Kashmir.Watch

Category: Union Territory

  • Immorality, corruption, futile rituals plaguing society: Mirwaiz

    Srinagar: Calling people from all walks of life to contribute towards building a progressive society by eradicating social evils, Hurriyat Conference (M) Chairman and Ameer Mutahida Majlis Ulema Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Monday stated that immorality; corruption, extravagance, and futile rituals were currently plaguing the society. He stated that it was the duty of every conscious Kashmiri to play its role to bring social reforms and get rid of these social evils, thereby help in building a sound society based on moral and Islamic values. According to a statement issued to KNS, taking forward the social reforms campaign, Mirwaiz addressed a gathering of local imams and respected citizens of the locality at Mifta-hul-uloom, Marjan Pora Nawakadal, Mirwaiz stated that the young generation was the future of Kashmir, adding, it was the duty of the society in general and parents in particular to impart rich values and acquaint  the youth with the issues facing the society. He said the time has come that youth should be shown the right path which would ultimately lead to progress and prosperity of Kashmir. He said that people can’t remain mute spectators to social evils facing the society.

    Mirwaiz stated that social ills like immorality, drug and Liquor addiction have sadly shown a rising trend. He said social evils in Kashmir can only be encountered by protecting our Islamic identity. He appealed conscious Kashmiris, Ulemas, and respectable, intellectuals to preserve the Islamic values and inculcate those teachings among the people to preserve the true Islamic spirit. Hurriyat (M) Chairman stated that Kashmiris were engaged in freedom struggle, adding that we cannot turn a blind eye towards growing social and moral challenges facing the society. He said a healthy society is guarantee of bright future of Kashmiris.

    The speakers included Advocate Nazir Ahmad Ronga, Mufti Tanveer-ul-Islam, Mehrajudin Khan,MS Shamas, Mohammad Yaqob masoodi, Sofi Mushtaq and others spoke on the occasion, gave their valuable suggestions, and pledged their support for the social reform campaign started by Hurriyat Conference (M). At the conclusion of public gathering, a special team was constituted under the leadership of Mufti Tanveer-ul-Islam who would lead the social reform campaign in the area.

  • May 16 counting to be held in 4 stations under video surveillance

    Counting to begin in 39 halls at 8 A.M

    Adequate security arrangements made: IGP Kashmir  

    Srinagar: The state electoral office have almost completed preparations including plans for training sessions for the May 16 Lok Sabha election counting which will be carried out at four counting stations including Kargil.

    According to IGP Kashmir A.G Mir, adequate security arrangements have been made for the four stations which include Baramulla, Anantnag, Srinagar and Kargil. “We have made adequate security arrangements to facilitate smooth counting in all these counting stations,” he told KNS.  According to an officer in state electoral office a fair and an incident-free counting is the objective of Election Commission of India (ECI) and all the election officers have been directed to work towards it. “The counting in three Lok Sabah seats of Kashmir valley will be carried out in 39 halls and each counting station will have video surveillance to watch over,” the officer in state electoral office informed.

    The security measures for counting halls and strong-rooms (which hold the Electronic Voting Machines), training sessions for Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officer and District Electoral Officers for all the four stations have been planned as per the ECI guidelines.  Election officers at the training session would be acquainted with the counting procedures, postal ballot counting and EVM operation, an official in state electoral office told KNS.

    The deputy commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Shah who is also the returning officer for Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency informed KNS that the counting of votes for central Kashmir parliamentary constituency will take place at 8 AM in SKICC. “We have created 8 halls with 64 tables for 15 assembly segments of the constituency. We have divided counting for these 15 segments into two sessions. In first session of the counting we will count votes of 8 segments and in second session the counting will be for the other 7 segments,” he told KNS.

    Similarly, in South Kashmir the counting will be carried at Government Degree College Boys Khanabal Anantnag at 8 AM. “We have created 16 halls for 16 assembly segments of the South Kashmir constituency,” Saugat Biswas, deputy commissioner and returning officer for Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency told KNS. He said adequate arrangements have been made for the counting procedure.

    In Baramulla the counting be held at Government Boys Degree College at 8 AM. “We have created 15 counting halls for 15 assembly segments of the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency and adequate arrangements have been made for the counting,” Farooq Ahmad Lone, deputy commissioner Baramulla who is also the returning officer for the North Kashmir parliamentary constituency told KNS.

