Kashmir.Watch

Category: Union Territory

  • I don’t expect justice from Govt: Afzal’s wife

    I don’t expect justice from Govt: Afzal’s wife
    ‘One day Guru will be buried here with an epitaph on his grave’

    => “Omar Abdullah signed the death warrant a month before hanging of my husband. He knew it all along,” she said, adding Omar Abdullah did not even ask the Center to allow a meeting between Afzal and his family.

    =>Sepratists are playing their politics

    Srinagar: Tabassum Guru, wife of Muhammad Afzal Guru of Sopore Kashmir who was hanged on February 9 last year in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, Monday said she doesn’t expect justice from Central or State government but would continue to demand the return of her husband’s body till her death.
    “I will demand the body of my husband. I will wait for his body till my last breath. He is a Shaheed (martyr) and everybody knows this,” Tabassum told Greater Kashmir.
    “If they return the body, I wish to be buried besides his grave,” she said.
    Tabassum said they tried to get back Afzal’s body, however there was no reply from Government of India. “My written request for the return of the body has not been replied till this day,” she said. “I do not expect any justice neither from Government of India nor from J&K Government,” Tabassum said.
    Tabassum said questions by her son Ghalib worry her. “He always asks me about his father. He was not allowed to meet his father before the hanging and this is the question I have to confront,” she said.
    She said she or her son won’t visit Tihar Jail on the death anniversary of her husband. “Why should we go? There is no expectation from Government of India. They did not allow my 14-year old son to meet his father before hanging him,” she said.
    “One day people will get the remains of Afzal and he will be buried here with an
    epitaph on his grave,” she said, adding her wait for the body will never die out till her last breath.
    She blamed J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for hanging of her husband. “Omar Abdullah signed the death warrant a month before hanging of my husband. He knew it all along,” she said, adding Omar Abdullah did not even ask the Center to allow a meeting between Afzal and his family.
    “They are befooling the people of J&K. The CM just shed crocodile tears after the hanging of my husband.”
    Tabassum is also disappointed with the separatist camp, saying if they would have made efforts, Afzal would not have been hanged. “Ajmal Kasab’s hanging was a signal for them, but they made no efforts to save my husband,” she said, without naming any separatist leader or group. “They are playing their politics,” she said.
    She said now the Government of India has given relief to the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh who were also given death sentence. “Afzal Sahib was hanged because he was a Muslim,” she said

  • “Ph.D. candidates disqualified to accommodate 10+2 persons”

    CCAK accuses SSRB of destroying thousands of careers
    “Ph.D. candidates disqualified to accommodate 10+2 persons”

    Srinagar, February 04: The Coaching Centres Association (CCA) of Kashmir has accused the Service Selection Recruitment Board (SSRB) of cleverly flouting rules to accommodate thousands of their blue eyed persons.

    The Association demanded an inquiry into the entire episode wherein highly qualified candidates like Ph.D. holders were dropped to accommodate 10+2 candidates. “SSRB had asked the candidates not to fill application form for the posts advertised under Notice No. 05 dated 02/03/2013, as their previous forms would be considered for the same,” said G N Var, chairman CCA. “And now when the results came, the board has disqualified thousands of students on account of not filling the form.”

    The association alleged that this modus operandi was used to keep the highly qualified candidates out of the race of competition to accommodate some blue eyed candidates.

    The association demanded that all the lists be merged together in accordance to merit. “There is a clear rule about advertising multiple posts under the same category,” said Var. “They have not followed the rule in this single notification and incidentally it has the maximum number of posts.”

    The association also condemned the board for hiding the merit list. “We demand that SSRB publishes the entire merit list as soon as possible so that everybody knows about his or her position,” said Var. “And until then no interview be conducted as we fear they try to finish the entire process in haste.”

    The association said that if government doesn’t take any remedial step, it may send a wrong signal to the youth. “Tens of Thousands of candidates have been working hard to qualify these exams, but due to this peculiar strategy, a Ph.D. candidates has been termed disqualified against a 10+2 candidate,” said Var. “That is gross injustice.”

    The association said that going by the reports of heavy corruption in the board, government needs to rethink the ways selection is being done. The association said that it is the same Board where scamster Mushtaq Peer’s wife was elected as a member and despite many allegations, her tenure was never investigated.

