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  • Amid claims of normalcy, peace not visible anywhere: Dr Farooq Abdullah

    Srinagar, Mar 19: National Conference (NC) President and MP from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah on Saturday stressed on the need to identify internal and external enemies of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is the unity of the people of J&K that will not let the nefarious plans of such forces work.

    This, he said, while addressing a public gathering at Harinara, Singhpora, Pattan. He said that the incumbent regimes normalcy, peace and development narrative is hardly visible on ground. “People are yearning for their democratic, constitutional and human rights, which have incessantly been abridged since 2019,” he said, as per a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO).

    Cautioning people against the divisive forces contriving to divide people of JK on religious, regional and sectarian lines, Dr Farooq said that the people of J&K are confronting a two front battle, one with those peddling divisive agenda nationally and the other one locally.

    “Sher-e-Kashmir always maintained that a day will come when there will be a leader in every street and corner of Kashmir. The prevailing circumstances have attested to his forewarning. Today we see mushrooming of political parties and leaders in every nook and corner of Kashmir. The risky political vacuum created by the decisions of August 2019 cannot be filled by such airdropped leaders. It is a genuine popular representative government that will meet the challenge of instilling faith in the hearts of people,” he said.

    “In spite of their failures to make inroads into Kashmir even with the help of their A, B teams, the communal forces are now up to creating leaders in every Mohalla, street and village. It is a warning sign for us. The people of Kashmir must remain cautious of such forces who want to divide our society on regional, religious, communal, and sectarian lines,” he said.

    Earlier, Dr Farooq Abdullah visited the bereaved family of late Jalal Ud Din Wani. He was accompanied by senior party leaders Aga Mehmood and Reyaz Bedar on the visit. Joined in by party’s local unit functionaries and senior leaders, Dr Farooq offered Fatiha for the deceased and extended profound sympathies and condolences with the bereaved family—(KNO)

  • Hindus and Muslims belong here, divisions not desirable: Nana Patekar

    Pune: Veteran actor Nana Patekar on Thursday said both the Hindus and Muslims belong to India and divisions in society are not desirable.
    He was replying to reporters’ questions about the film “The Kashmir Files” on the sidelines of an event here.
    Asked about raging debates over the film which deals with the issue of exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s, Patekar said, “Hindus and Muslims very much belong here, and it is necessary for them to live together and they must live together.
    “If division is taking place, it is wrong,” he added.
    Patekar, however, also said he had not watched the film yet and would not be able to make any comment on it. “But a controversy erupting over a film is not good,” he added. PTI

  • ‘Kashmir Files’ based on facts but highlights one-sided narrative’

    ‘Criminal’ silence of majority community responsible for KP ‘exodus’, claims Sandeep Mawa

    Srinagar, Mar 17: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ blames directly Muslims for the ‘migration’ of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s. The film is garnering support and criticism in equal terms. Social media is abuzz with the messages of ‘hate’ and videos are viral showing how cinemagoers are spewing venom against a particular community after watching this movie.

    There are some Pandits who describe the movie as mere propaganda, however, equally important is that some of the Pandits blame Muslims of Kashmir Valley for the migration saying the majority community remained silent when Pandits left Valley.

    Sandeep Mawa, founder of Jammu and Kashmir Reconciliation Front (JKRF) and who runs a dry fruit shop in old Srinagar city blamed Muslims for the ‘exodus’ of Kashmiri Pandits. Mawa’s Muslim Manager Muhammad Ibrahim was shot dead by militants at his shop in Bohrikadal Srinagar last year. Mawa had claimed that it was an attack on him but his Muslim Manager sacrificed his life for him.

    When news agency Kashmir News Trust contacted Sandeep Mawa to get his reaction about ‘The Kashmir Files’, he responded: “Everyone suffered in Kashmir, but the ‘criminal silence’ maintained by majority community in Kashmir proved costly for both Muslims and Pandits in 1990. Holy Quran says Majority should protect the minority, but Muslims maintained ‘criminal’ silence. If silence paved the way for the killing of 50 or 500 Pandits, it also facilitated the killings of other people,” Mawa said.

