Category: Union Territory

His photograph and 115 posts made over the past five years have been deleted

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official page on Chinese social media website Weibo went blank on Wednesday with the removal of his photograph and all 115 posts made over the past five years.

Mr. Modi initiated the process to exit Weibo following the Union government’s decision to ban 59 Chinese apps. The government on Monday decided to impose the ban on the apps, including Weibo, citing threats to data security and the sovereignty of India.

This marks a sudden end to Mr. Modi’s “Weibo diplomacy” in China that was launched with much fanfare in 2015 as a means to directly communicate with the people of China before his first visit there as Prime Minister. His first message said, “Hello China! Looking forward to interacting with Chinese friends through Weibo”. The Indian Embassy said at the time this was “a first of a kind attempt by any leader across India.” Mr. Modi had 2.44 lakh followers.

On Tuesday, Mr. Modi’s photograph was removed from his official page, and only two posts of the 115 he posted over the past five years remained. Both had photographs of Mr. Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Posts removal

It took two days for the last posts to be removed. According to government officials handling the matter, the procedure to exit Weibo was “complex” for official and verified accounts such as Mr. Modi’s and an official process was initiated. The officials said the process was delayed “for reasons best known” to the Chinese side.

“Prime Minister Modi had 115 posts on Weibo. It was decided to manually delete them and after much effort, 113 posts were removed,” said a source. “There were two posts left where Prime Minister Modi and these are posts with photos with President Xi. On Weibo, it is difficult to remove posts with the photo of the Chinese President. Which is why, two posts still remained,” said a source.

PM was not very active on Weibo

Mr. Modi posted infrequently on Weibo, with 115 posts in five years, although his annual posts on the international day of yoga usually received wide attention in China. Among his most forwarded posts were his birthday greetings to President Xi conveyed every year.

On June 20, three statements by the Indian Embassy on the recent border tensions posted on its account on WeChat, another popular social media app, were removed by Chinese authorities. A message following the removal said the posts were taken down for violating regulations. Social media in China are subjected to extensive censorship regime. Among the foreign sites blocked in China are WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Chinese reaction to apps ban

On Tuesday, China hit out at the move by India to block 59 apps. It described the action as “a deliberate interference in practical cooperation” between the two countries.

China’s State media warned that the move would bring economic repercussions, such as affecting outbound Chinese investment into India.

In separate statements issued by its Foreign Ministry and Embassy in New Delhi, Beijing called on India to review the move. “India’s measure, selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions, and suspects of violating the WTO rules,” the Embassy said. “It also goes against the general trend of international trade and E-commerce, and is not conducive to consumer interests and the market competition in India.”

The ban was one of the most discussed topics on Chinese social media this week. In an editorial, the Communist Party-run Global Times slammed what it said was “a lacklustre explanation for the nonsensical move”. “If India’s sovereignty can be damaged by a handful of apps, just how vulnerable is it?” the paper said. “It was not long before Indians realised that turning nationalist rhetoric into action is more difficult, as there are no available and affordable alternatives to Chinese-made products such as smartphones, chemicals, automotive components and many other items… It seems that not only has the Modi government failed to rein in the rising nationalism among Indians, it has also yielded to domestic pressure and even encouraged such a boycott to escalate.”

Dip in investment

The newspaper said it had conducted a survey of experts who “predicted Chinese overseas direct investment (ODI) into India will drop sharply in 2020, with two experts forecasting a more than 50 per cent cut.”

“Bad feelings go both ways, and the chance for China-India relationship to pick up in the short-term is slim. Chinese investors are on the edge with risk-aversion instinct kicking in,” Qian Feng, director of the research department of the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the paper, adding that the coming year would not only see a 50 per cent fall in Chinese investments in India, but would be “a turning point” in economic relations.

With inputs from The Hindu

A 65-year-old civil contractor died in Kashmir Wednesday following a militant attack on CRPF personnel. His family claims he was dragged out of his car and killed.

Bashir Khan’s widow consoled by her relatives and neighbours at their house | Azaan Javaid | ThePrint

Srinagar: A massive controversy erupted in Kashmir Wednesday after a civilian from Srinagar’s HMT area was killed in the aftermath of a militant attack on CRPF personnel in the Sopore region of north Kashmir.

The victim has been identified as Bashir Ahmed, a 65-year-old man who worked as a civil contractor. Ahmed was accompanied by his three-year-old grandson at the time. A CRPF trooper also died in the attack.

