required for formation of any political set-up. The second committee will reach out to the intellectuals, academicians, social activists, chamber of commerce, tradesmen and other representatives of the society to explore all possibilities through which the people of J&K are taken out from the socio-economic and political quagmire.”

Srinagar, Jan 29: Following the recent outbreak of the novel (new) coronavirus in china which has infected almost 6000 people and claimed at least 132 lives so far, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Wednesday has urged health authorities in Kashmir to prepare for the potential spread of the virus in the valley.
“In today’s connected world, an outbreak anywhere can be a risk everywhere,” said DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan.
“We have to prepare in advance to deal with the virus,” he said adding “advance planning and preparedness are critical to help mitigate the impact of any eventuality.”
Dr Nisar said the virus is on the move with reported cases in at least five other countries. We have to expect that we will get cases in Kashmir too. We should be prepared for surveillance, early detection, infection prevention and control, logistics and in particular hospital preparedness in terms of isolation and ventilation management of severe cases.
“The best way to prevent the virus is to stop it from coming in as once the virus enters the community it is difficult to control it,” he said.
“Passengers at Srinagar international airport and Lower Munda Qazigund should undergo thermal screening and screening for any other symptom of the illness,” he added.
Dr Nisar said the new coronavirus is believed to have animal origin. Human-to- human transmission has been confirmed.
“When the virus is new, we do not know how it affects people.
The most frequently reported symptoms of confirmed cases were fever, cough, muscle aches and difficulty in breathing. Cases of severe infection resulted in pneumonia and death. A quarter of those who died had underlying medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease,” he informed.
“There is no specific cure or vaccine for the virus. People should take simple precautions that would help prevent spread of the virus. Washing your hands with soap and water and covering your mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing will keep you and people around you healthy and well. Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough and avoid unprotected contact with live wild or farm animals,” advised Dr Nisar.

GURGAON – The CRPF has carried out a mega audit of its over three lakh personnel to check for any possible “subversive” elements in the wake of a Jammu and Kashmir Police officer being caught with militants recently, the chief of the paramilitary force said here on Tuesday.

CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari said the incident involving Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh was “grave” and an “area of extreme concern” for the forces, adding that all should see that these things don’t occur.

So it was “common sense” to carry out such an audit of its manpower, deployed as the lead force for counter-militancy and anti-Naxal operations across the country, when any incident like this take place, he said.

“If something happens somewhere, it is a case to revisit ourselves and that is what we have done. We have no doubts about our personnel,” the CRPF chief said.

A senior official said the counter-intelligence units of the force were recently asked to check the credentials of the personnel after obtaining data from all available sources and they have been asked to be kept on “active mode” for some more time.

“No security grid should be allowed to be weakened by such episodes. So, all forces have to keep an internal watch,” he said on the arrest of DSP Singh.

“All forces should maintain vigilance so that there is no such type of subversion or some sort of intrusion within the force…,” the DG told reporters here.

JK Police had arrested Singh at Mir Bazar in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district along with Hizbul Mujahideen militants Naveed Baba and Altaf, besides a lawyer on January 11.

Maheshwari said that somebody from a security force trying to collaborate with adversaries is a “serious matter”. However, he added that a lone incident cannot be used to “brand” the entire force which has done onerous work in the past.

“An isolated incident should not be taken as branding of any particular force. The JK Police has tremendous contributions in normalising the situation (in Kashmir),” the DG said at a force camp here.

One incident should not be used to cast “aspersions on the dignity of the force, on the strength of the force, and therefore I don’t buy this is theory that there can be more such elements, but yes it is a matter of concern and all should see that these things don’t occur,” said the DG, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre who took over the reins of the force on January 15.

“We are further strengthening our systems… which were already in place,” he said referring to the vigilance and intelligence checks conducted on their personnel in Kashmir valley and other places.

“When something happens in neighbourhood, then it is common sense to do it (check against subversive elements) quickly again,” he added.

The Central Reserve Police Force has deployed close to 70,000 personnel in Kashmir Valley for counter-militancy and law and order duties.

It is the country’s largest Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) with 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks and is categorised as the lead national internal security force.

SOURCE: FIRST POST

NEW DELHI – In a random move, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP mocked former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his long beard in a sarcastic tweet before deleting it within an hour.

The tweet had a photo of an Amazon order of five razors dispatched in Abdullah’s name to his Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar.

The tweet read: “Dear Omar Abdullah, it is very disheartening to see you like this while most of your corrupt friends are enjoying life outside.”

It went on to state: “Kindly accept our sincere contribution, in case of any assistance feel free to contact your counterpart INC for further help in this regard.”

Within an hour, the tweet vanished.

However, within that short time, it had 517 retweets and 1,272 ‘likes’. Sources say, the central leadership did not find the tweet in good taste.

Just a day before R- Day, on January 25, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister’s latest photograph wearing a woollen cap and sporting a long white beard surfaced on social media and went viral.

Omar was seen smiling with snow in the backdrop. The photo has a retro touch to it. According to sources the photograph was genuine.

The National Conference leader, who has been in detention since August 5, when Article 370 was abrogated in the state, appears to have not shaved since.

In October, a different photo of Omar had surfaced, in which he was sporting a smaller beard.

SRINAGAR – Former PDP Minister Altaf Bukhari, who had met Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G.C. Murmu along with other political leaders earlier this month, on Tuesday denied reports that he was floating a new political party.

In a statement, he dismissed such reports as a “figment of imagination”.

“This news seems to have been floated with a single-minded agenda to mislead and confuse,” a spokesperson for Bukhari said.

He said as already informed to media, a “significant number of like-minded friends and political colleagues are in touch with each other and in this context, informal meetings are often convened”.

“These meetings are aimed at reviving the emerging political situation and should not be misconstrued as formation of any political party.”

Earlier this month, Bukhari led a group of former legislators which met Murmu in Jammu and presented a memorandum with a list of demands for restoring political activity in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bukhari stressed that Jammu and Kashmir cannot perpetually “mourn” the abrogation of Article 370.

In an exclusive interview with IANS, Bukhari had said the time has come to look beyond Article 370 and explore other achievable options for Jammu and Kashmir.

“The pain of loss of Article 370 will never go, but we have to come out of it,” he said. “Life goes on; we must try for things that we can get.”

He said the way forward is domicile rights for residents and restoration of the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. (With Inputs From Agencies)

Srinagar: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump had accepted that the Valley is an integral part of India due to which they seek autonomy of the region, said PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who was honoured with the Padma Bhushan on 71st Republic Day.

“Pakistan PM Imran Khan and the US president are asking for autonomy to J&K. It means they’ve accepted that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. We demand that J&K should be given what the Constitution gives us,” Baig was quoted as saying by PTI.

Baig, a former Lok Sabha member, hails from north Kashmir and is also an advocate.

He has been critical of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti after she took over the reins of the party and the alliance government with the BJP. He was among the few politicians from Kashmir who met Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who had travelled to the valley last year.

Srinagar: After over five-month communication blockade, the authorities on Friday allowed restoration of 2G mobile Internet services across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from January 25. The 2G Internet services will work, though with several restrictions, on postpaid mobiles and only on those prepaid mobile SIM cardholders whose credentials have been verified by the security agencies.

“I hereby direct that mobile data service and internet access through fixed line shall be allowed across UT of J&K,” read a late evening order issued by Principal Secretary, Home, Shalin Kabra. However, the authorities have put a ban on use of social media websites. Kabra said directions would be effective from January 25 and remain in force up to January 31 unless modified earlier.