    He said ‘The Kashmir Files’ is just the tip of the iceberg of facts. “Bita Karate himself admitted he killed Pandits. Didn’t he kill his friend Satish,” he said.

    When asked the data from the Government of India shows only 89 Pandits were killed while the number of Muslims is much higher, Mawa said, “Muslims wanted ‘Aazadi’ that’s why got killed while Pandits didn’t yearn for ‘Aazadi’ and still got killed. My father Roshan Lal Mawa was shot four times in 1990. I was attacked in November 2021 in which my Manager (Muhammad Ibrahim) was killed.”

    Mawa said that it is being claimed that Muslims are innocent but I am asking you, how much innocent they (Muslims) are? “Why there is an anti-Muslim wave in France. Are people crazy there? There are some elements in Muslim Community who are ‘terrorists’ and the media promote these ‘terrorists,” Sandeep Mawa claimed.

    When asked who suffered the most, Mawa said that he can’t comment but added that Pandits were loyal to their country and suffered immensely. Mawa added that from this year, Pandits will hopefully return to their native land.

    Pertinently, as per official data 89 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed during the past over three decades.

    In response to a query raised by RTI activist PP Kapoor from Haryana’s Samalkha (Panipat), Jammu Kashmir Police has informed that as many as “89 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in attacks since the inception of militancy in 1990”.

    According to the information, “Apart from the 89 Kashmiri Pandits, 1,635 people of other faiths were also killed during the same period.”

    Chairman, ‘Reconciliation, Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants,’ Satish Maldhar also said that ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie is based on ‘facts’ but it is also one-sided. He said Pandits were ousted in the name of religion but at the same time Muslims were also killed in the name of ‘informers’ and the film is silent on that issue.

    “Kashmir Files has ignored the fact that during migration of Pandits, the government of India was run by VP Singh with the support of BJP. That government released top militants from the jail which proved disastrous. Kashmir Files is silent on the issue and in fact, it is a one-sided approach,” Maldhar said.

    “When Pandits were asked to leave Kashmir, State and Central Government had been collapsed. Why the government didn’t arrange transit camps for the Pandits in Anantnag, Baramulla or some other place and why Pandits were asked to leave Kashmir abruptly,” Maldhar said adding that after reaching Jammu, the government informed Pandits that they have to stay in Jammu permanently.

    “If BJP Government has patronized Vivek Agnihotri’s movie, why then the government is reluctant in declaring ‘genocide’ of Pandits. It was BJP then and it is BJP now.”

    Chairman, ‘Reconciliation, Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants,’ Satish Maldhar added that migration of Pandits is a fact but it is also a fact that over 800 Pandit families and Sikhs are still living in Valley. “It is also a fact that Muslims were killed but the Vivek Agnihotri’s film didn’t show this.”

    “Instead of relying on films, why the government is not ordering inquiry about the migration of Pandits. Why the government is not ordering inquiry about what happened in Gawkadal, Kunanposhpora, Chatisinghpora. If we believe that we have nothing to do with Muslims, what about Sikhs who are part of Hinduism. Didn’t they were massacred in Chatisinghpora and doesn’t it deserve an inquiry,” Maldhar said adding that Kashmir is his land and he loves the people of Valley.

    When asked you are now being called as Kashmiri Hindus and not Kashmiri Pandits, Maldhar said that Kashmiri Pandits are distinct from Hindus as Pandits don’t do ‘Murti Puja’ unlike Hindus.

    As hashtag #KashmiriPanditGenocide is trending on social media platforms, and hate-filled videos are making rounds, KNT found an interesting thread from a netizen called Malcolm Urdustani. He writes that it is alarming to see massive misinformation being spread today. Many Hindu ‘fanatics’ are tweeting fake casualties in tunes of lakhs and alluding to a fictitious “Kashmiri Pandit Gen0cide”. He adds that being responsible citizens, it is our moral duty to debunk this dangerous propaganda.