  • Geelani wants Panchayat members to resign en-masse

    Srinagar: Chairman Huriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani Tuesday stated that the Panchayat members should go for an en-masse resignation so that a message could be given to the world that the ‘members of the Panchayat are in support of the freedom movement’.

    “We will welcome the step of mass resignation of the Panchayat members. We want them to resign so that people could come to know that they are with the ongoing freedom struggle of Kashmir,” Geelani told KNS on phone.

    The Huriyat (G) chairman added further that any person who supports the establishment here works against the ongoing movement and that New Delhi exploits them and gives an impression that the people of Kashmir are ‘contended with the Indian rule’. The senior separatist leader added that some kind of ‘materialistic’ benefits are being given to the Panchayat members here and in return they are assigned the job to maintain vigil over the pro-freedom elements in their respective areas. “Later the police chase those persons about whom the Panchayat members inform the police.”

    He however maintained that the killing of the Panchayat members cannot be justified at any level and the same must be condemned. “They are feeling harassed and it is our responsibility to make them feel secure.” Over the reports that the Panchayat members are meeting the pro-freedom camp here, Geelani stated that he will meet them happily and will try to make them understand the importance of Kashmir ‘dispute’. We ask people to boycott the vote as the reason behind this appeal is clear-the reason is that the process of voting and its percentage is exploited by the establishment, said Geelani.  

  • Election aftermath: NC-Congress falling apart

    SRINAGAR: Even a seat sharing between the two coalition partners, the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in J&K have proved that the National Conference and Congress are fast moving apart.

    The leaders of both the parties are accusing each other of not working for the success of alliance candidates in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections even though the results are yet to come out.

    The fissures came to the fore when senior Congress leader and Minister for Medical Education Taj Mohiuddin claimed that some NC workers in Uri had not voted for the party candidate Sharief-ud-Din Shariq.

    “National Conference vote share (in Uri) has got divided into two. 50 percent of NC activists have voted in favour of (PDP candidate) Muzaffar Hussain Beigh,” Taj, who represents Uri in the state assembly, said.

    The Minister’s claim drew sharp response from senior NC leader from Uri, Mohammad Shafi, a Rajya Sabha member, who accused Taj of trying to ‘cover up his failure’.

    “He (Taj) is simply trying to cover up his failure. Instead of blaming the NC workers, he should have explained how 12 Panchayat representatives affiliated with Congress met Beigh pledging their support in elections,” Shafi alleged.

    Shafi also alleged that senior Congress workers in Uri worked in favour of Salam-ud-Din Bajad, candidate of People’s Conference in Baramulla constituency.

    Around 20 Congress Sarpanches joined the issue and accused Shafi of working against his party’s candidate.

    “His (Shafi’s) son was conspicuous by his absence from a public meeting addressed by none other than the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Many NC workers were reported to be working as polling agents of PDP,” the sarpanches said in a joint statement.

    The panchayat leaders admitted meeting with the PDP candidate over tea but claimed that they said a categorical ‘no’ to Beigh’s request for support in view of the directive from Congress high command to work for alliance candidate, Shariq.

    Several Congress leaders and associates have admitted that the party supporters did not vote en bloc for the National Conference candidates in the three Lok Sabha seats of the Valley.

    Congress leader and Tourism Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir admitted that the party leaders could not motivate their cadres to vote for National Conference candidate in Islamabad Lok Sabha constituency which went to polls on April 24.

    “We failed to mobilize our grassroots workers to vote for NC as Dooru is stronghold of Congress and has never voted for the NC,” he said.

    Ghulam Hassan Mir, who is minister in the state government on Congress quota, said it was very difficult for him to transfer the vote of his supporters to NC.

    “It was difficult for me to transfer the votes in NC’s favour as during the past decade, my supporters have always stood against the National Conference. I worked really hard and made repeated pleas to the people to vote for the NC candidate but it is ultimately for them to decide,” Mir said.