  • Suspected militants open fire at forces in south Kashmir, search operation on

    Suspected militants open fire at forces in south Kashmir, search operation on

    SRINAGAR — Panic gripped the Gadoora hamlet of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday after a joint column of Army, CRPF and police was fired at by suspected militants. 

    Locals told CNS that Army personnel from 55 RR, 183 Battalion CRPF and SOG Pulwama cordoned off Gadoora village.

    “As the joint column entered into the village, gun shots were heard in the area which created panic and people ran for cover,” an eyewitness told CNS adding that the forces have started search operation in the village.

    Sources told CNS that the forces received an input about the presence of militants in Gadoora village and as they laid siege around the village, they were fired upon by unidentified gunmen.

    Reports said that search operation was going on to track down the militants.

  • Jammuites demand delimitation of Assembly constituencies

    Jammuites demand delimitation of Assembly constituencies

    JAMMU: Panthers party and BJP have refused the allegations of a section of Kashmiri political and business voices that the recent creation of New Administrative Units ‘was to weaken the Muslim areas of the state’.

    Chief of Panthers Party, Harsh Dev Singh said that the argument dished out by the separatists and the valley based traders thatsince the valley had more population it deserved increased share in the new administrative units was not tenable because the difference in the population ration between the Kashmir valley and the region of Jammu was quite small.

    “While the valley has a population of about 69 lakhs the region of Jammu has a population of about 55 lakhs against this the total area of the valley was over 15000 sq kms when the total area of the region of Jammu was over 26,ooo sq kms,” Harshdev said.

    BJP leader, Dr Nirmal Singh said that the Ganai Committee report on new administrative units was yet another case of discrimination with Jammu. The two leaders said that they have not yet expressed their opinion on the merits and demerits of the new scheme related to the administrative units but they wish to clarify that the Kashmiri separatists and traders should not give a communal touch to a mere administrative exercise.

    Singh and Harsh further said that for decades the region of Jammu has been given a raw deal and the basic cause for the regional discrimination has been the wrong delimitation of Assembly and the Lok Sabha constituencies. They said that with a bigger area and with least population differences the Kashmir valley has 46 Assembly constituencies, three Lok Sabha segments against 37 Assembly segments and two Lok Sabha constituencies in the Jammu region.

    “We have been campaigning against regional discrimination by focusing on equal share in the allotment of Assembly and Lok Sabha segments but we do not protest against regional discrimination by communalizing the issue,” Harsh said adding that neither the separatists nor the valley based traders should give a communal colour to the Government’s exercise on setting up new administrative units.If the separatists want more units they should demand it to bring about parity between the two regions and if they do so let the process start from increasing the number of Assembly segments in the Jammu region to 46.”

  • Fourth round of meeting of Cross LoC officials remains inconclusive

    Fourth round of meeting of Cross LoC officials remains inconclusive

    Srinagar, Feb 04: (GNS) The fourth round of talks between the state officials and the Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) government at the Kaman Post in the north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Tuesday over the resumption of the trade ties remained inconclusive with Pakistan officials reiterating their demand for the release of their detained driver.
    Officials told GNS that the meeting between the two sides couldn’t break the ice, as the PaK authorities refused to resume the trade unless their driver arrested on charges of smuggling narcotics into Valley is not released. The PaK delegation was led by Retired Brigadier Mohammad Ismail Khan, while the delegation from this side was led by Deputy Commissioner (DC), Baramulla, Ghulam Ahmad Khwaja. The meeting started at 3:30 pm and ended at 5:30 pm without any conclusion.
    A senior official who was part of the talks told GNS that the meeting remained inconclusive as PaK authorities demanded immediate release of the driver.
    “The next meeting will be held on February 10 to break the deadlock,” the official added.
    Pertinently, Indo-Pak officials have held three meetings in the past to resolve the crisis caused by the arrest of the Pakistani driver. The first and second meetings on January 18, and January 27, remained inconclusive, while the meeting on January 30 was partially successful as both the sides announced to resume travel ties.
    However, trade across the Line of Control (LoC) remained suspended. The commerce was suspended on January 17 after the arrest of the driver and seizure of the vehicle by India. Pakistani authorities later detained 27 drivers and their vehicles from India who had gone to Chakote near Muzaffarabad with trade goods.
    Pakistan also refused entry to 48 of its own trucks, demanding the Indian authorities to release the arrested driver and allow the return of all 49 trucksthat had come to the Salamabad trade centre in Baramulla district Jan 17. (GNS)