    The thread read: “Firstly, there was no “genocide” of 5 lacs KPs in 1989-90. There were not even 5 lacs Kashmiri Pandits in 1989. According to 1981 Census by GoI, there were 124,000 KPs in the valley & it is difficult for they would have even reached 1.5 lacs in 1989.”

    “Secondly, the total number of KPs killed over the period from 1989-2004 is 219. The killings were political, not communal in nature.
    And this 219 number intentionally excludes the thousands of similar political killings of Muslims, because of which even many M (Muslim) families left Kmir (Kashmir).”

    “The militants had a hit list of those people who were popular governmental or influential figures, who they had issued a warning so that they disassociate with the government. The list included the majority of Muslims, belonging to govt service & political parties like NC.”

    “ According to Mehboob Makhdoomi- “Communal color to these killings was given by Guv so that KPs temporarily leave Kmir (Kashmir) and he gets an open field to kill Ms (Muslims) to quell the uprising, which is what happened right from the next day when all KPs left, starting from Gaw Kadal massacre.”

    “Subsequently, in shady circumstances, KPs were shifted out of the valley overnight on 19th Jan. KPs (20-25% of whom were employed in govt) were told that they will be allotted accommodation in Jammu. Thus, their state-sponsored migration took place.”

    “The fact that their migration was state sponsored can be easily verified from Delhi high court docs (documents) too. After facilitating their exit, KPs were provided free land parcels in Delhi-NCR, free housing, government jobs, and getting a monthly pension from last 31 years.”

    “Keep in mind, the KPs were no way discriminated or backward before their shifting outside valley. According to Govt data, among the KPs who migrated 26,000 had govt jobs. KPs hardly accounted for 2% of the population but consisted of 22% govt jobs.”

    “Has such a planned evacuation & resettlement ever been done for victims of Bombay massacre, Gujarat or M’nagar genocide? In the 90s, there was also an exodus of thousands of Tamils from B’lore. Did they get similar state support? Or is their exodus even remembered?”

    “Few yrs (years) back, an old letter, written by some KPs to their neighbors was unearthed. In the letter, they expressed remorse over betrayal & detailed the conspiracy of a planned migration. They also talk about humiliation by Dogras & abt (about) some opportunistic KPs.”

    “It is very necessary to put the KP state-sponsored migration in context today. It has long been highly exaggerated & weaponized to call for & justify atrocities against Muslims of India & Kashmir,” the thread read. (KNT)

  • Meet Basit Bashir, Kashmir’s Own Hijama Expert.

    Firdous Qadri

    Srinagar, Mar 16: The rise in depression and various ailments in Kashmir can be cured by Cupping Therapy (Hijama) believes Basit Bashir who is expert in Hijama and Chiropractic.

    Detailing out the nitty gritties of ‘Cupping Therapy’ (Hijama), to Kashmir Glory Basit says, in cupping therapy special cups are put on a person’s skin for a few minutes to create suction. Cupping therapy might be trendy now, but it’s not new. It dates back to ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern cultures, he says.

    “One of the oldest medical textbooks in the world, the Ebers Papyrus, describes how the ancient Egyptians used cupping therapy in 1,550 B.C. Cupping therapy was also introduced in Muslim world by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who promised Hijama to be cure for all aliments expect death”, says Basit.

    “Hijama is an Arabic word for cupping therapy and is widely used in Asian countries.”

    People get it for many purposes, including helping with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage, Basit says.

    This therapy, he says, addresses a wide variety of issues including chronic pain and migraines, immune enhancement, disease prevention, anxiety, depression, health maintenance and various ailments.

    With six years of experience in cupping therapy, Basit is one of Kashmiris foremost specialists in alternative healing.
    He also specialises in acupuncture and Chiropractic. He brings with him a diverse range of experiences and has worked extensively in Kashmir.

    He started his career with one of the renowned Unani hospital – (Unani and Panchkarma Hospital) – where he got expertise from Kashmir’s famous Unani and Panchkarma doctor Dr Nazir.

    He received one year of cupping training from ‘Cupcare Training Institute’ Mumbai and subsequently joined Rajasthan Jodhpur in Acupressure, acupuncture and cupping therapy for two years.