     

  • J&K Cricket Association elections today

    Last minute consensus can’t be rule out, say insiders

    Srinagar: Elections for appointing new office bearers to the state’s top sports body, Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association are set to be held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) here on Monday.
    The elections, being held for the first time after surfacing of the multi-crore scam, would be keenly watched with factionalism having taken toll on the Association over past few years, putting cricketing affairs on the back seat.
    After the multi-crore scam, other minor and major scams cropped in JKCA, involving both former and current officials.
    With probe in all the scams yet to be completed, all eyes would be on the highly awaited JKCA working committee meeting on Monday, during which elections for top posts will be held.
    Interestingly, incumbent President Dr Farooq Abdullah has already announced that he would not be contesting elections, this time round. However, both the factions in the association have been saying that they would not allow Dr Farooq to quit “as JKCA needs him in these bad times the most”.
    However, there are differences over choice of candidates for other important posts of office bears including the General Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman.
    In the “out of power faction” former secretary, ML Nehru, has emerged as a unanimous choice for the all important General Secretary’s post. With the other faction yet clear in its stand on the post, the out of power faction looks like getting away with their choice.
    The last elections of the cricket body were held in 2011 in which Dr Farooq Abdullah, who has been heading the body for close to three decades, was re-elected as President, unopposed. Ahsan Mirza was elected general Secretary while Aslam Goni was elected as Chairman.
    However after unearthing of the multi-crore scam, Mirza, Goni and administrative officer Saleem Khan had to resign from their respective posts.
    “We are clear in our choice and we have got support from members in both the provinces. Despite being out of power, we are in majority. We will show that tomorrow as it will be our candidates who will be elected for the top posts,” said a senior member of the faction.
    “ML Nehru is our choice for General Secretary while for other posts there are lots of deliberations going on. We can’t disclose the names ahead of elections as a lot is at stake,” he said.
    Sources in JKCA say that unknown members could end up as big gainers in the elections. “This is the time for bargaining and secret pacts. Closed door meetings are being held which include late night deliberations. There is every likely chance for mutual consensus during the election drama,” he added.
    “Elections have always been fishy in JKCA with voters (members) being lured by various offers. It is time for members to press for their demands and get something out of nowhere. They know it is the only time when they can bargain as for rest of the time they are sidelined,” sources said.
    About the chance of mutual consent for candidature of various posts an insider said, “I have been with JKCA from last three decades and I am of the opinion that anything can happen here. You can’t guess when foes turn into friends overnight. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for a surprise tomorrow morning”.
    Meanwhile a senior member from the faction that is currently running JKCA affairs when asked about the candidature of Manzoor Wazir for the General Secretary post said: “We are keeping our options open as we have certain things to look for. Manzoor is the prime candidate from our group but there are others also who will suit the post”.
    About the issues that the faction will raise in the meeting he said, “Scam is our prime issue and we want money to be accounted back into JKCA coffers”.
    The other faction said that they have plenty of issues to highlight in the meeting including the certificate scam and dubious selection process.
    “We will raise scams as well but the prime issue should be cricket as dubious selections have been going on for last two years,” he said.
    Meanwhile, when contacted JKCA Treasurer and In-charge activities Manzoor Wazir said,” All the arrangements are ready. However the list of members is with JKCA President Dr Farooq Abdulllah which he has not disclosed yet”.

  • Stop arresting, detaining youth and curbing freedom of expression: VOV

    Srinagar: State Human rights defender group Voice of Victims (VOV) Sunday appealed amnesty international to use its influence in bringing an end in to the arresting, harassing and detaining youth in Kashmir.

    Executive director Voice of Victims (VOV), Abdul Qadeer in a press statement issued to KNS denounced the arrests and youth since the beginning of elections in the state. “A reign of terror has been lashed in every hook and corner of the area, youths have been arrested and put behind bars, leaders have been arrested and thus basic human rights are being violated by the forces with impunity.”

    He said that since people of the state boycotted elections now authorities seemed to have gone frustrated and thus have lost control over the armed forces that have virtually changed the state into a police.

    Qadeer also denounced arrests of youth for expressing their views on social networking sites and said that forces have no hesitation in announcing the arrests of these youths in media. “Freedom of expression is being curbed since from years in now but now it seems due to frustration authorities has crossed the limits,” reads the statement.

    He appealed international human rights watch particularly Amnesty international  to intervene and pressurize authorities for bringing an end to these grave human rights violations. VOV also expressed sympathy and solidarity with the family of Nawakadal youth while as the organization prayed for early recovery of injured.

  • We have released only 3 people in Baramula: IGP Kashmir

    Claims made by traders misleading: SSP Baramula

    Srinagar: While refuting the claims made by Baramula Traders Federation (BTF)  that 15 youth were released by police in last two days before they called off their strike, the IGP Kashmir A G Mir on Sunday said only three ‘miscreants’ were released .  “Making claims that 15 miscreants were released in last two days in Baramula is absolutely wrong. We have released just three of them after they got orders from court,” Mr Mir told KNS. Meanwhile, the SSP Baramula Suhail Ahmad Mir said that police will not allow miscreants to take the town to ransom. “We are not going to take any lineancy while dealing with the law and order. It is out of question to release the miscreants who are wanted in criminal offences unless they follow a due process of law. The claims made by the traders are misleading. We are not going to tolerate any confrontational attitude,” the SSP Baramula warned. 

