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Jammu: A BJP legislator in Jammu and Kashmir has called for a ban on Momos alleging that the dish is more dangerous than alcohol and psychotropic drugs.

Ramesh Arora, member of the legislative council, believes that Ajinomoto (monosodium glutamate) used in momos’ recipe is harmful to health and can even cause cancer. Arora thinks momos are the “The root cause of several life-threatening diseases, including cancer of the intestine.”

“Ajinomoto, a kind of salt, causes serious diseases, including cancer. It is responsible for converting a minor headache into migraine. Besides memory loss, regular consumption for two to three years causes cancer of the stomach. They are found to be more harmful than alcohol and psychotropic drugs,” Ramesh Arora said.

Ramesh Arora has been campaigning for imposing ban on street foods including momos in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP MLC also met state health minister Bali Bhagat, seeking prohibition on sale of momos and Chinese street food.

Baramulla: In a greatest display of brotherhood and humanity, large number of Muslims in North Kashmir participated in the last rites of an elderly Sikh man on Wednesday.

Manohar Singh alias Lala, a resident of Pattan town in Baramulla district breathed his last after brief illness. Lala being the popular figure in the town was admired by all. Large number of Muslims visited his house after the news about his death spread in the town.

Muslims also visited his Srinagar residence and participated in Antim Sanskar (Last Rites).

A mourner from Muslim community said that the deceased was very affectionate. “We always live in harmony in the town. We are really grieved over his death,” said Muhammad Saleem.

“We are overwhelmed by love and affection showered by Muslims. We are really grateful to them. Nowhere, in the world we have seen people from different faiths living in such harmony,” said a relative of deceased who hails from Punjab.

My simple question to my people is this: Should we let biased Indian media decide the fate of a leader here?

Let me first tell you something about myself, the person whose reputation a biased Indian channel tried to besmirch to project a  false image of Kashmir’s struggle for Azadi.

 The target of the attack was someone whose immediate and extended family has been suffering at the hands of Indian authorities since 1947. They attacked a son whose father, late Ghulam Mohammad Khan, was tortured and jailed for seeking the rights of his people. And when Shaheed Maqbool Bhat came to Kashmir from Azad Kashmir, it was my father who supported and guided him. The biased Indian media victimized a son whose aged mother was arrested in 1991 by CRPF camp Barzulla and detained her at a camp for fourteen days. They attacked a brother whose younger sibling Gull Mohammad Khan was killed in 1997. They attacked a nephew whose uncle Tariq Ahmad Lone was subjected to enforced disappearance in early 90s, and whose other uncle and aunt were killed in cold-blood.

They assaulted Nayeem Khan, one of the loyal servants of the Kashmir cause. It was a conspiracy to tarnish the image and role of a person who has an unblemished record. Who has played a vital role in organizing student movement in mid eighties and in the formation of Muslim United Front and All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

Delhi is using its media to suppress a born revolutionary like they used its judiciary to hang Afzal Guru.

It was to explain the same thing that I held a presser in Srinagar on May 20. I explained  how Delhi and its dubious media are desperate to show our struggle for rights to self determination in a poor light. But they have never succeeded in their Machiavellian ploys in past, and never will.

For someone who has been engaging with Indian State in Kashmir through seminars, debates and peaceful rallies since 1980, these shameful stings are but the costs we pay for our conviction. Having been tortured, sent to dark dungeons and booked under draconian ordinances, I have already seen their worst.

I meet hundreds of people every day from J&K and from India including my party workers. You can hardly know who is who and what are their motivations and designs.  I have always candidly talked about issues about Kashmir, India and Pakistan. But it was  a shock to me when I found that this scattered  conversation was  so deftly put together and doctored and used against me. I was shocked to see the doctored footage being aired by a particular news channel—behaving like an arm of intelligence agencies—as an exclusive sting operation. Even voice and lip syncing was out of place. Even a commoner having no knowledge of video editing can spot the glaring alteration. By running the video in bits and pieces, the so called ‘sting operation’ presented everything out of context. It was clearly aimed to defame our struggle.

Such videos however are no surprise to us. If they can run similar doctored videos to malign their own dissenting students of JNU, then we are clearly marked rivals in their definition of things.

Indian national corporate media is involved in falsifying and distorting Kashmir narrative to suit its role as an extended arm of the state. This role makes it complicit in carnage in Kashmir and in the  denial of rights of the people’s rights. The theatrical rhetoric is well known to us. It is devoid of  any  substance. It leaves no stone unturned to malign, bully and intimidate Kashmiris. The latest doctored video falls in this category. It is part of a declared war on Kashmir.

