Kashmir.Watch

Category: Union Territory

  • Japan Introduces Mobile Mosque To Help Muslims Pray During Olympics 2020

    Japan has unveiled Mobile Mosque to help Muslims pray during Olympics 2020. Japanese engineers have given Muslims a relief so that they can pray freely.

    Japan is hosting Olympics 2020 which is due in the summer, a Tokyo sports company has created this beautiful praying truck which is something much needed for Muslims especially during the Olympics games in 2020.

    This is being made by Yasu Project, the CEO of Yasuharu Inoue says that there are very few numbers of mosques in Japan for Muslim to pray, as the industry sees a lot of Muslims visiting Japan to watch the games, so they had to come up with something to make them feel ease to pray while visiting Japan.

    The truck was unveiled in front of Toyota Stadium, a J-League soccer venue in Toyota City yesterday, which showcased it’s interior and exterior as well as showing Muslim men praying inside this Mobile Mosque.

    The mobile mosque also has the facility to make wudhu as the engineers have placed the taps and washing tub inside the truck, so a person should not wander in the search of making wudhu. Which is one of the reasons this is a complete design for Muslims

    A number of 100,000 to 300,000 Muslims live in Japan. And this will help the residents and tourists to not to miss their prayer while having fun. This is something Japan has looked after that they found out that Muslims value their Religion and Culture a lot so they came up with an idea of Mobile Mosque which all of us are loving.

    Japan has been humble towards its Muslim tourists and residents that they introduced such a valuable thing for them. And Muslims will never forget their generosity for life.

  • Elderly man killed in gas cylinder blast

    Bandipora, March 14: One person was killed after a gas cylinder exploded at a house in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district on late Thursday.

    Reports reaching GNS said that a gas cylinder blast rocked the house of Abdul Salam Najar son of Fata Najar resident of Chana Mohalla Inderkote Sumbal in Bandipora district late this evening.

    Reports said in the incident an 80- year old man who was identified as Ghulam Ahmad Najar son of Ghulam Mohammad Najar died while the kitchen where gas cylinder blast took place was completely damaged.

    A senior police official also confirmed the incident and said soon after information was received a team of fire tenders, police reached the spot and put the fire under control. (GNS)

  • NIA issues fresh summons to Mirwaiz for questioning in Delhi

    Srinagar, March 14 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Thursday issued fresh summons to Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to appear for questioning at the probe agency headquarters in connection with a financing case, officials said.

    According to the notice, the Mirwaiz has been asked to appear at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi on March 18, the agency officials said.

    The NIA had on February 26 carried out searches at premises of separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, in connection with the case related to alleged militancy funding in Jammu and Kashmir.

    The NIA team, accompanied by police and CRPF personnel, searched residences of some of the separatist leaders, including the Mirwaiz, Naseem Geelani and Ashraf Sehrai, the chairman of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

    The houses of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Yasin Malik, Shabir Shah, Zaffar Bhat and Masarat Alam were also raided.

    The NIA had questioned two maternal uncles of the Mirwaiz Maulvi Manzoor and Maulvi Shafat — and his close aides last year. Both Manzoor and Shafat are retired senior government officers.

    He had been asked to appear before the NIA on March 11 but the Mirwaiz had expressed his inability to join the investigation in Delhi fearing for his security in view of “conditions of hostility”.

    “Under the prevailing conditions of hostility wherein there is a threat to the personal safety of my client, it becomes unwise for my client to travel to Delhi,” counsel for the Mirwaiz, Aijaz Ahmad Dhar, had said in a letter to the NIA.

    If the NIA wants to question the Mirwaiz, it can do so in Srinagar and he is willing to cooperate as “he has nothing to hide”, the letter had said.

    The lawyer had said his client was not acquainted with the subject matter of the FIR referred to in the NIA’s notice and added that the notice to the separatist leader appears to have been issued on the basis of “fallacious assumptions and misinformation solely aimed at maligning the Mirwaiz”.

    On his client’s stand on the Kashmir issue, the lawyer said it has always been clear.

    “He has always stated that the Kashmir issue is a political and human issue which needs political resolution either through implementation of UN resolutions or through dialogue amongst the three stakeholders — India, Pakistan and people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the counsel of the Mirwaiz said.(Agencies)

  • If Imran Khan is so generous, he should give us Masood Azhar: Sushma Swaraj

    New Delhi, March 14: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India cannot have a dialogue with Pakistan unless the latter take action against terror groups on its soil. Speaking at a conference in Delhi on Wednesday the union minister hit out at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and said, “Some people say Imran Khan is a statesman, if he is so generous then he should hand over JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) chief Masood Azhar to India. Let’s see how generous he is.”

    “If Imran Khan (Pakistan prime minister) is so generous and a statesman, he should give us Masood Azhar,” she said.

    Talking on ‘India’s World: Modi Government’s Foreign Policy’, she stated that Pakistan needs to control the ISI and its army who are bent on destroying the bilateral relations time and again.