  • Give new administrative units to agitating areas: PDP asks Government

    Give new administrative units to agitating areas: PDP asks Government
    ‘Alliance with Cong or BJP not a prerequisite for a breakthrough on Kashmir’


    Srinagar, Feb 4 (KNS): Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday reaffirmed her party’s ability to persuade the central government for any breakthrough on Kashmir issue irrespective of whichever national party comes in power in Delhi.
    Addressing a press conference on creation of new administrative units in the state, at her official residence in Gupkar, Mehbooba said that besides providing god governance to people, resolution of Kashmir issue is of utmost importance for her party’s agenda. “Had forging alliances been important then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was a minister in NDA rules when autonomy proposal of his party (National Conference ) was thrown to dustbin,” she said.
    The PDP president said that he party was able to persuade the BJP led central government for major Confidence Building Measures on Kashmir like opening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and it has the potential to persuade the any national party which comes in power when it comes to taking of initiatives on Kashmir.
    Ridiculing the state government decision of creating new administrative units without following any set criteria, Mehbooba urged the state government to fulfill the demands of new administrative units pout forth by people in many left out areas.
    She said that the present dispensation has taken the decision keeping its narrow electoral interests into consideration. “It is a simple propaganda otherwise, one cannot expect any sincerity from a government which is bankrupt, not able to pay the bills of contractors, pay for transformer oils or for that matter salaries of the employees,” she added, according to KNS correspondent.
    She said that PDP-Congress coalition government had appointed a committee of experts under former chief secretary SS Biloeria. “The committee was tasked to make recommendations about creation of new administrative and development units in the state on a rational basis. Since Biloeria had to opt out of the committee after some time it was continued under Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai.”
    Mehbooba said the committee under both chairpersons made a detailed exercise, met people across the state and made some recommendations in 2011. “Since then the report had been gathering dust and the cabinet had been tossing the issue without taking any decision. Repeated demands were made to table the reports in the state legislature but without any response from the government.”
    According to KNS correspondent, Mehbooba said that election time is the occasion to provide an account of a government’s performance. “As the elections approach the discomfort of the government became very obvious as it has nothing positive to tell the electorate. The watermarks of this government have been corruption, lawlessness, nepotism and lack of governance. A record number of civilian killings at the hands of government forces, thousands of youth victimized with false, multiple cases, dissent criminalized and opposition voices gagged, the government is clearly on the back foot.”
    She said the people seek answers to their questions on the BOPEE scandal, back door recruitments, sale of jobs, re employment of the retired and the dead wood and subversion of the examination system and erosion of its sanctity and credibility.
    Mehbooba alleged that like always in its history the NC looked for easy way out. Since people have seen through its emotional tricks it knew that the usual plank of autonomy or anti centre tirade was not available to it in the vastly changed circumstances. “The game started with a mock fight between the coalition partners, threats of resignation, hobnobbing with new possible allies and the stage was set for an unprecedented chaos in the sensitive state. Election time has been converted deliberately into a virtual social upheaval, with only elections in mind.”
    She said the state was made to pay the price in the shape of chaos, collision and hostility. Villages have been pitted against villages. Tehsil, CD block and niyabat have become new prestige symbols because the government did not follow any rules or criteria. Every village feels equally qualified for an institution as the other one.
    “People of Kaprin (Shopian) are protesting wearing shrouds and in Budhal (Darhal) people are on hunger strike. Similarily, other areas in Kashmir also protesting that include: Wachi, Turkehwangam in Shopian; Karna, Chumkoot, Gabra, Lolab, Wavoora, Kalaroos in Kupwara; Wasoora, Shadimarg, Shahoora, Drubgam, Awantipora in Pulwama; Seer Hamdan, Ashmuqam, Shangus, Nowgam, Achabal etc in Anantanag district; Manigam, Faag in Ganderbal and Soibug in Budgam. Kandi (Sangrama) in Baramula. In Jammu: Kotdaran (Budhal), Doongi Dodsan, Dudaj, Palma, Jamola, Peeri etc in Rajouri district. Buffliaz, Fazalabad, Gunthal Lolwer, Lathone, Chari Khawaja, Shendhra, Loran Gund etc in Poonch district Jib, Ghri and Rohan Dumail in Udampor district.”
    She said PDP calls upon the government to take note of the protests that have spread to every nook and corner of the state. PDP is apprehensive, if the government doesn’t respond positively to the demands of the protesting people that may lead to untoward incidents resulting in some sort of tragedy. “Therefore, immediate remedial measures should be taken to satisfy the urges of those areas that feel left out.” (KNS)