While Ahmed’s family has released a video message on social media, accusing Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel of dragging him out of his car and shooting him at point blank range, the Jammu & Kashmir Police said he died in the exchange of fire with militants.

At a press conference Wednesday, Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said the family’s accusations against the CRPF were driven by threats issued to them by militants.

However, with the allegation gaining traction online, the police in Sopore threatened legal action against those who perpetuate the “false reports and rumours” that Ahmed was killed by security forces.

Soon after Ahmed’s death, photos of his grandson from the encounter site flooded social media, including a heartbreaking shot showing the child sitting on top of his grandfather’s corpse.

Among those who shared the photos on Twitter were several top police officers of Jammu & Kashmir Police, with the official handle of Kashmir zone police force tweeting an image of the child being rescued from the site of the encounter.

This led to speculation that the photographs were being shared for publicity, even as anger erupted over what is being seen as public disclosure of a minor witness’ identity, a violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Kumar, however, hinted that the photos may have been clicked by security personnel, and said whoever took them would face action.

Social media users also slammed a viral video that purportedly showed a member of the security forces standing over Ahmed’s dead body.

‘Shot as he tried to protect his grandson’

The encounter in question took place Wednesday morning, when two militants allegedly attacked a CRPF patrol party from a mosque in the vicinity. The militants are believed to have escaped.

As the exchange of fire triggered vastly divergent accounts with regard to the circumstances of Ahmed’s death, Kumar convened an urgent press conference in Srinagar to offer the police’s version of events. At the press conference, he said some individuals were using the incident to stoke trouble by sharing false news.

“The video message circulated on social media by the son and daughter of the slain man is not true. They have levelled those allegations due to militant threat,” he said. “I want to ask whether they were present at the site of the incident. Did they see for themselves who fired? They circulated video messages blaming the forces for killing their father… which is baseless. If there is any eyewitness, they should come forward, so we can act,” he added.

Describing the exchange with militants, he said, “At around 7.30 am, when CRPF men were de-boarding from the vehicle to be part of joint naka party at model town Sopore, two militants hiding in the mosque fired indiscriminately at the CRPF men… One CRPF trooper died and three others were injured.” 

Kumar added, “A civilian was also hit by bullets and died later. As the militants carried out the attack, the victim came out of his car carrying the kid but was hit by bullets.”

He claimed that Ahmed tried to flee the car after hearing gun shots, and sustained a bullet injury as he attempted to protect his grandson.

Following the exchange, Kumar said, he deliberately didn’t shut down the internet services in Sopore “just to see how people would behave”. 

He also appealed to mosque committees to exert pressure on militants to not use mosques as attack bases, noting that it was the second instance in a month where militants had attacked the security forces from a mosque, the first one taking place in Pampore in June. 

Asked about the identity of the person who clicked the child’s picture with Ahmed’s corpse, the IGP said, “Going to the operation area with mobiles is wrong. I will ensure police teams going for operations don’t carry mobiles along as that may pose a threat to their lives. Whoever has shared his pictures will have to face action.”

‘They ended our world’

According to Ahmed’s family, he was on his way to Handwara, just over 20 km from Sopore, when the exchange of fire began.

“We received a call, telling us someone has killed your uncle on the road. Then we went to the spot and asked some people present there what happened. They told us that the militants attacked the security forces and, in that process, they lost numerous persons,” said Farooq Ahmed Khan, Ahmed’s nephew. 

“To take revenge, they took my uncle out of his car, while his grandson was in his lap, and they shot at him in the back. He was dead on the spot. Local residents watched the scene through their windows.”

Khan’s wife, who earlier worked with the police, alleged that the security forces then placed the minor on Ahmed’s lifeless body, “clicked pictures for a PR stunt and then claimed they had rescued the child”.

Another relative, Tanveer Ahmed, said Ahmed was on his way to Handwara to bring back the family help. “The grandson was extremely attached to Khan sahab, to the extent that his mother had left him with his grandparents. All day he would follow Khan sahab… Today, when Khan sahab left for Handwara, the child wanted to accompany him. Little did we know this would be the last time he saw his grandfather’s face. We are devastated,” he added.

Ahmed’s widow Farooqa Khan was disconsolate. “They ended our world, what can we say? The military personnel took him out of the car and shot him. Is this Modi’s justice? Is this our freedom?” she said. 

The two major Jammu & Kashmir political parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), condemned the killing and demanded a probe into the incident. 