    On the possibility of a dialogue with Pakistan, Sushma Swaraj said that India cannot do so unless the neighbouring country acted against terror outfits on its soil, asserting that “talks and terror cannot go together”.

    “We do not want talk on terror, we want action on it. Terror and talks cannot go together,” she said.

    The external affairs minister said that India can have a good relationship with Pakistan, provided the neighbouring country “takes action against terror groups on its soil”.

    On her invitation to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, she said India avenged the humiliation meted out to it 50 years ago by becoming the ‘guest of honour’ at the OIC meet this year.

    “In 1969, India was humiliated when it was not allowed to participate in the meeting even after reaching the venue after Pakistan protested against India’s then foreign minister’s participation. But now, 50 years later, it was India that was the honoured guest, while Pakistan’s seat was empty,” she said.

    Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had expressed reservations about the invitation to Swaraj for the OIC meeting and later decided to boycott the meeting of the 57-member Muslim grouping held earlier this month.

    Talking about the foreign policy of the current government, Swaraj said it was based upon the two principles of “national interest supreme” and “world is our family”.

    “People often ask us what we get by our frequent travel to countries. I want to tell them we do not travel to have fun, we travel to build our relationship with other countries and it is because of our ties with these countries that we were able to rescue 7,000 people from Yemen. The strength of our bilateral ties was also reflected in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) elections,” she said.

    “I have seen the strength of this relationship time and again,” the senior BJP leader said, adding that at the ministerial level, Indian leaders have visited 189 out of 193 countries. (Agencies)

  • MeT forecast fresh rain spell next week, traffic deptt to take decision on highway tomorrow

    Srinagar, March 14: The weatherman on Thursday forecast fresh spell of rains from March 19 even as the traffic authorities said that the decision regarding movement of vehicles on Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only surface link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the world, would be taken tomorrow.

    “There would be generally cloudy sky with occasional light rain till 15th March morning. Thereafter mainly dry weather upto March 19 when there would be one more rainy spell,” a meteorological department official said here.

    He said that Srinagar—the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir – recorded a minimum temperature of 3.2 Degrees Celsius last night against 3.7 degrees Celsius normal for this time of the season.

    The official said that Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir recorded a low of 2.2 degrees Celsius while the mercury in Kokernag town in south Kashmir settled at a low of 2.5 degrees Celsius while Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a minimum of 1.0 5 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, witnessed a low of minus 4.8 degrees Celsius while the famous health resort of Pahalgam also recorded a minimum of minus 0.2 degrees Celsius.

    Meanwhile, the traffic department said that the decision regarding movement of vehicles would be taken on Friday.

    “The decision on movement o traffic on the highway shall be taken tomorrow after accessing the weather and road condition,” said a traffic department official. (GNS)

  • Picture of youth holding weapons goes viral

    SRINAGAR, MAR 14: Despite attempts by police and other security agencies to stop youth from joining militant groups, the militant recruitments are on. While officials said that militant recruitments in last couple of months have dropped, pic of one more youth announcing to join militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad is making rounds on social media.

    Picture of a youth holding two AK-47’s in hand is making rounds on social media since Wednesday while it’s mentioned in the pic that the youth has joined militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

    As per details mentioned on the pic, the latest one to join militant ranks is Tosif Ahmad But son of Mohammad Ashraf But resident of Marhama, Bijbehara. It’s believed that officials are confirming the authenticity of the photograph.

    Kashmir valley has witnessed rise in militant recruitments since the killing of popular militant commander Burhan Wani in 2016. While security agencies have been continuously requesting the youth to give up arms and come to mainstream, the recruitments are on.

    The militancy last year saw rise as most of top militants’ commanders and senior militants got killed during encounters with forces.

    After the deadly militant attack on CRPF convoy in Lethpora, Pulwama which left around 40 CRPF personnel dead, the security agencies feared the rise in militant recruitments mostly in Jaish-e-Mohammad group as the feared militancy will attract more youth towards it. Since the attack, more than ten Jaish militants have got killed including some commanders but despite this, two youth have posted pictures announcing joining militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad.

    The one whose Picture went viral few weeks ago was Sajad Ahmad whose car was used by suicide bomber to carry out the attack.

    Army chief few days ago made appeal to mothers of militants to ask their sons to return back. He also announced to provide security to the youth who will give up arms. (PTK)

  • Stopping ambulances, schools buses during convoy movement triggers public outcry

    Heads of security agencies formulate people-friendly strategy; decide to allow essential services vehicles

    Srinagar, March 14: A massive public out-cry has started across Kashmir as forces stop the ambulances and school buses during the convoy moment in the Valley forcing the security agencies to make changes in the convoy movement plan to ensure ambulances ferrying patients and school buses are allowed to proceed when convoys ply.

    Eye-witnesses told KNO that on the highways—Srinagar Jammu and Srinagar Baramulla, school buses and ambulances besides civilian vehicles are halted for the smooth passage of convoy movement.