    Basit opened his own ISO Certified clinic at Pandach crossing outskirts Srinagar City where he is treating hundreds of patients with different aliments with other healing modalities which provides unique perspective in diagnosing and treating chronic health and wellbeing issues.

    Basit has been conducting various Hijama camps and has treated many youth with depression and other problems.

    As per Islamic traditions, Hijama is the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) even as science over the time proving that Hijama can help us in treating various ailments in our body. “The aim of organizing such camps is to increase awareness among people regarding the benefits of Hijama”, says Basit.

    “During my practice I came across with patients suffering from different ailments like uric acid, cholesterol, Triglyceride, thyroid, hypertension thankfully they got satisfactory results but I was not personally satisfied treating patients with ortho ailments which prompted me to opt for chiropractic training. I joined a chiropractic training center in Hyderabad and it took me one year to complete this training course,” he further adds.

    Each day the clinic of young doctor witnesses a huge rush to get their treatment through traditional means.

    I have done Hijama before and I felt a lot of relief and it cured me to a great extent that is why I came again,” says Tabish Ahmad, a patient suffering from fatty liver, high triglycerides and cholesterol.

    Bilal Ahmad, another patient who felt relieved after receiving the Hijama therapy says “I was suffering from depression, I feel very much relieved after doing my first Hijama.”

    Basit has started his own Hijama training centre in order to teach unemployed youth and create employment avenues in Kashmir.

    A female patient Saima Jan hailing from Shopain says she was suffering from pimple and acne problems and had been treating it for the last seven years. “I spent a lot of money on my treatment but finally I did Hijama and Alhamdulillah, my face is fairly glowing now. I have a very strong belief in Hijama now and I’m very much thankful to Basit Sahib who cured me in just a few sessions.”

    Basit has started awareness initiatives regarding Hijama wherein he has organised many free Hijama campuses.

    Basit has opened his own Hijama training centre and fervently appeals youth to come forward and join his training centre to create their own employment avenues.

  • Centre ‘weaponising’ pain of Kashmiri Pandits by promoting ‘Kashmir Files’, says Mehbooba

    Srinagar: The aggressive manner in which the Centre is promoting ‘The Kashmir Files’ film and “weaponising” the pain of Kashmiri Pandits makes its “ill intention” obvious, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief said instead of healing old wounds and creating a conducive atmosphere between the two communities, the Centre is “deliberately tearing them apart”.

    “The manner in which GOI (government of India) is aggressively promoting Kashmir Files & is weaponising pain of Kashmiri Pandits makes their ill intention obvious,” Mehbooba wrote on Twitter.

    Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s.

    It stars Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty and Pallavi Joshi among others.–(PTI)

  • March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia, India expressed Concerns

    India expressed concern over one religion being elevated to the level of an international day.

    NDTV

    As the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Tuesday to proclaim March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia, India expressed concern over phobia against one religion being elevated to the level of an international day, saying there are growing contemporary forms of religiophobia, especially anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist and anti-Sikh phobias.

    The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, introduced by Pakistan’s ambassador Munir Akram under agenda item Culture of peace, to proclaim March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

    The resolution, introduced by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was co-sponsored by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

    Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said in the UN General Assembly that India hopes the resolution adopted “does not set a precedent” which will lead to multiple resolutions on phobias based on selective religions and divide the United Nations into religious camps.

    “Hinduism has more than 1.2 billion followers, Buddhism more than 535 million and Sikhism more than 30 million spread out around the world. It is time that we acknowledged the prevalence of religiophobia, rather than single out just one,” he said.

    “It is important that the United Nations remains above such religious matters which may seek to divide us rather than bring us together on one platform of peace and harmony and treat the World as One Family,” he said.

    Following the adoption of the draft resolution, Mr Tirumurti said that while India condemns all acts motivated by antisemitism, Christianophobia or Islamophobia, such phobias are not restricted to Abrahamic religions only.

    “In fact, there is clear evidence that over decades such religiophobias have, in fact, affected the followers of non-Abrahamic religions as well. This have contributed to the emergence of contemporary forms of religiophobia, especially anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist and anti-Sikh phobias,” he said.