In a statement issued Wednesday, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar asked the government to reveal the facts that led to Ahmed’s death. “Targeting civilians, minors is condemnable, such barbaric incidents cannot be tolerated. The heart-wrenching sight of a dead man with the kid atop his chest has shaken every sane person. Incidents like these agitate one’s souls and conscience,” he said.

The PDP said the statement issued by the family was different from the official account and this needs to be probed. “This needs to be probed at a high level and a time-bound inquiry and impartial probe into the matter is what we demand from the government at present,” the PDP added.

With inputs from ThePrint

Disclaimer: This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.

Abrar Reyaz with severe head injury was shifted from SMHS to Chest Diseases hospital, which does not even have a trauma ward, because ‘no bed was available’ at the other Covid hospital

By: Kashmir Reader

Srinagar: “What has a patient with head trauma injury got to do at a Chest Disease Hospital?”, questioned Sibtain Hyder, a youth from Srinagar as the news of the tragic death of Abrar Reyaz, a 24-year-old from Shopian district who was studying law in Srinagar, broke on social media Tuesday afternoon.

Abrar, who was pursuing LLB at Central University of Kashmir, met with an accident along with his father and uncle on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Galandar on Saturday evening.

His uncle succumbed on the way to hospital while Abrar was shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar with severe brain haemorrhage and immediately put on a ventilator.

He passed away on Tuesday afternoon at Chest Diseases Hospital Srinagar where he was shifted a day before, as the hospital authorities declared him a COVID-19 patient.

But Abrar’s close relatives have alleged that the test reports were swapped with another patient’s and Abrar had no COVID-19 infection.

A close relative said that Abrar had been unnecessarily shifted to CD Hospital based on a dubious report, and no consideration was given to his serious head injury.

He said that Abrar had been showing “Considerable Improvement” at SMHS Hospital and should have been treated there instead of being shifted to Chest Disease Hospital, which is an exclusive facility for patients with respiratory ailments.

The Chest Disease Hospital, one of Abrar’s friends said, does not even have a specialist doctor to treat trauma patients.

Raja Ishfaq Lateef, one of Abrar’s friends, accused the hospital authorities at SMHS Hospital of “Murder”.

“This is sheer negligence for which the doctors should be booked,” he said.

Principal of Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, Dr Samia Rashid, reasoned that they “Could not keep a COVID-19 positive patient with negative patients” at the hospital.

She said that Abrar’s Covid report came positive and they wanted to shift him to the Surgery Department at SKIMS Soura “but they did not have a bed”.

“Considering that he had tested COVID-19 positive, we shifted him to CD Hospital,” she said.

The GMC Principal also refuted allegations that Abrar’s Covid test report had been swapped or mixed with some other patient’s.

With inputs from Kashmir Reader

Srinagar: The Kashmir Valley on Wednesday recorded six deaths due to Novel Coronavirus, thus taking the overall death toll due to the virus to 107 in Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory, officials said.

Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) six patients who died today include 75-year-old man from Sopore, 80-year-old man from Bijbehara area of Anantnag district, 50-year-old lady from Srinagar, 50-year-old woman from Kupwara, 45-year-old man from Shangus area of Anantnag and 54-year-old man from Shama Chak area of Jammu.

Dr. Saleem Tak, Medical Superintendent CD hospital said that two patients one from Sopore and other from Bijbehara died at CD hospital, adding that they were suffering from Pneumonia besides respiratory diseases and other ailments.

He said that the patient from Sopore died during the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday while the other patient from Bijbehara died on Wednesday morning.

Dr G H Yatoo, Nodal Officer for COVID-19 at SKIMS told KNO that the lady from Eidgah Srinagar was admitted at SKIMS on June 19. “She was admitted as a case of Hypertension, Hypothyroidism with community acquired Pneumonia with type 1 respiratory failure,” he said.

One late evening, Yatoo added that two more positive cases including a 50-year-old woman from Kupwara, 45-year-old man from Shangus area of Anantnag died at SKIMS.

He said that the Kupwara woman was admitted on June 30 as a case of carcinoma of unknown origin with Right l/l dvt with anemia, adding that the patient died due to cardiopulmonary arrest.

About Shangus’ patient, he said the 45-year-old man was tested positive on June 28 and died today due to cardiopulmonary arrest.

Meanwhile, an official told KNO that a 54-year-old man from Shama Chak area of Jammu area died at Army hospital Udhampur in the evening.

With six more deaths, the death toll due to the COVID-19 has mounted to 107 in Jammu and Kashmir including 94 from Kashmir and 13 from Jammu division.

