Category: Union Territory

Srinagar: Security forces on Thursday launched a massive anti-militancy operation at multiple places in south Kashmir’s Shopian district but their efforts were being hampered by stone-pelting mobs.The operations have been launched in six villages falling under Zainapora area in Shopian after security forces received information about the movement of militants there, a police official said.South Kashmir has seen a spate of attacks on banks, especially in southern districts of Shopian and Pulwama this month.

The police official said a large number of security forces were involved in the search operations which started in the middle of the night.However, the operations were being hampered by small groups of people pelting the security forces with stones in these areas, the official said.He said additional security force personnel had been rushed to the area to chase away the stone-pelters.So far, no casualties have been reported in the clashes between stone-pelters and security forces, he said, adding that the operations were in progress.Recently, videos of large groups of militants–in some cases as many as 30–have surfaced on social media, despite the ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.Security agencies believe these videos were shot in south Kashmir area, especially in Shopian district. With PTI

Separatists doing politics on dead bodies

The BJP National General Secretary, Ram Madhav, on Saturday said the separatists in the Kashmir are using people as “scapegoats” and reiterated the government’s stand of having no talks with them.

In a post on his official Facebook page, Madhav, who played a key role in forming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) coalition government, mentioned that the Union Government has “categorically” told the Supreme Court that there is no plan to hold any talks with “the separatists and those who are not loyal to India”.

“Supreme Court too took a strong stand against the petitioners’ demand that pellet guns be withdrawn exhorting them to first stop stone pelting and street violence before asking security forces to withdraw pellet guns. Stand of the SC judges including CJI is commendable and I am sure patriotic people in the country including those in the Valley welcome this position of the Court,” he said in his post.

“However it must be kept in mind that forces have very few pellet guns and use them in rare situations only. Even where used, they are deemed less lethal than normal guns and bullets,” he said.

Madhav said forces are trained to maintain maximum restraint and use other methods to control violence.“Government’s stand is and should be clear. Tackle militants and their sponsors with utmost toughness. Handle misguided youths coming onto the streets with stones in hand with deftness so that violence is firmly put down but care is taken to prevent loss of life,” Madhav said.

“The separatists have only one motto: One dead body a day, so that they can play sentimental politics over the dead bodies. They use people of the Valley as scapegoats in their reprehensible politics of violence and separatism. The security forces and the government on the other hand try their best to ensure that the ill-intentions of the separatists don’t succeed. It is a difficult job being executed with commendable sincerity by the government and security forces,” he said. (IANS)

Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik says the current government is pushing a whole generation of Kashmiris towards armed struggle.

Yasin Malik, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was a militant when the Kashmir armed insurgency began in the early 1990s. After being imprisoned for some years, he chose the path of non-violence. In this interview, Malik talks about Kashmir, its struggles, aspirations and the Indian state’s response. Excerpts:  

How do you see the situation in Kashmir after Burhan Wani’s death in an encounter last year?

There was already public anger because the government of India has choked all kinds of political spaces. Nobody is allowed to express his views and political narratives. Nobody is allowed to hold a public meeting. So these youths, who were the participants of a non-violent movement, were beaten ruthlessly in police stations. The police stations have become a mockery. This is the reason they pick up arms and there was such public outburst. Again, the Indian state used security forces [to quell protests]. They killed more than 100 people, hundreds of people lost their eyesight, hundreds if not thousands are in jail. This has been the status since 1947 – to survive in Kashmir amidst the might of armed forces and the might of fear.

During the 2016 protests, Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and you came together in the name of a ‘joint resistance movement’. How did this come about and what about the future?

We were together from 1993-94, then we split. Now we see this as the time for us to have a united voice because there is an onslaught going on from the Indian state against its own people. There should be one voice against these kinds of issues and I hope this unity will continue. We are trying to get more and more strength.

Any talk of Kashmir’s political future usually hinges on four different positions – plebiscite, pro-Pakistan, pro-India and autonomous status. How do you see this?