    He noted that the Member States should not forget that in 2019, August 22 has already been proclaimed as the International Day commemorating the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief, which is fully inclusive in nature.

    “We even have an International Day of Tolerance observed on 16 November. We are not convinced that we need to elevate phobia against one religion to the level of an international day,” he said.

    Mr Tirumurti asserted that these contemporary forms of religiophobia can be witnessed in the increase in attacks on religious places of worship like gurudwaras, monasteries and temples or in the spreading of hatred and disinformation against non-Abrahamic religions in many countries.

    He cited that several examples of these abound, including the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban, violation of gurudwara premises, massacre of Sikh pilgrims in gurudwara, attack on temples, glorification of breaking of idols in temples.

    He said these contribute to the rise of contemporary forms of religiophobia against non-Abrahamic religions.

    “It is in this context that we are concerned about elevating the phobia against one religion to the level of an international day, to the exclusion of all the others.

    Celebration of a religion is one thing but to commemorate the combatting of hatred against one religion is quite another. In fact, this resolution may well end up downplaying the seriousness of phobias against all other religions,” Mr Tirumurti said in his statement after the adoption of the resolution.

    He said India is proud that pluralism is at the core of its existence.

    “We firmly believe in equal protection and promotion of all religions and faith. It is, therefore, unfortunate that the word ‘pluralism’ finds no mention in the resolution and the sponsors have not found it fit to take on board our amendments to include the word ‘pluralism’ in the text for reasons best known to them.”

    Mr Tirumurti said that as a pluralistic and democratic country that is home to almost all religions of the world, India has always welcomed, over the centuries, those persecuted around the world for their faith or belief.

    “They have always found in India a safe haven shorn of persecution or discrimination. This is true whether they were Zoroastrians or Buddhists or Jews or people of any other faith,” he said.

    Mr Tirumurti expressed deep concern over the rise in instances of discrimination, intolerance and violence directed against members of many religious communities in various parts of the world.

    He emphasised that it is with deep concern that India views the growing manifestation of intolerance, discrimination or violence against followers of religions, including rising sectarian violence in some countries.

    France’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere, speaking after Mr Tirumurti, said that by creating an international day to combat Islamophobia, the resolution does not respond to the concern that “we all share to fight against all forms of discrimination”.

    “Because they create division within the fight against religious intolerance by only selecting one religion to the exclusion of others without reference to the freedom to believe or to not believe,” he said.

    He said society is made up of diversity, with individuals practising a variety of religions or not practising any at all.

    “Must we expect the creation of days dedicated to each religion, to each degree of belief or non-belief. There may not be enough days in the year to satisfy all these demands,” de Riviere said.

    The French envoy said the text of the resolution that is submitted on Tuesday did raise a number of difficulties with regard to the determination to fight against discrimination based on religion or belief.

    “The term Islamophobia does not have any agreed definition in international law, contrary to the freedom of religion or belief,” he said, adding that the resolution is very “unsatisfactory” as it currently stands and none of the proposals mooted by France were taken into consideration.

    (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

    With inputs from NDTV India

  • UN makes March 15 International Day to Combat Islamophobia

    • Date is anniversary of infamous New Zealand mosque attacks that killed over 50 worshippers
    • Pakistani envoy: ‘Islamophobia is a reality. Its manifestations are proliferating in several parts of the world’

    Arab News

    The UN has adopted a resolution proposed by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Pakistan to designate March 15 the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

    The resolution was adopted two years to the day since a right-wing extremist murdered over 50 Muslims in a New Zealand terror attack on two mosques.

    It means that the day will be cemented as an annual reminder of the need to combat Islamophobia.

    The resolution was introduced on Tuesday by Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, on behalf of the OIC.

    “Islamophobia is a reality. Its manifestations — hate speech, discrimination, and violence against Muslims — are proliferating in several parts of the world,” he said.

    “Such acts of discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities constitute grave violations of their human rights and violate their freedom of religion and belief. They also cause great anguish within the Islamic world.”

    Akram cited the words of the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who said: “Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, institutional suspicion and fear of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim has escalated to epidemic proportions.”