  • AFSPA should stay on borders, says Farooq Abdullah

    AFSPA should stay on borders, says Farooq Abdullah
    ‘NC worried about India’s security after US troops withdrawal’

    Jammu, Feb 4: Union Minister Farooq Abdullah Tuesday said India would have to be “extremely cautious” after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and ruled out any security relaxation claiming that “terrorist outfits will try to destabilise” the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir.
    Abdullah said his party was worried about security of the country after the US troops leave Afghanistan.
    “We are worried about what is Taliban going to do, what is Al-qaeda going to do? Because there is a feeling that the Pan-Islamism want to spread trough gun and it is going to be dangerous for all of us,” the National Conference chief said.
    Referring to its impact on Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “Our region is one (which is in the focus), and we will have to be extremely cautious.”
    Speaking on whether there would be security relaxation with the abrogation of the AFSPA, he said, “No, never… Not only in J&K, but in entire India… We should not lower our guard against those forces that are trying to destabilise India.”
    “We have to be very cautious. We have to be very very careful in whatever steps we take,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function to felicitate the state cricket team for their good performance in the recently-concluded Ranji Trophy season.
    “That is why it is important that we choose a government that can hold India together and fight the menace of terrorism and create strength,” he added.
    The Union minister, however, said the AFSPA should be revoked from areas where it was no longer needed.
    He said, “As far as AFSPA abrogation is concerned, NC’s view is that there is no need for AFSPA. It should go from those places where Army is not operating.”
    “On the border you need AFSPA. You have got problem from our neighbour. So, you cannot give up from the border areas. But in the hinter lands where there is no question of militancy of that nature, AFSPA should be revoked,” he added. PTI

  • I don’t expect justice from Govt: Afzal’s wife

    “Omar Abdullah signed the death warrant a month before hanging of my husband. He knew it all along,” she said, adding Omar Abdullah did not even ask the Center to allow a meeting between Afzal and his family.

    =>Sepratists are playing their politics

    Srinagar: Tabassum Guru, wife of Muhammad Afzal Guru of Sopore Kashmir who was hanged on February 9 last year in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail, Monday said she doesn’t expect justice from Central or State government but would continue to demand the return of her husband’s body till her death.
    “I will demand the body of my husband. I will wait for his body till my last breath. He is a Shaheed (martyr) and everybody knows this,” Tabassum told Greater Kashmir.
    “If they return the body, I wish to be buried besides his grave,” she said.
    Tabassum said they tried to get back Afzal’s body, however there was no reply from Government of India. “My written request for the return of the body has not been replied till this day,” she said. “I do not expect any justice neither from Government of India nor from J&K Government,” Tabassum said.
    Tabassum said questions by her son Ghalib worry her. “He always asks me about his father. He was not allowed to meet his father before the hanging and this is the question I have to confront,” she said.
    She said she or her son won’t visit Tihar Jail on the death anniversary of her husband. “Why should we go? There is no expectation from Government of India. They did not allow my 14-year old son to meet his father before hanging him,” she said.
    “One day people will get the remains of Afzal and he will be buried here with an
    epitaph on his grave,” she said, adding her wait for the body will never die out till her last breath.
    She blamed J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for hanging of her husband. “Omar Abdullah signed the death warrant a month before hanging of my husband. He knew it all along,” she said, adding Omar Abdullah did not even ask the Center to allow a meeting between Afzal and his family.
    “They are befooling the people of J&K. The CM just shed crocodile tears after the hanging of my husband.”
    Tabassum is also disappointed with the separatist camp, saying if they would have made efforts, Afzal would not have been hanged. “Ajmal Kasab’s hanging was a signal for them, but they made no efforts to save my husband,” she said, without naming any separatist leader or group. “They are playing their politics,” she said.
    She said now the Government of India has given relief to the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh who were also given death sentence. “Afzal Sahib was hanged because he was a Muslim,” she said