Who will decide this? The better choice is the right of self-determination. The people will decide collectively whether they want to go with Pakistan, whether with India, or if they want to be an independent entity. It should be decided by the people and not by any individual. We must collectively respect the democratic verdict.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the “idea of plebiscite is outdated” in parliament. What is your view on his statement?

There is an Instrument of Accession which is the only link between India and Kashmir. The Indian state gave an assurance that the accession was temporary and that when law and order was restored, the people of Kashmir would be given the choice to decide their future. That was conveyed by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk when he said, “I have pledged to give the right to decide your future. Even if it will be used against us, it’ll leave me in pain. But I’ll have to accept it”. He said the same thing in parliament too. Then he took this case to the United Nations.

Now when the people of Kashmir are coming forward to ask for their right, the Indian state is resorting to oppression. Young boys are put behind bars, they are beaten, tortured, killed. This is what is going on in Kashmir. This shows that the Indian state does not believe in the values and principles of democracy and justice.

Recently, Indian army chief Bipin Rawat said stone-pelters are trying to save militants. What do you make of his statement?

See, there is a political, public uprising. The Indian state uses pellet guns and tear gas shelling against non-violent protestors. The protestors are just using the stones. With stones, no security personnel is killed. But security forces have killed more than 100 civilians. Thousands of people have been injured and hundreds have lost their eyesight. It would seem the Indian state wants to push a whole generation of Kashmir to armed struggle.

The Kashmir issue has at times also been portrayed as a religious conflict, with the Kashmiri Pandit exodus as proof. What do you have to say about this?

The Kashmir issue is a matter of the people’s right to self-determination. In self-determination, everybody has the right to vote, whether they are Muslims, Pandits, Sikhs, Dogras, Buddhists. The citizens of the united state have the right to vote under the right of self-determination. That is our stand. Let the people decide what kind of system they want.

Being in non-electoral politics, how do you see the BJP’s way of handling government?

It is not just in Kashmir that people have felt insecure. Minorities – be it Muslims, Christians, Dalits, writers, artists, intellectuals or civil society groups – feel insecure about their identity. Anybody who writes against the state is targeted. In Kashmir, every week we see a new offensive statement by them. I do not know what type of politics the BJP wants. There was a time when people thought that [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee would resolve the issue using good phrases and poetic verses. Now the BJP just wants to fight, they want to break the will of Kashmiri people. So the Kashmiri people have decided that we will not allow them to break our will.

How would you compare Vajpayee and Narendra Modi?

Vajpayee was a poet. It was his wish to be remembered as the prime minister who was loved by the people. Modi’s concern is to be remembered as a leader the people fear, who feel threatened with his name. That is the difference.

Do you see any possibility of peace talks?

I don’t think so, because the stand of the Indian state is too arrogant. They are speaking the language of arrogance, the language of fear. How do I see any rays of hope?

What would you like to say to the people of India?

I appeal to the people of India to not see Kashmir through the eyes of the Indian media. If you want to see the Kashmir and understand it, then come to Kashmir. The Kashmiri people are peace loving. Our democratic right – self-determination – is being curbed by the Indian state. We are simply asking for that right but in return we are being killed. If one aims for real peace in South Asia, then India will benefit, Pakistan will benefit and so will Kashmir.

According to you, how are Kashmiris seeing the election process? The Srinagar by-election saw a turnout of only 7%, and it seems the vote for the Anantnag seat is being put off indefinitely.

Basically the Indian state always uses elections say the Kashmiri people are satisfied with Indian state. In the electoral process, all mainstream parties tell the people the vote has nothing to do with the Kashmir dispute but is just for ‘bijli-pani- sadak (electricity-water-roads). Then these people get exposed, so people know they are all collaborators of the Indian state, [which] is the reason the people have decided to boycott the by-elections. It is also a message to the Indian state – the freedom movement is very dear to the Kashmiri people, it cannot be [suppressed] by an Indian-sponsored electoral process.

