Srinagar: Director General of Police Shri S.P. Vaid has appealed to the youth who have joined militancy to shun the path of violence return to their homes and has promised to provide all possible help including vocational training for their rehabilitation.
The DGP has said that during past few months 54 youth who were involved in militancy related activities were arrested and saved from moving further on the path of violence. The DGP has said in his appeal that during past 27 years about 25000 youth including those who had gone for arms training to Pakistan have either surrendered or left the path of militancy and are living a normal life. He has also appealed to the parents of these youths to impress upon the later to return home and has promised them all possible help. He has promised that vocational training will be provided to those who shun the path of violence.
In his passionate appeal the DGP has said that when the youth who had joined the militancy during encounters call their parents he can feel the pain as a parent himself. The DGP said that not only as a Police Chief but also as a father he appeals to the youth to leave the path of destruction and return to their homes for living a normal life. He further promised that all the District SsP and the Range DIGs have been given directions for facilitating the return of the willing youth.
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DGP appeals youth to shun violence
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If I were Muslim…
Barkha Dutt
I am agnostic and entirely non-religious; I do not self-identify with any religion and leave the required column blank in application forms. I suppose you could call me—as my beloved Twitter trolls will—(that dreaded word) a liberal, deracinated by her own lack of cultural roots. I concede that my secularism has suffered from a lack of mooring in faith. So I am not best qualified to see life through the prism of any religious identity. Yet, for the last week, a question has been gnawing at me, nibbling away, bit by bit, at my conscience and sense of comfort: what if I were Muslim?
What would I feel to discover that my voice is now barely audible in the country’s political discourse because I am no longer needed to win elections? Or, that in the most populous state of India, not a single candidate of the party that stormed home with a mammoth majority was Muslim? Would I be able to celebrate Eid after seeing the photograph of Junaid’s blood-spattered body lying lifeless on a railway platform in north India? A teenager, Junaid was coarsely taunted for his religion in a squabble that started over an elusive seat on a crowded train, but eventually became only about Being Muslim. What would I tell myself after seeing the cattle trader, Pehlu Khan, flung to the side of a pavement by a murderous mob, his tear-stained face crying out for help that never came? Would I be able to share the optimism of Mohammed Sartaj, a proud corporal in the Air Force, who told me, “Saare Jahan se Accha Hindustan Hamara,” his belief in justice intact even after his father, Akhlaq, was murdered over beef rumours, and the body of a man accused of killing him was draped in the national flag, with a senior minister present at the village? What sense would I make of this new lexicon where words like ‘vigilantes’ and ‘lynching’ are casual normalisations of collective bigotry?
If I were Muslim, how much helpless rage might I feel about radical Islamists and terrorists who soil the name of my faith and then leave me to carry the cross of condemning them, like I am somehow responsible for their monstrous acts? What would I say to the family of Ayub Pandith, a brave Kashmiri police officer, beaten to death outside a mosque on the holiest night of Shab-e-Qadr? Or, to the family of strappingly handsome Umar Fayaz, a young soldier, killed while home for a family wedding? How would I deal with the self-appointed custodians of my religion—the orthodoxy that defends retrograde practices like triple talaq—only to embarrass me and strengthen the bigots who attack my community?
If I were Muslim, what might I feel as a citizen to learn that no Central minister attended an iftar evening hosted by India’s President? I would remind myself that even heroes of my community, President Abdul Kalam among them, said no to the wastefulness of iftar parties, donating money to orphanages instead. And, I would tell myself that my identity need not be reduced to such tokenism. But a small part of me would wonder if the same (welcome) political separation between religion and state would apply to all other festivals, too, like Diwali, Christmas and Holi.
If I were Muslim, I would look back in dismay at parties that claimed to speak for me but manipulated me and then abandoned me. I would think of Shah Bano, who went to court for the right to alimony, only to have the decision reversed by the Rajiv Gandhi government, in what would be the first, but not the only, instance of ‘secular’ malpractice. And I would think: are these my only options—a party that pushes me to the margins of irrelevance and a party that uses me?