  • Farooq Abdullah’s hands drenched with blood of Kashmiris

    ‘1987 rigging thrust gun on Kashmiris’

    Srinagar, Dec 03: Peoples Conference (PC) on Monday said that NC President Farooq Abdullah’s hands are drenched with the blood of thousands of innocent Kashmiris – who had lost their lives due to NC’s opportunistic politics and the party’s insatiable thirst for power at any cost.
    In a statement issued , a spokesman of J&K Peoples Conference said that Farooq Abdullah should introspect as to how the costs of his treachery, rank opportunism and ideological ambiguity have been borne by the people of Kashmir over the past many decades. “While Farooq Abdullah’s utterings can’t be taken seriously as he has an uncanny ability to contradict himself with every passing fortnight, it is pertinent to put the facts on record. The election of 1987, which was rigged to impose Farooq Abdullah on the people of Kashmir, was a collective murder that has spread over three bloody decades and cost us nearly one lakh innocent lives till now. Farooq Abdullah has been allowed to walk away from murder. Every single Kashmiri will testify as to how Farooq Abdullah’s thirst to become Chief Minister threw the State into the throes of turmoil and suffering. He walked over thousands of dead bodies to again assume power in 1996. That was the second mass murder he committed. There is still no closure to the 1987 rigging. The violence which started after the rigging is yet to end,” the spokesman added.
    “Farooq Abdullah might not believe us but he must ask his newfound friend – the PDP about NC’s role in pushing Kashmir’s youth towards militancy. As PDP has repeatedly reminded Farooq Abdullah in the recent past (Including statements from Mehbooba Mufti) – it was he who was responsible for creating the Syed Salahuddins of Kashmir. His newfound allies have – on numerous occasions – said this on the floor of the assembly and this is not far from the truth”, the spokesman said. “Maybe it is time for the PDP also to spell out whether they still believe that 1987 rigged elections were one of the main causes of drift towards violence, which is yet to end.”
    The spokesman said that many attempts were made prior to 1987 to bring in the gun into Kashmir but failed. “1987 rigging scripted the conduciveness and the receptiveness for gun in Kashmir. And now they have the audacity to accuse those who were victims of rigging,” the spokesman said, adding that the rigging of 1987 was done to protect the dynastic rule of the Abdullahs at an unimaginable cost of pushing a peaceful heaven like Kashmir into the vortex of violence and the present show of togetherness exhibited by NC and PDP is yet again an attempt to protect the old and the new dynasty.
    The spokesman said that Farooq Abdullah’s promises on defending Article 370 in an alliance with the PDP and the Congress were ridiculous. “NC has been an ever-ready accomplice in the erosion of the State’s special status. They have overtly and covertly facilitated every machination and intrigue hatched against the State. The same Congress that he wanted to ally with recently and has allied with on numerous occasions in the past – has written and enacted every single script of erosion of article 370 and disempowerment in the State. As for the PDP — the same NC told us that PDP was an ‘RSS Trojan Horse’ till yesterday and that the PDP was recruited to weaken the State from within. One wonders how things suddenly changed for Farooq Abdullah and how he expects the people to believe that his party’s desperation against an alternative political force is somehow purportedly a valiant fight for the State’s special status?”, the spokesman said.

    The spokesman said NC and PDP are good separatists when out of power and corrupt mainstreamers when in power. “As far as this rhetoric about restoration of Autonomy is concerned – NC was never serious about Autonomy and remembers Autonomy in seasonal circles when it is out of power. While in power the party becomes an absolute unionist in its outlook as humanly possible. NC has been a co-architect in the erosion of Article 370. As demanded by Omar Abdullah in the past – let there be white paper on the turmoil in Kashmir. Let there be a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and let us fix responsibility for the pain and suffering our people have endured. Let us tell the people when Article 370 was eroded and who was responsible”, the spokesman said.
    The spokesman said Farooq Abdullah’s ridiculous statement that he will ‘expose’ more of our ‘deeds’ at the appropriate time indicates his desperation and anxiety at the rise of Peoples Conference.
    “We haven’t even disclosed 2% of his misdeeds, brazen cases of corruption, complicity in injustices against Kashmir and atrocities against its people. The day we decide to do so would be a very ominous day for National Conference and its Twitter Vice President as well – who is stoically lording over estates and wealth of thousands of crores earned on the graves of our people”.