A movement against a huge oppressor needs funds to sustain and continue the struggle and not to make mansions. In Kashmir, there is a sanctity to Pakistani funds and not the Indian funds. We are helped by local and expatriate Kashmiris. That’s why we have built Bait-ul-maals besides getting support from our diaspora. Pakistan supports us politically and diplomatically.

I challenge Indian biased media and its agencies to prove that I have assets beyond my limited means of income. Or I created assets out of the sacred blood of our martyrs. 

For someone who quit an engineering job for the movement, these things don’t matter. Such smear campaigns in fact are in a way an endorsement of our cause. It tells us that the enemy and its allies will never shy away from intruding in our ranks to expose only their desperation. It tells us that we are on the right track.

After knowing and facing Indian State all these years, falling in their trap was out of question. The way they are telling this whole story is but a media-peddled lie, reinforcing a regime of Hindutva narrative about Kashmir. They mainly played it up to emphasise how Pakistan is funding our struggle.

Let me tell you, when I returned to Kashmir from Madhya Pradesh Jail in 1993, I witnessed how Indian forces had committed several massacres and burnt property worth billions of rupees. Such circumstances made me join the Hurriyat Conference after my release from the jail. I pledged to strengthen the resistance movement, which I believe is the only effective way to achieve freedom.

But Delhi always continued to pursue its vile agenda. After failing to contain Kashmir through its military arm, it is now using its media to suppress our voices. It is bound to backfire akin to the military occupation.

As for me, I have been facing the Indian state for the past 35 years. Now facing NIA sleuths who are in the town to probe is only continuation of it. I am open to any investigation, provided it is open and transparent. Rest we all know, how Indian agencies function in Kashmir.

I am accountable to my people, not to biased Indian media and India. I challenge Press Council of India to get these so called sting videos in their unedited form and play them in Lal Chowk. Let people judge themselves who is telling the truth and who is plying a dire and dubious  agenda.

I will continue to say I am a victim of aggressive and concocted Indian media trial. But having said that, unfortunately I am also the victim of selective, biased, authoritarian approach at home. We should learn team spirit from the enemy who stood behind their soldier who took a Kashmiri as a human shield in defiance of all the international and Indian laws. 

Today I miss the great and courageous leader of APHC Shaheed Abdul Gani Lone who always stood by his colleagues and workers. I have chosen the path of my father consciously and the other unsung leaders who have been the silent soldiers of this blood soaked movement. I don’t believe in mere publicity or self praise which is short-lived. I don’t believe in creating narratives for self-praise. This  way we bury the big achievements made possible by a collective effort.

My unflinching ideology, sacrifice, contribution and faith in Allah and in my people are my strengths. Nayeem Khan is not a media tiger. I know my people have and will always trust me. Indian channel’s vicious and motivated campaign hasn’t impressed them. And on my part, I promise I will never let my people down, nor betray their faith in me.

I believe in the truthfulness and ideological conviction.  There should be no competition among the leaders. I have never seen myself in the competition for leadership.

Neither I nor my family has ever taken any favour or concession from either India or from the state government. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.  I am not a leader of controversies.

I believe in promoting message, not the messenger because the message is the only thing which is important. 

I stand strong on my moral strength. Let suppressed people of Kashmir dig deep into the history and decide themselves. I throw my role in this blood-soaked movement, my belongings and my property open to public scrutiny. My simple question to my people is this: Should we let biased Indian media decide the fate of a leader here. 

I also believe APHC should be open to suggestions and interact with student community, academia and intelligentsia. Just playing to the gallery will take us nowhere. 

I believe in transparency and accountability. Movement is sacred, not the personal likes and dislikes. Even Britishers used media to defame genuine leaders of Indian freedom struggle. Same is being repeated by India in Kashmir.

India is trying to create confusion, mistrust among our people and the leadership. But I believe in unified leadership and cohesive approach. Ownership of the struggle lies with the people.

Our cause is noble. Resistance is sacred. And I will never betray either of them. Our leadership should not become a compulsion for its practitioners but our strength. It should guide us not follow.  

As for my role in the movement is concerned, it is no secret. Let people decide who is right and who is wrong. 

Courtesy: Kashmir Ink (A Greater Kashmir Publication)

Srinagar: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday has said the situation in Kashmir will improve soon and the country’s armed forces are fully prepared to thwart any threat to India’s sovereignty.
“’India is fully ready for two and a half front war with China, Pakistan and elements posing threat to the internal security,” media reports quoting Rawat as said, adding, “The situation in Kashmir will be normal soon.”
As per reports the Army chief said social media is an important tool being used by Pakistan to create unrest in Kashmir.
“Pakistan generated social media propaganda is spreading disinformation among youth of Kashmir. However, it will not succeed,” he said.
Talking about Army’s military preparedness, Rawat said, “We keep raising our modernisation issues with the Government of India and have got positive responses.”
General Rawat had visited Jammu and Kashmir last week to review the security and also met state Governor NN Vohra.