    Women and girls have often found themselves at the sharp end of this hatred, said Akram, adding: “The gender aspect of Islamophobia is also gaining prominence, with girls and women being targeted due to mode of their dress and the general notion that Muslim women are oppressed and thus must be liberated.”

    He warned that Islamophobia is a “poorly understood” phenomenon that often intersects with anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment.

    As such, he said, it is “essential” to promote information about this “disturbing global trend” that can reach the very top of governments in many parts of the world.

    The adoption of the resolution follows years of discussion about the need for an international day to combat Islamophobia, initiated in Makkah in 2019 following the New Zealand mosque attacks.

    At that time, OIC members, including Saudi Arabia, “stressed the necessity to combat hate and fear of Islam and Muslims.”

  • Most people don’t need to wear masks under new guidelines: DAK

    Srinagar, March 14: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Monday said most people in Kashmir valley do not need to wear masks under new guidelines.

    “Masks can come off in schools too,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

    Dr Hassan said according to new CDC guidelines, people who are living in areas of low Covid-19 levels no longer need to wear masks.

    “Under new norms, masks are not recommended if average new cases fall below 200 per 100,000 population, there are fewer than 10 Covid hospital admissions per 100,000 people over the past one week and Covid patients are taking up less than 10 percent of available hospital beds, based on seven day average,” he said.

    “If cases exceed 200 per 100,000 people, masks are recommended if new weekly Covid admissions exceed 10 per 100,000 people and patients are taking up 10 percent or more hospital beds based on a seven day average,” he added.

    The DAK President said the recommendations no longer rely only on the number of cases in a community to determine the need for restrictions such as mask wearing.

    “CDC has shifted focus to hospitalization and bed occupancy, rather than infections alone, to determine when masks are recommended,” he said.

    “Based on these metrics, Kashmir now is a low risk area and we can lift mask mandate including school mask mandate,” said Dr Nisar.

    He said with minuscule cases in the community and negligible hospital admissions, we can ease the guidance on mask use – not everyone in every place needs to wear a mask.

    “We need to realize that we have to live with the virus and get back to normal life.

    The new guideline of lifting mask mandate is a nod to that reality, and allow for a more sustainable approach to the living with the virus,” he added.

  • New COVID-19 Variant, which is a Combination of the Previously Identified Delta and Omicron Versions, is Spreading Quickly: WHO

    • The delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 have combined to form a new one but some experts not concerned
    • The new variant was identified just days before the second anniversary of the WHO’s declaration of a global pandemic

    The World Health Organization has warned that a new COVID-19 variant, which is a combination of the previously identified delta and omicron versions, is spreading quickly in parts of Europe.

    The organization said on Wednesday that the variant, dubbed “deltacron” by some, “has been found to be spreading in France, Holland and Denmark. WHO also believes it has also identified two cases in the US. It plans to publish a report of its findings soon.

    The worrying announcement came just days before March 11, the second anniversary of the day on which the WHO declared a global pandemic. The organization issued grave warnings that the new variant has the potential to become a major problem in both Europe and US. Some experts, however, are not so concerned.

    William Lee, chief science officer at Helix, a lab in California that sequences COVID-19 samples, told the Daily Mail: “The fact that there is not that much of it, that even the two cases we saw were different, suggests that it’s probably not going to elevate to a variant-of-concern level.”

    Overall numbers of deltacron cases remain low, even in countries where some person-to-person spread has been detected. Lee said he does not even expect the variant to warrant its own name based on Greek letters.

    In the US and most of Europe, where virus cases and deaths generally have been falling, the highly infectious omicron variant remains the dominant strain.

    – Agencies

  • Encounter breaks out in Chewakalan, Pulwama

    Srinagar, Mar 11: An encounter broke out between forces and militants in Chewakalan village in Zadoora of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

    Official sources told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that following specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a Cordon and Search operation (CASO) was launched this evening.

    During the searches, the hiding militants fired upon the security forces, which was retaliated, thus leading to an encounter, they said.

    The operation was on when the report was last filed—(KNO)