The unrest that erupted during the Srinagar by-poll is still continuing in various forms. Now we see educational institutions in Kashmir also witnessing student protests. What is the reason for this?

It is unfortunate that the Indian security forces have not spared students. They entered the Pulwama degree college and have beat students ruthlessly, which led to students from all schools and colleges across Kashmir coming on to the street. See how they were badly beaten on the streets. One girl is right now in the hospital, how she has suffered. She has been directly hit by CRPF personnel. She is in ICU and more than 400 students are injured. This is done by Indian Security Forces to the student community in Kashmir. This is the very state which said that it was always concerned about the education of the Kashmiri people. Now they have closed colleges, and again stopped the internet, social media.

Maga. Tamizh Prabhagaran is a journalist and documentary filmmaker from Chennai.

The interview has been edited for clarity.

Courtesy: The Wire

Srinagar: Kashmir valley, including summer capital, Srinagar, received rain since early this morning, resulting in dip in the day temperature though mercury witnessed some improvement during the night due to overcast skies.

A Met department spokesperson told UNI that light to moderate rain or thundershowers will occur at most places during the next 24 hours in Kashmir.

He said weather will remain wet during the next subsequent five days, resulting in further dip in the temperature.

Gulmarg received intermittent rain since late yesterday night, resulting in dip in the maximum and minimum temperatures. Against 2.8 degree recorded yesterday, the night temperature at Gulmarg was 1 degree, which is 3 notches below normal. 

After witnessing some improvement in the night temperature, people woke up to rainy morning in Srinagar, resulting in considerable dip in the maximum temperature. People could be seen wearing warm and woolen clothes to evade chill weather conditions due to rain coupled with ice cold winds. 

However, the mercury in the summer capital surged a degree from yesterday during the night due to overcast conditions and settled at 9.3 degree, which is slightly above normal. Meanwhile, the water level in world famous Dal Lake was above normal inundating a number of localities while there was no threat of any flood though water level in river Jehlum and its tributaries has recorded increase due to fresh rain since early this morning. 

Pahalgam in south Kashmir witnessed an improvement of 3 degree from yesterday and settled at 5.2 degree though chill returned during the day due to rain. 

The night temperature at border town of Kargil surged about a degree from yesterday and settled at 4.3 degree while the mercury plunged in Leh and settled at 2.1 degree, against 2.8 degree.

Srinagar: Even as the mobile Internet services were restored in Kashmir today, days after social media gag was enforced, there is virtually an online proxy war going on between netizens and the government.Many netizens were able to dodge the ban through proxy servers. They updated their Facebook or Twitter status by using technology.The cellular companies, including BSNL, are struggling to impose the gag. Though Aircel and Airtel, which have a substantial customer base in the Valley, have been able to block a majority of the messaging services and social media sites listed in the gag order, many of these are still accessible on the BSNL 2G service.Besides, the people who are addicted to social media or wanted to defy the ban, continued to update their Facebook and Twitter accounts using open-source technology tools and apps. Of these, a majority use Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps.“Successfully logged in via some network, courtesy Kenya,” wrote a Facebook user, while updating his status using VPN.“I had said it before and I would like to repeat it ‘Haenzan wahroav zaal, gaddav hechchi wot’a,” wrote another Facebook user, which roughly translates that “when the fishermen spread their net, fish learn how to jump it.”IT experts had warned that with the availability of technology, the ban won’t be much effective.