Srinagar district with 25 deaths has the highest fatalities followed by Baramulla (17), Kulgam (14), Shopian (12), Anantnag (9), seven each from Jammu and Budgam,  Kupwara (5), Pulwama (four) Udhampur (two) while one death each has been reported from Bandipora, Poonch, Doda, Rajouri and Kathua—(KNO)

India and China have now held three rounds of Corp Commander talks, but it’s now clear that the stand-off is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. On Tuesday, Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and Major General Liu Lin held talks for almost eleven hours. Sources privy to the talks held at Chushul on the Indian said, that the Indian army is now preparing for a long haul, leading up to winter.

“Both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step wise de-escalation as a priority”, said a defence official. The official also said that more meetings are expected both at military and diplomatic levels to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution to ensure peace.

CNBC-TV18 has learnt that both sides discussed procedures and mechanisms for disengagement but so far there has been no reduction in troops at the LAC. During the talks, India raised Chinese transgressions specifically in Galwan, Gogra-Hot Springs and Pangong Tso areas. The Indian military officials also flagged Chinese troop concentration along the LAC, deployment of weapon systems and construction on the Chinese side. “Disengagement talks likely to be long-drawn, complex and tedious”, said official requesting anonymity.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to visit Ladakh on Friday to meet top commanders and review the situation along the Line of Actual Control.

“We have been operating in winters for many years, also in areas like Siachen which are more challenging. Even if we have to remain alert at the LAC in winters, the capacity, capability and the logistics exist”, said Lieutenant General DS Hooda, Former GOC-in-C for the Northern Command. Hooda also said there is hardly any possibility of a full-blown conflict but the prospects of a limited conflict cannot be ruled out.

While Indian defence forces are matching Chinese deployments at the LAC, the India-Pakistan border is witnessing a massive rise in ceasefire violations too. More than 2100 ceasefire violations have already been reported at the LOC this year compared to 3200 in 2019. There have been 5-6 terrorist infiltration attempts in May and the Indian army has carried out 24 counter-terror operations in the last one month.

With inputs from CNBC-TV18

Srinagar: Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah Wednesday lambasted forces personnel for filming the misery of a 3-year old toddler who lost his grandfather in Sopore shootout and termed it “propaganda”.

According to Kashmir News Service (KNS), the video and photographs of toddler wailing on the body of his grandfather went viral on social media who had received bullets.

Meanwhile former CM of J&K Omar Abdullah while taking to micro-blogging site Twitter termed it “propaganda tool” in Kashmir. He also lambasted “men in uniform” for filming the inconsolably crying child.

Taking to Twitter Omar wrote, “Everything becomes a propaganda tool in the bloody violence in Kashmir. A three year old toddler has to have his misery broadcast to the whole world to drive home the “we good they bad” message. We would have got the point without his misery being filmed & shared so please don’t”.

“We would have expected no less from the men in uniform than to rescue the young boy & for that they have our gratitude but we would expect better than for them to film & use a three year old’s pain the way it’s being done today”, he added. (KNS)

Srinagar: Ministry of Home Affairs has directed that all educational institutions shall remain closed across India till July 31.

The MHA has issued directives at a time when various universities in Kashmir including University of Kashmir have directed employees to attend duties amid COVID-19 lockdown.

“MHA has issued guidelines, whereby it has been directed that colleges and educational institutions will remain closed till 31.07.2020. It has been further stated that online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged,” the MHA said in its order issued on June 30, a copy of which lies with news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

“In order to ensure the safety of the faculty members/ teachers/ researchers/ non-teaching staff of higher educational institutions should be permitted and advised to work from home till 31.07.2020,” it reads.

The MHA said the period shall be counted as being on duty for all staff members including Ad-hoc and contract teachers, whose contracts are valid at least up-to 31.07.2020.

At the same time, staff members in various varsities, colleges in Kashmir have been directed to attend their duties.

The University of Kashmir has issued a notification directing all the Deans, Heads, Directors, Coordinators, Officers of School, Examination wing to ensure 100% attendance of the staff. Besides, research scholars have also been asked to report to the university and complete their assignments.

“We fail to understand when all educational institutions are closed then why are we being forced to come to university which will pose a serious threat to all employees,” an assistant professor of University of Kashmir told KINS.

Around 3000 teaching and non-teaching employees are working on Kashmir University’s main campus. Further, around 1000 research scholars are currently enrolled in the varsity.
Registrar University of Kashmir, Professor Nisar Ahmad Mir said they have to follow directives of the J & K government.