    In congested Srinagar city, the issue has resulted in a major controversy with the videos of scuffles between the drivers of school buses, ambulances and commuters entering into verbal dual with the forces personnel deployed for the convoy protection, going viral on various social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter.

    In one of the videos, the driver of an ambulance is seen requesting the forces personnel to allow him to proceed as he was ferrying a patient from South Kashmir and that he should reach SMHS hospital. However, he is not asked to proceed further with forces personnel asking him to wait till 15 minutes till convoy passes off from the area.

    Another local is seen requesting the forces personnel to allow his vehicle to move ahead as he had to drop his children at school and he was already getting late. But he too is not being allowed to go ahead with the result many locals are questioning the convoy plan of the forces.

    Arshid Rasool, a resident of Srinagar said that at 8 am, CRPF convoy was moving from Boulevard to Rajbagh and near Radio Kashmir, TRC crossing, Dalgate, the civilian traffic was stopped simultaneously for around 20 minutes.

    “The commuters got irritated and started to blow their horns that sent the message to the CRPF men deployed for convoy protection that the people were getting irritated,” said Rasool, who was travelling from old city Srinagar to Rajbagh where he works in a private office.

    Ever since the deadly attack on the CRPF convoy at Lethpora, Pulwama that left 40 CRPF men dead and dozens of others injured, the security agencies worked out a “secure convoy plan” to ensure no civilian vehicle is allowed to move alongside the forces vehicles.

    In the Lethpora attack, the suicide attacker Adil Dar of Jaish-e-Muhammad rammed his vehicle laden with the explosives, into the CRPF convoy resulting the massive damage to the CRPF vehicle ferrying 40 personnel, all of whom died on the spot.

    A CRPF official said that they will sit again with the officials of police, army and the CRPF to fine-tune the convoy movement plan and ensure that essential services vehicles including ambulances and school buses are allowed to proceed along with the convoy vehicles so that patients reach hospital and students to schools on time. “We understand the issue and will address it accordingly,” the official told KNO.

    Similarly, traffic department also has decided to ensure that the school buses and ambulances are allowed to ply even if the convoy movement is going on in the area. “These vehicles are part of essential services and they can’t be halted. We will ensure that there is no inconvenience to students and patients,” a senior traffic official confirmed to KNO.

  • National Conference worker shot at in Bijbehara, shifted to SMHS

    Srinagar, March 14: A National Conference (NC) worker was on Thursday injured after he was shot at by suspected militants at Thajeewara Bijbihara area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

    Official sources told KNO that a political worker identified as Mohd Ismail, 60, affiliated with National Conference was shot at and injured by suspected militants at Thajeewara Bijbihara .

    The injured political worker, also former NC Sarpanch was immediately shifted to Bijbehara hospital for treatment wherefrom he was referred to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital for specialized treatment.

    Meanwhile, forces rushed to the area and launched search operation to nab the attackers.(KNO)

  • Who arrested Shabir Shah and hundreds more: JKDFP asks Mehbooba Mufti

    Warns her not use Kashmir issue for her political gains

    Srinagar, Mar 14: Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) has asked Mehbooba Mufti if she didn’t allow the Bharatiya Janata Party to crack down on the Hurriyat leaders during her government, then who arrested senior resistance leader Shabir Shah along with many others in July 2017 and lodged them in Tihar jail, Delhi.
    According to a statement issued, hitting out at Mehbooba, the JKDFP said that Mehbooba is only trying to befool people of Kashmir by using pro-freedom stance. However, the people living in the disputed region fully know the mindset of such pro-India and anti-Kashmir politicians who are used to lure people by all sorts of lies.
    While reacting to Mehbooba’s statement in which she has said that the BJP wanted to crack down on Jamaat-e-Islami and suppress the separatist leadership through NIA raids, JKDFP said that it was Mehbooba’s regime when ED arrested Shabir Shah and NIA arrested many others including women and it was again Mehbooba’s tenure when hundreds of pro-resistance people were put behind bars. She blinded hundreds of our youth, it was again she who killed even school going children and it was Mehbooba whose remark of “Milk and Toffee” was in fact a license for government forces to kill unarmed youth.
    JKDFP said that Mehbooba intensified the crackdown on Hurriyat during her government and now when she is desperate for votes she is trying to befool people.
    JKDFP strongly reacted against Mehbooba, for claiming that “the BJP wanted to carry out NIA raids on separatists but she was against any such move.” The party said that Mehbooba and company are exposed in the people so she must stop using Hurriyat and pro-freedom stance during her election campaign. It is better for her to contest on her own and not to use Kashmir issue and its advocates for her political gains otherwise a full counter campaign will be started in nook and corner to expose her fully.

  • Mushtaq Veeri booked under PSA, shifted to Jammu Jail

    SRINAGAR: Religious preacher and Jamiat Alhadees vice-president Moulvi Mushtaq Veeri was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) by the authorities and shifted to Jammu Jail.

    Mushtaq Veeri was arrested on February 23 from his residence.

    Family sources told that Mushtaq Veeri was booked under PSA & he was shifted to Jammu Jail just now.

    Further details awaited