Srinagar, Jul 23: Unknown gunmen on Friday evening shot at a civilian in Tral area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
According to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), a civilian identified as Javaid Ahmad Malik a resident of Lurgam village in Tral was fired upon by unidentified gunmen this evening.
They said Mir was rushed to the SDH Tral for treatment.
A police official also confirmed the incident and said that area has been cordoned off to nab the attackers—(KNO)
Srinagar, Jul 23 : All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Friday condemned the targeted surveillance on its chairman Mirwaiz UmarFarooq and senior executive members Bilal Ghani Lone and Masroor Abbas Ansari.
APHC in a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) also condemned the hacking of phones of journalists activists businessmen and others in J&K as per the expose.
APHC spokesman said that hacking into people’s phone for surveillance, is a wilful and direct violation of the universally acknowledged fundamental right to privacy a basic human right and those involved in it should be tried.
“It acknowledges the fact that in
J&K basic human rights of an entire population remain suspended, and the writ of the state rules with a heavy hand so to expect redressal of this issue -especially from those that are indulging in it, is very unlikely,” it said.
APHC said it’s chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has for the past two years been put under
house detention by the Government, without giving any reason. All his basic human rights already stand violated, it added—(KNO)
Srinagar, July 23: 24 militants have been killed in last 23 days in Jammu and Kashmir. 22 militants were killed in Valley while in Sunderbani Sector of Rajouri area of Jammu Division two militants and 2 soldiers were killed during a confrontation between Indian Army soldiers and infiltrators. A soldier was also killed in a gunfight here in Kashmir Valley this month.
The data available with news agency Kashmir News Trust reveals that 22 militants and a soldier were killed in 9 encounters that raged in different parts of Kashmir Valley.
Except Ganderbal and Budgam, all districts in Kashmir Valley witnessed one or more gunfights between militants and Joint Forces.
South Kashmir’s Pulwama district witnessed 3 encounters in the current month of July while encounters also took place in Srinagar, Anantnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Shopian and Baramulla district.
The locations of 9 encounters include Hanjin, Pircho and New Colony (Pulwama), Kawarigam Ronipora (Anantnag), Chek Sadiq Khan village (Shopian), Zodar (Kulgam) Kralgund (Kupwara), Danmar Safakadal (Srinagar) and Warpora area of Sopore Baramulla.
Ten militants were killed in three encounters in Pulwama, 3 in Anantnag, 2 each in Kulgam, Srinagar, Shopian and Baramulla while a militant was killed in Kralgund Handwara area of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
A soldier from 44 Rashtriya Rifles was killed in Hanjin encounter of Pulwama on the very first day of this current month of July.
Two soldiers and two infiltrator were also killed in Sunderbani Sector of Rajouri on 8th of this month. (KNT)
Reports reaching Kashmir News Service (KNS) said that the people in the Srinagar city largely celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifice in their homes on Wednesday, paying heed to appeals made by the authorities in view of the COVID-19.
They said that most of the major mosques here that normally attract large congregations remained closed, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and guidelines issued by the administration.
Among the major mosques in the city, where no Eid prayers were held include historical Jamia Masjid Srinagar, Dargah Hazratbal, Dastgeer Sahib, Khankah-e-Moula and several others.
Reported said that the people showed responsibility about adhering to Covid Protocol and offered prayers in a decentralised way.
They said that the COVID-19 protocol including physical distancing was strictly adhered to in local mosques of Kashmir Valley, where Eid prayers were offered by limited number of people.
According to Kashmir News Service correspondent from Pulwama, Tanha Ayaz, Eid prayers were offered at around 7 AM in most of the mosques in the district during which scholars shed light on the importance of sacrifice.
“No large gathering of Eid prayers was held at any place in the district,” Tanha said, adding that the Eid celebrations were modest amid Covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, as per KNS correspondent from Budgam District Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, Eid prayers were offered at around 8 pm in Central Jamia Masjid Beerwah town, where limited gathering was allowed.