Tribune News Service

 

Srinagar: There has been no let-up in student protests in Srinagar since the Pulwama college incident on April 15. Scores of students of Kashmir Government Polytechnic this afternoon clashed with police and CRPF personnel in the Gogji Bagh locality of the city. A staffer of the college was injured in the clashes.The clashes started when students of the institution attacked a nearby camp of the 55 Battalion of the CRPF with stones in the Gogji Bagh locality.“Students marched to a nearby CRPF camp and started throwing stones at it. The CRPF men acted with restraint and the situation was brought under control. A staffer of the college was injured when he was hit by a stone,” said the SHO, Rajbagh police station, Ghulam Mohiuddin.Students of the college, however, said they were holding a peaceful protest, alleging that security personnel thrashed them without a reason.“Security personnel damaged the vehicles parked near the college and also thrashed students without any reason,” said a student from the college.The student protests began in the Valley on April 17, two days after 50 students of Degree College, Pulwama, were injured in a clash with security men over setting up of a checkpoint outside the college. The clashes spread across Kashmir, especially Srinagar, where colleges remained shut for nearly a week.Meanwhile, officials said the school timings for the government and recognised private schools within the municipal limits of Srinagar shall be from 8 am to 2 pm and for the schools outside the municipal limits, the timings shall be from 9 am to 3 pm from May 1. — TNS

BJP president rejects PDP’s demand of engaging all ‘stakeholders’

Jammu: A day after the Central government told the Supreme Court that it will not hold talks with separatist leaders in the Kashmir valley, BJP president Amit Shah today directed party leaders to single out anti-India and separatist elements to bring normalcy back in the Valley. He made it clear to the party leaders that Centre’s stand in the Supreme Court was also the viewpoint of the BJP on Jammu and Kashmir.By endorsing the Centre’s stand, the BJP president has given a clear message to its coalition partner — PDP — that his party was not going to climb down on its position of not engaging in talks with separatists or “pro-azadi” groups of Kashmir.Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told Supreme Court on Friday, “We will talk to only those persons who are legally permitted to hold talks on behalf of people of Kashmir. The government is willing to talk to only recognised political parties in the state.”Shah’s statement assumes importance as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on April 24 had strongly advocated engaging all “stakeholders,” including separatist groups, in the dialogue process to restore normalcy in Kashmir. Mehbooba had reiterated the demand while briefing the PDP’s political affairs committee (PAC) in Srinagar on Monday about her meeting with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.Shah, who reached Jammu this morning on a two-day visit to the state in connection with “Vistar Yatra” of BJP, told party leaders that the Centre and the BJP high command were concerned about the situation in Kashmir.In a two-hour-long closed-door meeting of party ministers and MLAs, Shah made it clear there was no question of compromising on the core ideology of the party. “The nation, not the government, is priority of the BJP,” Shah reportedly told the party legislators, with a clear message that the party would not hesitate to make any sacrifice for the nation.He directed all party ministers and MLAs not to confine themselves to their respective constituencies and communities but to visit the Valley and reach out to the people there.“The BJP president made it clear that there was no question of talks with separatist or extremist groups of the Valley,” a BJP legislator told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity. He said Shah’s speech was clear that those fomenting trouble or demanding “azadi” would not be involved in any dialogue process.Later, addressing a meeting of prominent citizens, Shah threw light on the history of the BJP and importance of J&K in the party’s ideology.

Tribune News

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India said that to bring normalcy in Kashmir Valley it is essential that the civilians, especially the school and college going students should first stop hurling stones at the security forces.

The court said the students must return back to their colleges and schools.

Hearing a petition filed by the Jammu & Kashmir High Court Bar Association, the apex court bench comprising chief justice J.S. Khehar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked the Bar to persuade the stakeholders in the Valley to file an undertaking that they would give up violence.

The Bar Association countered that security forces entered schools and universities and beat up students. “If they beat up the students, students will be on the streets. Throwing of stones is a reaction. The Centre has stopped talking to the people of Kashmir. The people want uninterrupted, unconditional and sincere dialogue,” the Bar’s counsel submitted.

The court asked stakeholders in Kashmir to “take two steps back” as a resolution could be initiated only if there is no violence and pellets fired by the security forces.

But as the “first step forward”, the court insisted, the Bar Association, the petitioner in the case, should persuade these stakeholders to file undertakings in the court that they will abstain from violence.

“Both sides need to take two steps back and address core issues. You cannot clap without both hands,” Justice Kaul observed.