If I were Muslim, I would remind myself of all the million reasons I love my country. But, just like every time they told me that I as a ‘moderate’ must speak up, I would ask, will the moderate Hindus—the vast majority of India—speak up for me?
Courtesy: The Week
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Kashmiri youth are disenchanted ; not druggies, deviant: Salman Nizami
SRINAGAR: Senior Congress leader & Secretary PCC Salman Nizami today slammed the media & some policital leaders for defaming Kashmiri youth.Nizami said Anyone labeling disenchanted Kashmir youth is living in a fool’s paradise. Youth are our future. It’s shameful to call them names. Kashmiri youth have suffered a lot in the turmoil. To brand them druggies, deviant is uncalled for. We need to engage with them, not call names. Nizami said Media and some leaders have no business denigrating the youth of Kashmir. No one is deviant there. We should address their grievances. Centre needs to enter into a dialogue with disenchanted Kashmiri youth, and not give labels to them, Nizami added. -
Kashmir: Dialgam gunfight over, Bashir Lashkari reportedly among two militants killed
Srinagar: Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants, inclduing top commander Bashir Lashkari, were killed in a gunfight with government forces in Brenthi Batpora Dialgam village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday. Two civilians, including a woman, were also killed and over two dozens others injured after forces opened fire to disperse protesters near the site of the gunfight.
An official said that the gunfight has ended and that two militants have been killed.
The slain militants were reportedly identified as Bashir Ahmad Wani alias Bashir Lashkari and Azad Ahmad Malik alias Dada.
Lashkari was a resident of Sopshali in Kokernag area of Anantnag district while Azad hailed from Arwani area of Bijbehara.
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DySP Ayub Pandith’s service revolver found
Srinagar: Days after a senior police officer was lynched outside Jamia Masjid, the J&K Police have recovered his service revolver that was snatched by a mob. The police have, meanwhile, sought help to identify the culprits involved in the incident. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Security Wing, Mohammed Ayub Pandith, 57, who was on “access control duty” at Jamia Masjid at Nowhatta, was stripped and lynched when people were observing Shab-e-Qadr (night of power) and had gathered for congregational prayers. Witnesses had said the officer was taken as a spy after he pulled out his service revolver and fired at the mob injuring three persons, when they attacked him. According to sources, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police had identified nearly two dozen people involved in the lynching and arrested many among them. The SIT recovered the service revolver of the deceased from the old city area. The sources said a SIT member received a call from an unknown number and were told that the revolver wrapped in a newspaper had been kept at a specific place in old city. The SIT raided the spot and recovered the weapon. “We are getting information about the lynching incident and people are helping in the probe,” a senior police officer said, adding that they were expecting to arrest more accused in the case shortly. Meanwhile, to nab all criminals involved in the incident, the SIT head has requested public to help in identifying the persons involved in the lynching, that sparked widespread condemnation.
Tribune News Service
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Ode to Kashmiri policemen, softest targets of the insurgency: Barkha Dutt
In the sharply polarised Kashmir valley, where jingoists and separatists have hijacked the discourse, squeezing out every inch of nuance, I cannot think of a single group that is more endangered by all sides than the Jammu and Kashmir police.
As the Kashmir Valley erupted into turmoil after the elimination of Burhan Wani, local militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen, I met two local policemen in Srinagar’s Army Base Hospital. Both had been injured because of stones thrown at them during clashes with agitators on the street. It took me a while before I could persuade them to share their stories; the condition was that they were to be filmed against the light in a silhouette, so their identity would be hidden in the shadows. And that I was to not use their real names. In some ways, this expression of acute vulnerability was the precursor to the horrific, shameful mob lynching of Ayub Pandith, on the holy night of Shab-e-Qadr outside the city’s Jama Masjid.
For the past year, of all the security personnel operational in the state, it is the Valley’s police officers who have been most imperilled by the relentless conflict. That the men I met wanted to mask their identities must never be seen an absence of courage; on the contrary these men are the hardiest, bravest, most hands-on officers, anywhere in the world. When ten terrorists were able to lay a siege to Mumbai on 26/11 for three days, despite the presence of the elite National Security Guard, I remember a police officer from Kashmir calling me to say they should have summoned a team from the Valley — so experienced are they at smoking out militants and rescuing civilians from encounters.