Srinagar: In yet another instance of the official apathy, ‘Babul Iqbal’, the entry gate to old city is awaiting its completion for past six years.

In 2011, the then administration took an initiative to construct city entry gate for Shahr-e-Khas named after Allama Iqbal and had sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore for its constriction.

However, six years have passed since the initiative was taken; the authorities have miserably failed to complete the project on time.

Babul Iqbal, which is currently being constructed at Baba Demb was supposed to be completed in one year (2012).

Nonetheless, it has missed multiple deadlines so far while the authorities seem reluctant to complete its construction since last six years.

The project involves major departments including Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), Lakes and Waterways Development Authorities (LAWDA), Tourism and Roads and Building (R&B) department.

Once completed, the gate will serve as an entry point to the 2000 year old ‘Shehr-e-Khaas’ and will be the welcoming remark for the visiting tourists.

Ali Muhammad, a local resident of the area said that despite sanctioning 1.20 crore over its construction, the authorities seems reluctant to complete the project, adding, “The gate has an array of residential colonies on one side and a swamp like lagoon on the other side. Thus, the location of the gate is not correct for its construction and is creating chaos among the vehicular movement.”

He said that now, if the government started working on the project at this place then it should stop dillydallying in completing it.

Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) Commissioner, Shafat Khan said that the work is currently ongoing. “There were several plans over the project, which caused delay in completing the gate,” he said.

He said that the work has now been started again and hopefully the gate will be completed at earliest.

The Tourism officials said that they can only come into picture when the gate will be constructed.

“We had requested all the departments to complete it at earliest,” the Tourism officials said. KNS

Barkha Dutt

India’s Kashmir problem is probably the worst it has been in more than two decades. Pakistan-backed militancy and a spate of terrorist attacks have been matched with unrelenting civilian protests. The latest unrest escalated after Indian forces killed Burhan Wani, a commander of the terrorist group Hizb ul-Mujahideen, last year. Protesters have pelted Indian security agents with bricks and stones; schoolgirls in headscarves have joined male agitators on the street. In this new phase of militancy, educated young men are now picking up guns. The situation has caught the eye of the international media — the Economist recently urged India to start talks in Kashmir.

But Kashmiris who think other countries might step in to help are wrong. The world has never cared as little about Kashmir as it does today.

The Kashmir dispute has been at the center of conflict between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars over it. There was a time when the 28-year-old insurgency attracted the world’s gaze to a region Bill Clinton once called a “nuclear flashpoint.” India’s human rights record in the landlocked valley was subjected to constant international scrutiny; Indian diplomats had to contend with uncomfortable questions on Kashmir. But today, there has been little to no noise in the global community about the turmoil in India’s only majority-Muslim state, including from Islamic nations such as Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates.

This is despite recent controversies such as the Indian Army’s use of a local civilian, Farooq Ahmad Dar, as a human shield on a military jeep. The Army says it was a response that helped save lives without resorting to firing and has given an award to the major who made the decision. Dar says he was an innocent bystander who was out to vote in a local election. Within India, popular opinion endorses a tougher approach to dealing with the Kashmir unrest. And the world has pretty much looked away.

So what has changed?

The absence of global criticism of the situation in Kashmir is partly a success of effective Indian diplomacy, as well as India’s growing international financial influence. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on personal outreach to countries in the Gulf; he has also leveraged the commercial interests of Western nations. Modi is aware of the need for the West to use India as a countervailing force to China. And, of course, one can’t forget the domestic distractions in the West, with Trump’s antics in the United States and a Brexit-preoccupied European Union.

The bottom line:

Kashmir is no longer an issue that Pakistan can get the world to take notice of.  In the pre-9/11 era, Pakistan was able to garner some sympathy for its Kashmir agenda. But in today’s world, where terrorism is viewed through the lens of the 9/11 strikes in the past and the Islamic State in the present, there is no patience for armed uprisings associated with Islamist terror. The links between Kashmir’s militant secessionism and Pakistani terrorist groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba have taken away the moral compass of what may have otherwise been seen as genuine political demands. Pakistan’s patronage in the form of cash and guerrilla training may have spurred Kashmiri separatism in the early stages; but today it’s exactly that link that diminishes the legitimacy of Kashmir as an issue in the world’s eyes.