“Eid prayers were also offered in various villages of Beerwah Tehsil, Meanwhile all SOPs were followed including use of masks, sanitisers and social distancing norms in all masjids,” Aijaz said.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar (IPS), While talking to Kashmir News Service (KNS) hailed role of people in Cooperating and said that the Eid Prayers in Local Mosques were held on Peaceful Note.
People behaved like responsible citizens and adhered to Covid Appropriate Behaviour, IGP said adding that “I thank people of Kashmir on Cooperating with Jammu and Kashmir Police in maintaining Covid SOPs so to keep this virus at bay”.
Several religious leaders while talking to Kashmir News Service applauded the role of people in adhering to Covid SOPs and said that the sacrificing of animals will also go as per the government guidelines.
Eid-ul-Zuha, more commonly known as Bakr-Eid, is the festival of sacrifice observed on the tenth day of the Zil al-Hijjah, which is the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar.
The festival is marked by sacrificing an animal, usually a sheep or a goat to prove devotion and love for Allah. Post the sacrifice, devotees distribute it to family, friends, neighbours and especially to the poor and the needy. (KNS)
Srinagar: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in domestic animals has caused a widespread panic in the valley.
People from different areas of Kashmir while talking with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that owing to the disease they have lost their cattle’s which were their only source of income.
Ghulam Mohuidin, a resident of Pulwama, said that he lost his cow after it suffered from a disease in the mouth.
“I spent nearly six thousand rupees on medicines for the cow, but it could not recover and died,” he said.
He said that many people living in the area also lost their cows due to the mouth disease.
Farmers said the government should provide compensation to families who have lost their domestic animals in this pandemic situation.
Meanwhile, top officials of the animal husbandry department told KNO that so far around 12,500 cases of food and mouth diseases have been reported in Kashmir division since the outbreak of the disease this year.
Of 12,500, more than 11,000 animals have recovered after they were treated by the officials of the department.
Officials said that the mortality rate is just around four percent and it is generally the young animals that die, while elder ones mostly recover.
They also said that around 500 awareness camps were organised by the department in the valley to educate the people to avoid its spread.
Officials also urged people to avoid sending their domestic animals for grazing in areas where this disease has already affected animals.
“In case any domestic animal is facing any kind of illness, people can easily contact the nearest Animal Husbandry centre and within no time officials will reach to the door step to treat them,” they said.
“There is no dearth of vaccines in Kashmir and around four lakh more vaccines have been procured,” officials said, while adding that de-worming process has been started as of now so that vaccines will be more effective—(KNO)
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s official mobile banking application, Mpay would likely function normally within half an hour, officials said on Tuesday evening.
An official in the J&K Bank told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the work to restore the normal functioning of application was almost finalized. “It will start functioning normally within half an hour,” he said.
Earlier, KNO received a number of complaints with regard to the non-functioning of the mobile banking application, saying that they are unable to make transactions through the online application—(KNO)
Srinagar: The Eid-ul-Adha, festival of sacrifice, will be observed with religious zeal and fervor across Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. However, there will be no Eid prayers at Eidgah and other major shrines across Kashmir.
Notably, Eid-ul-Adha is being observed on the 10th of Dhu’l-Hijjah, last month of the Islamic calendar. A spiritual Muslim offers a goat or sheep as a sacrificial animal on this Eid.
Allah ordered Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail. When the blindfolded father moved the blade on his son’s throat to carry out the divine command, an animal from heaven replaced Ismail. It is to celebrate the absolute submission of Prophet Ibrahim to Allah’s command and the saving of Ismail’s life that Muslims offer animal sacrifices on Eid-ul-Adha.