But at the same time, Kashmiri policemen are the softest targets in this 27-year-old insurgency, trapped between the service to their uniform and the rage of the street. Because they are drawn from the same community that is often locked in bitter battle with them during agitations and protests, they are attacked, violently, by both militants and civilians. In the sharply polarised Kashmir Valley, where jingoists and separatists have hijacked the discourse, squeezing out every inch of nuance, I cannot think of a single group that is more endangered by all sides than the Jammu and Kashmir police.
Inside the hospital one policeman told me that when he travelled to the city from his village which was two hours away he made it a point to wear civilian clothes that did not out him as a cop. Else, he would be in the line of fire on the highway where protesters had blocked entry and exit points. He only wore his uniform when he was at duty in Srinagar. “They hate us,” he told me, “they talk to us about Azaadi; we talk to them about law and order.”
Because communities are close knit in Kashmir, multiple ironies make the situation even more complicated — like homes where one brother is a police officer and another relative a militant. The mob that lynched Ayub Pandith shouted slogans in support of Zakir Musa, the terrorist who replaced Burhan Wani briefly as the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen and who called for a caliphate in Kashmir. But, Zakir’s father is a civil engineer employed with the government, and one of Zakir’s co-travellers, militant, Ishaq Parray/aka ‘Newton’ is from a family where his brother-in-law is a serving police officer. Yet, videos released by Zakir Musa openly threatened Kashmiri men with death if they chose to sign up for the police force. The police officers I met told me they would never flinch from their “duty’ but they worried for their families. “In some cases people have torched the homes of policemen. Our worry is for them”.
The biggest casualty of the Kashmir conflict has become the contestation of grief; lost lives are mourned and commemorated depending on which side of the ideological trenches your war is and how much whataboutery you are willing to indulge in. Mercifully, everyone rose in unison to unequivocally condemn what happened to Ayub, recoiling from its chilling ugliness. But there is merit in calling out the strange doublespeak of a Kashmir policy where policemen who are reviled by the secessionists are then expected to protect them.
In 2016, pro-Pakistan Hurriyat representative Syed Ali Shah Geelani specifically named an individual police officer in South Kashmir whom he held responsible for eye injuries caused by the use of pellet-spray guns during clashes with protesters. A terrified family, worried about repercussions to them, then went and sought ‘forgiveness’ from Geelani — who snubbed them and gave no guarantees of safety.
Police officers spoke to me of protesters who are no longer scared of tear gas shells and situations where backed by a crowd of a few hundred people, even women have surrounded the post of an individual officer and snatched his weapon. “They look at us with suspicion, they abuse us, and they loathe us. What can we do? We tolerate it,” said a 34-year-old police officer to me, “Ya pathar, ya gaali —Either a stone or an expletive — that is my life; I am used to it now.”
Barkha Dutt is an award-winning journalist and authorThe views expressed are personal
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Summer break in Valley schools from July 6
Srinagar: The state government has announced a summer break for Valley schools and colleges from July 6 to July 15, the dates of which coincide with the death anniversary of Burhan Wani as the security agencies have apprehensions of large-scale violence. Though the weather has been better in the Valley with slight rainfall, Minister of Education Syed Altaf Bukhari said the announcement of summer break was a routine affair for the Education Department and it had nothing to do with Burhan Wani’s death anniversary. “Last year also we announced the summer break from July 8 and this time, we have announced it from July 6. But we have reduced the number of days as this time it is for 10 days only. This has no connection with Burhan Wani’s death anniversary,” Bukhari said. The minister said this time, the summer break had been shortened due to the academic losses faced by students due to protests in the past few months. “The students have lost a lot of time due to disturbances this year. So, the classes will be started after 10 days,” the minister said. Earlier, in April this year, the government announced closure of schools for many days following ‘thrashing’ of students at Government Degree College, Pulwama, by security forces. The incident left over 50 students injured. The summer break announcement from July 6 coincides with the death anniversary of Burhan Wani who was killed on July 8 last year. The security agencies have made extra arrangements this time due to an apprehension of protests.