Washington is locked into a dysfunctional relationship with Pakistan because of U.S. interests in Afghanistan. But there is rising U.S anger with Pakistan’s doublespeak on terrorism. In 2012, the United States announced a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed, the head of the Lashkar, after the Mumbai terrorist strikes in which several Americans were killed. The Trump administration’s proposed budget includes cuts in military aid to Pakistan. Indeed, last week Afghanistan blamed Pakistani intelligence agencies and their fostering of the Haqqani network for a deadly truck bomb that killed 90 in Kabul.

The creeping radicalization of many young men agitating on Kashmir’s streets has also kept the world at bay. In a September 2016 speech to the United Nations, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke of the slain militant Wani as if he were a Che Guevara-like folk hero. But Wani’s online videos show him calling for jihad and a caliphate in Kashmir. His successor, Zakir Musa, went further, warning anti-India separatists that they would be “beheaded” for calling Kashmir a political issue; the fight, he said, was for Islam. Musa’s statements were publicly disowned, but these videos marked a shift from an ethno-nationalist emphasis in Kashmir to an overtly religious one. Again, none of this will find takers in a world suspicious of political Islam and terrified of the next jihadist attack. The more the next generation of Kashmir’s protesters become part of a global Internet “ummah,” invoking religion ahead of rights, the less the world is likely to engage with them.

Of course, none of this lightens India’s moral burden to be accountable to our own standards of democracy and human rights in Kashmir. India must wade into the troubled waters that Pakistan has been fishing in with a lifeboat of its own. There is no military solution, and India will have to develop a dialogue mechanism to talk to rage-filled, disenchanted Kashmiris. But unless India and Pakistan go right to the brink of war over Kashmir, the world will just watch, from a safe and detached distance. And refuse to get involved.

Follow @bdutt

Courtesy: The Washington Post

Also Read: Narendra Modi must begin talks in Kashmir before it is too late

Srinagar: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today visited Tullamulla in Ganderbal district to greet members of the Pandit community, who had come to attend the Kheer Bhawani Mela.Interacting with devotees, Mehbooba Mufti said people in Kashmir were eagerly awaiting the return of their Kashmiri brethren. She said the socio-cultural milieu of the Valley was incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits. “This day is very revered for our Kashmiri Pandit brethren and they have come here in thousands today. We pray to God for their dignified return to the Valley so that they live in their own homes,” she addedEven as several devotees, especially the younger ones, were excited to see Mehbooba and took photographs with her, a small group of other devotees raised slogans shouting “we want justice”. The protesters were apparently protesting against the government’s failure to address the issues of the Kashmiri Pandits. An official statement said the Chief Minister took stock of the arrangements made by the administration for the devotees, many of whom had come from outside the state. She visited the stalls put up by the health department, district administration, fire and emergency services unit and the police for the convenience of the devotees.

Srinagar: Be it Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s office or former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the ruling party or the opposition parties, police officials or militants, students or protesters, everyone is defying the government’s ban on social media in Kashmir.The ban, which came into effect last month, has been defied daily with the aid of the virtual private network (VPN) technology that allows users to access banned social media sites and instant messaging application by setting up proxy Internet connections.The attempts to block the use of VPNs have failed even as the government had sought the assistance of high-level technical teams.The state government had ordered the monthlong ban on 22 social media sites and instant messaging application on April 26. The ban had come at a time when the state government was grappling with recurring bouts of protests, which have continued despite the ban.The use of easy-to-install VPN applications, however, rendered the ban ineffective as all sides, including the government machinery, protesting students and even the militants, had access to the social media sites even though telecom companies had blocked access to them.CM Mehbooba Mufti’s official page on the banned social media site Facebook and those of the ministers in her Cabinet have remained active throughout the ban period.The ban has also been defied by government ministers, who share the details of their tours on Facebook and Twitter — both of which are banned — and upload videos on YouTube, a facility which is also banned.The police acknowledged that the ban had proven “ineffective”. “We will review it in the coming days,” a senior police officer said. The use of VPNs is now widespread across of the Kashmir valley.In remote villages of south Kashmir, where security agencies are facing a tough challenge from a tech-savvy generation of militants and protesters, young men take pride in showcasing the number of VPNs which they have downloaded on their phones.“We use VPNs to access the social media because it is important to know what is happening around,” a 19-year-old science student said in Trenz village of Shopian.The ban has also been circumvented by militants, whose pictures and videos continue to emerge on social media sites.A senior government official said that it was irrelevant whether the ban on the social media continued or got revoked. “On the ground, there is already no ban.”