  • Golden chance for engineering aspirants

    Srinagar: The Chinar Corps has announced the unparalleled success of First Edition of Kashmir Super 30 in IIT Mains 2014. According to an army statement issued to KNS, the Kashmir Super 30 project was launched across the Valley in March 2013 by the Indian Army along with Centre for Social Responsibility & Leadership (CSRL). After undergoing a planned & rigorous coaching of 10 months, 22 students of the first batch of Kashmir Super 30 took the IIT Mains exam held on 06 April 2014. 09 out of 22 students have made us all proud by passing this national level competitive exam & becoming eligible for the IIT Advance exam scheduled on 26 May 2014. Chinar Corps is confident that all these 09 children will definitely clear the toughest competitive exam of India & enter the portals of IIT. The Army has also conveyed their best wishes to the students & their families. As per Dr SK Shahi, Director CSRL, the balance 13 students stand a great chance of clearing the JKCET & making it to the doorsteps of the state level engineering colleges. It will indeed be a matter of great pride & satisfaction for the people of Kashmir if all students make it to the engineering colleges. The credit for this unprecedented success goes to the Indian Army & particularly the Chinar Corps who initiated Kashmir Super 30 into the Valley. This is indeed a unique achievement & a grand step towards mitigating the hardships of the poor families to which these children belong.

    To continue the humane service for the people of Kashmir, Second Edition of Kashmir Super 30 Project has already been launched by Chinar Corps across the Kashmir Valley through a series of Seminars. The Screening Test for selection of the brightest students from the poor and unprivileged sections of the society to undergo 10 month long training program with free boarding & lodging facilities to prepare them for national level entrance exams of IIT/JEE was conducted on 11 May 2014 at various districts of Kashmir Valley. 331 students had appeared for the Screening Test. Post the results of the Screening Test, interviews will be conducted from 26 to 28 May 14 for short listing the students who will undergo the training for the Second Edition of Kashmir Super 30.

  • Youth by conviction in Freedom movement: DAK

    Srinagar: President DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan Sunday said that youth of Kashmir have infused a new energy to the ongoing ‘freedom’ struggle and that they have rejuvenated the sacred movement by devising innovative methods of protest against ‘oppressors’.

    “Youth are by conviction with the freedom movement and have craving for martyrdom. They are without food and shelter but are ready to give their lives for nationhood,” said Dr Nisar. According to the statement issued to KNS, Dr Nissar stated that the youth are leading the nation towards right direction and are our real heroes’. “They are icons of our freedom struggle. We are proud of them and whole nation stands by them. No power on earth can deter their resolve. India is frustrated and short of ideas as how to suppress this new youth movement.”

  • HoD Surgical Oncology SKIMS rebuts news report

    Srinagar: Reacting to a news report published in a section of press on Sunday regarding cancer treatment at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, Dr Altaf Gauhar Haji, consultant and Head Department of Surgical Oncology at the Hospital clarified the report.

    “I want to clarify the news story in which my previous communications dating back to two years back have been quoted. I started Department of Surgical Oncology in July 2011 as lone faculty member with four beds and two theatre sessions in a week. At that time I apprised the government through various representations regarding limited logistics and manpower to fight cancer at this lone tertiary care center,” Dr Haji said in a statement issued to KNS said.

    “However, the Surgical Oncology has now evolved as full-fledged department and is functioning with four highly qualified trained cancer surgeons, 15 dedicated beds, facilities to operate cancer patients every day in routine operation theatres and emergency theatres. Till date me and my team has operated more than five hundred complex cancer resections who previously used to go to outside state for such treatment,” he said.

    Dr Haji said that the Director SKIMS even made special efforts to start working of Surgical Oncology team in collaboration with Health Services Department to cater heavy rush of such patients at district general hospital level. “And I feel proud to say that through this project we have operated a very good number of cases at district general hospitals” he said.

    “It seems that a mafia of private practitioners has started money mongered malicious propaganda campaign at a time when the Director is charging them on work. The motto of the campaign is to remove the reform management and to drift the reforms,” Dr Haji alleged.