Meanwhile, in wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, no huge congregational prayers are expected on this Eid as the majority of the shrines and Masjids including Dargah Hazratbal and historic Jamia Masjid in Old city Srinagar will remain closed tomorrow.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wakf Board, Mufti Muhammad Farid-ud-din told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the Eid prayers would unlikely be offered at the shrines and Masjids falling under the Waqf board as most of these religious places have been closed.
The Muslims would offer mandatory Eid prayers at local Masjids in their respective localities.
In wake of the pandemic, the government has also appealed to people to avoid large gatherings to prevent the virus from spreading and also thwart the possible third wave.
As per the Islamic teachings, the Muslims across the State will start performing the act of sacrificing animals following the congregational Eid prayers as this Eid is being observed to commemorate Prophet Ibraham’s (AS) willingness to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son Ismaeel (AS).
Meanwhile, the markets in Kashmir especially the commercial Hub Lal Chowk and other adjacent areas in Srinagar witnessed a huge rush of shoppers from past several days, who were seen buying essentials and other food stuff for the Eid—(KNO)
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said they were planning talks with the Taliban over the refusal to let Ankara run Kabul airport following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Talking to journalists in Istanbul, Tayyip Erdogan said, “God willing, we will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us.”
Turkey has been negotiating with US defence officials over its offer to help secure and run Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries to retain a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country after the troop withdrawal.
Erdogan and US President Joe Biden discussed the issue in their first face-to-face meeting on the margins of a NATO summit in June.
Turkey maintains hundreds of troops in Afghanistan, but a Turkish official told AFP that they were “not combat forces”.
Ankara and Washington have been discussing issues such as financial and logistical support for Turkey´s mission from the United States and NATO, officials said.
Last week, the Taliban called Turkey’s offer “reprehensible”.
“We consider the stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under whatever pretext as occupation,” the group said.
Erdogan said the Taliban was not adopting “the right approach”.
“In our view, the Taliban’s approach right now is not how a Muslim behaves to another Muslim,” he said, urging the insurgent group to stop its occupation.
“We call on the Taliban… to show the world as soon as possible that peace prevails in Afghanistan.”
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice-president, Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that he was not surprised that governments are ”using software that exploit loopholes to spy on people”.
He, however, said what surprised and deeply disappointed him was companies like Apple make tall claims about privacy and data protection but actually have done nothing to stop spyware like Pegasus.
Reacting to alleged Pegasus row, Omar took to micro-blogging site Twitter and said: ”I’m not at all surprised governments are using software that exploit loopholes to spy on people. What is surprising & deeply disappointing is companies like @Apple make tall claims about privacy & data protection but have done nothing to stop spyware like #Pegasus.” (KNS)
China is developing an airbase for fighter aircraft operations at Shakche town in Xinjiang province, close to the Eastern Ladakh area, reports said. Quoting government sources, ANI reported that the Chinese government is upgrading the existing airbase at Shakche town for fighter aircraft operations.
According to the news agency, the base is coming up between the airbases of Kashgar and Hogan and that the new base will fill up the gap for Chinese Air Force in this region. The new base would be ready for operations in the near future.
India is keeping a close watch on the developments as the military disengagement in the border areas after a prolonged face-off between the two countries is yet not complete.
According to ANI, the Chinese Air Force has been traditionally weak in this region of the LAC while India has a number of airfields in the relatively short distance.
China has recently strengthened its air defence in the area with the deployment of s-400 air defence system which they imported from Russia. India also has deployed a large number of systems along the LAC.
India and China were locked in a military standoff at multiple friction points in eastern Ladakh since early May last year. However, the two sides completed the withdrawal of troops and weapons from the North and South banks of Pangong Lake in February following a series of military and diplomatic talks.
The two sides are now engaged in talks to extend the disengagement process to the remaining friction points.
There was no visible forward movement in disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points as the Chinese side did not show flexibility in their approach on it at the 11th round of military talks.
Last wee, India reiterated that only early completion of disengagement in the remaining friction points could pave the way for both Indian and Chinese troops to consider de-escalation and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
With inputs from The Week
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)