“If MHA has issued any directives, J&K government will also issue its guidelines and we will follow them accordingly,” Mir told KINS.
At least four employees of Kashmir University have tested positive for coronavirus so far.

An official of Central University Kashmir said they are also being forced to attend duties. “Traffic is off the roads and coronavirus cases are on the rise. Despite that we are being asked to attend duties,” an official of CUK said.

A senior official of CUK however said they will follow MHA directives.(KINS)

Srinagar: Parents of Private Schools Association Wednesday urged all the parents not to pay fees till final decision from the government comes. The Association asked the parents of students studying in private schools to wait for the decision of the government as no final decision has some from the government.

Convener, Parents of Private Schools Association, Mohsin Goni told news agency KNT that Private School owners have capitalist mindset and they simply want to suck the blood of parents. “What is the justification of these schools to grab fee from the parents, when there were no economic as well as academic activities during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said and requested the government to direct the private schools for waiver of fees.

He said that both the associations of private schools were brought under one roof and they agreed to waive the fees of distressed parents. “These owners of private schools backtracked from the promise they had made with us and started demanding fee from all. Now it is our request to parents not to pay fee till the government takes a final call,” Goni said.

He said that government should take parents into confidence before taking any final decision. “Government should understand that parents are facing worst economic problems and they can’t afford fee this time,” he said.

“The salaries of the staff are always taken up by the schools as a tactic to emotionally blackmail the government and parents as well. We ask the government that if the parents have been cooperating with the schools since August 2019 by paying full fee, why the schools this time can’t waive off the fee for the pandemic period,” Goni told KNT.

New Delhi: Pakistan has moved two divisions of troops along the LoC in occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and Chinese officials are holding talks with cadres of terrorist outfit Al Badr to incite violence in J&K, as per intelligence inputs, indicating clearer signs of a China-Pak collaboration on the border.

Pakistan has moved almost 20,000 additional soldiers to LoC to match Chinese deployments on the LAC in the east. The level of troops Pakistan has deployed is more than what it did after the Balakot air strikes. Pakistani radars are believed to be fully activated all along the region too.

The simultaneous build up on the Pakistan and China borders and efforts to incite terrorism in Kashmir has brought the possibility of a two-front war and fighting terrorists in Kashmir, the worst case scenario strategic experts fear, closer to reality.

Sources said there have been a series of meetings between Chinese and Pakistani officials in recent weeks, followed by amassing of troops in Gilgit-Baltistan, the area that adjoins Ladakh on the north. The buildup comes at a time when thousands of Chinese soldiers have been aggressively deployed along LAC in eastern Ladakh, apart from intrusions at several points that has led to a tense standoff.

A build up in Gilgit-Baltistan would require additional responsibility for the Indian Army that has deployed a credible force in eastern Ladakh to counter China. After the bifurcation of J&K , Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the Union Territory of Ladakh, but occupied by Pakistan. The area adjoins Kargil-Drass where India fought a war to evacuate Pakistani intruders in 1999.

According to intelligence reports, Chinese officials have undertaken meetings with cadres of the Al Badr, a Pakistan-based terror group that has a history of wreaking violence in Kashmir. “The assessment is that China may provide support to revive the organisation. This is among the signs we have received that indicate Pakistan and China are collaborating on the ground,” sources said.

Earlier this month, J&K Police DG Dilbag Singh had said there were signs that the Al Badr, decimated long ago, was being revived for operations. These signs of collaboration are worrying as tensions continue on LAC, with talks failing to make any headway and PLA increasing concentration across eastern Ladakh, apart from Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

As first reported by ET, India has been keeping an eye on airbases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after a Chinese refueller aircraft landed in Skardu earlier this week. Chinese air activity has increased opposite eastern Ladakh, raising the possibility of PLA Air Force (PLAAF) using airbases in Gilgit-Baltistan. Limited activity is being observed at the Skardu airbase where an IL 78 tanker of the Chinese air force landed earlier in the month.

With input from ET Bureau

PTI

Jammu: The police on Wednesday rescued a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted a week ago and arrested the accused from Jammu, officials said.

The girl was allegedly abducted by a man, identified as named Amit Kumar (21), from Purkhoo and a case under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Kanachak Police Station on the complaint of her father on June 24, a police official said.

Police teams raided various places over the past week and finally rescued the girl from a house on the outskirts of Jammu early on Wednesday morning.

The accused was also arrested and further investigation is underway, the official said.