Reportedly, the court said that once the undertaking is filed, tentatively on May 9, it would ask the central government to pull back security forces for at least 15 days.

The court said that a stage for talks between stakeholders and influential public voices in Kashmir and the Centre could be set only in the absence of violence.

Replying to this suggestion by the court, the Bar Council said they have little influence over the stakeholders in the Valley. However, the Justice Chandrachud made it plain that having come to the court in the role of an interlocutor, they cannot now back out.

It bears mention that Kashmir Bar Association had filed an appeal against the High Court order seeking stay on the use of pellet guns as a large number of people had been killed and hundreds blinded by the ‘non lethal’ gun in Kashmir.

During the last hearing on April 10, the Centre had told the Supreme Court it was exploring a crowd control option that is akin to rubber bullets but not as lethal as pellet guns that are being used currently as a last resort to quell violence in the Valley.

Kashmir High Court had on September 22 rejected the plea seeking a ban on use of pellet guns on the ground that the Centre had already constituted a Committee of Experts through its memorandum of July 26, 2016 for exploring alternatives to pellet guns.

The SC had on April 10 posed questions to the Bar asking it to suggest measures to deal with violent agitators who often attack security forces and damage public and private property.

“You are neither on this side (state) nor that side (agitators). You are the Bar Association of the state. If you don’t take side, you can really suggest a solution,” the Bench had on April 10 asked senior counsel Zafar Shah and Miya Abdul Qayum, who represented the petitioner association.

“We are at a very crucial juncture of history. The country’s bar has always played a crucial role in times of crises,” the Bench reminded the senior advocates.

Srinagar: The intermittent rains since the wee hours of Saturday morning lashed Valley while the South Kashmir’s Pahalgam area received a fresh snowfall.
An official in the Meteorological (MeT) department told KNS, “There is possibility of light to moderate rains or snow at most of the places over the state in next 24 hours.”
He said that the weather would continue to remain wet in the next upcoming days. “There would be occasional sunshine during the next few days,” he added.
The official informed KNS that besides the rainfall at most of the places over the state today, the South Kashmir’s Pahalgam area has received a fresh snowfall.
“6.8 cm of snow was recorded in Pahalgam till 05 pm,” he informed.
Meanwhile, the intermittent rains since the wee hours of this morning have resulted in the inundation of the City areas.
The residents at various areas including Khanyar, Baba Demb and others informed KNS that the main as well as the interior roads in the areas are inundated with the muddy water thereby resulted in the sufferings to the locals. (KNS)

Srinagar: Mobile internet services were on Saturday restored in Kashmir, two weeks after they were suspended in view of widespread student protests in the Valley against alleged highhandedness of security forces at a college in Pulwama on April 15.Restrictions placed on accessing internet on mobile phones on April 17 have been lifted four days after the state government directed the internet service providers not to allow access to 22 websites and applications, observing they were being misused by anti-national elements to disturb peace in Kashmir.Although the order to block access to the 22 websites was issued on Tuesday, it took the service providers four days to successfully ban them.However, one can gain access to them through broadband services of state-run telecom operator BSNL and through virtual private networks.The websites and applications which have been made inaccessible in the Valley include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Wechat, QQ, Qzone, Google Plus, Skype, Line, Pinterest, Snapchat, Youtube, Vine and Flickr.The state home department had banned them on the grounds that they were being misused by anti-national and anti-social elements for transmitting inflammatory messages.Principal Secretary Home Department R K Goyal had invoked the powers conferred on government under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 read with Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007 to ban them.In a three-page order, he had said: “It is being felt that continued misuse of social networking sites and instant messaging services is likely to be detrimental to the interests of peace and tranquillity in the state.”The move had followed repeated student protests in Kashmir, which the authorities believed were fanned through social media.Some days ago, a police official had said that 350 WhatsApp groups were being used to spread rumours in Kashmir and the government had cracked down, shutting 90 per cent of these groups. — PTI