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13 employees suspended in Saffron Town Pampore
Srinagar: Director Urban Local Bodies Kashmir, Riyaz Wani on Thursday placed 13 employees of Municipal Committee Pampore (MCP) under suspension.
According to KNS, Director during his surprise visit to Pampore town today has placed thirteen employees of MC Pampore under suspension for their un-authorized absence from duties.
Director also made an extensive tour of Pampore town and took stock of ongoing developmental works in town.
For the poor management of Municipal solid waste, Director expressed his displeasure and asked the Executive Officer to improve the sanitation standards in Pampore town immediately.
He also impressed upon the sanitation staff of Pampore Municipality to launch special drives along main drains public places etc.
Moreover, they should work in double shifts, director emphasised on them.
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PDP-BJP Govt following Salahudin’s Calendar: Er Rasheed
Srinagar: Accusing PDP-BJP led government of ruining academic carrier of Kashmiri Student, AIP Supremo and MLA Langate Er. Rasheed has said that there is no justification in declaring summer vacations for the Kashmir province from 6th of July.
In a statement issued today Er. Rasheed said “while most of the working days in educational institutions in Kashmir have been wasted due to law and order problem, mostly created by barbarism of security agencies in colleges and schools, state govt. seems to have given up to Syed Salah-ud-din’s calendar.
Since the UJC Chief has announced a series of events and programmers to mark the first anniversary of renowned militant commander Burhan Wani, State Govt. finding itself short of options to deal with the issue has decided to close the educational institutions in the name of summer vacations.
“The summer vacations are usually declared when the temperatures reach its peak, however this year the temperatures are found to be comparatively moderate”.
Er. Rasheed said that the Govt.’s decision to declare summer vacations is yet again ample proof to conclude that militant leadership enjoys mass support at the ground and people follows their calls and calendars.
He further added that by succumbing to Syed Salah-ud-din’s calendar programme, New Delhi’s propaganda campaign against Syed Salah-ud-din after he being declared a so called terrorist has fallen flat.
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Hawala Funding:No Evidence,NIA Set to Close One of Two Probes
New Delhi: A probe launched by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2016 against Kashmiri separatists for alleged terror funding has failed to find any evidence and is ‘almost on the verge of closing’.
In 2016, protests were carried out on the streets of Kashmir after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani following which the NIA launched a preliminary enquiry into funding unrest in the Valley.
A report in The Indian Express said, the NIA suspected funds coming in from across the border and being given to stone pelters through suspected bank accounts which were believed to be linked to militants or separatists in the Kashmir Valley.
However, a year later, the NIA has failed to prove its allegations and all transactions carried out through these bank accounts were legal and not connected to terror funding. “No evidence of terror funding or financial aid to stone pelters has been found in that case. All bank accounts that were brought under the scanner have been found to have had legitimate business transactions. That case is as good as closed,” a senior NIA officer said.
The probe being carried on since a year was based on an input provided by the Army that some bank accounts had transactions and withdrawals that coincided with stone pelting in the Valley, the report added.
The officer said the latest case of alleged terror funding, where three second-rung leaders of Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference faction were detained on Wednesday has been ‘going strong’ and might result into arrests.
The NIA had recently conducted raids at 23 places in Srinagar, Delhi and Haryana in connection with alleged hawala operations between Pakistan-based terror groups and Kashmiri separatists.
Later some of these leaders and activists were called to Delhi by the NIA for further questioning. They have also been accused of funding the unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
The separatists have strongly denied receiving any foreign funding and alleged that the Indian government is making false claims in order to defame the Kashmiri ‘freedom struggle’.
On Monday, a resolution read out by the Mirwaiz while addressing an Eid congregation through phone after he was placed under house arrest and subsequently passed amid pro-azadi slogans had termed the NIA raids on the houses of separatist leaders and activists and a few Kashmiri businessmen as “illegal”.