News Analysis India

Tag: Jammu and Kashmir

  • Local officials brief envoys about development in Valley

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: Nearly two months after the holding of first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls, a group of 24 foreign envoys including those from OIC countries arrived on two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the ground situation.The 24-member delegation, including those from OIC members Bangladesh, Senegal, Malaysia and Tajkistan. led by EU envoy Ugo Astuto arrived in Srinagar airport. 

    After landing at Srinagar airport, the envoys drove to Degree College Magam in central Kashmir’s Bandipora district amid tight security to interact with the newly elected DDC chairman and DDC members, panchayat members, traders and civil society members of Dubam. Top mainstream leaders, including three former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, however, were  not invited for interaction.

    Budgam DDC chairman Nazir Ahmad Khan told reporters that the interaction focused on developmental issues. “We talked development for which Budgam district has been longing for long. We talked about roti (bread), makan (house, bijli (electricity), sadak (road) and pani (water). Our interaction remained confined to it.”

    After the hour-long interaction, the envoys returned to Srinagar and held deliberations with the mayor, DDC chairmen, BDC chairpersons, municipal council chairpersons and elected DDC and panchayat members. The group of envoys also visited the Hazratbal shrine. 

    On Thursday, the envoys will visit Jammu and are expected to meet DDC members and representatives of some social organisations.  In February last year, the government had arranged a trip for 15 foreign envoys to visit Srinagar to review the situation in J&K.

  • Three Hizbul overground workers arrested in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tral; IED components seized

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Security forces have arrested three overground workers linked with the Hizbul Mujahideen and seized materials used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from their possession, police said on Wednesday.

    Based on specific input regarding movement of terrorists, the forces launched an operation in Batagund and Dadsara villages of Tral and arrested the three terrorist associates, a police spokesperson said.

    They have been identified as Shafat Ahmad Sofi, Majid Mohammad Bhat and Umer Rashid Wani, he said.

    As per police records, they were involved in providing shelter, logistics and transportation for arms and ammunition to active Hizbul terrorists in Tral and Awantipora, he said.

    Incriminating materials, including eight electric detonators, seven anti-mechanism switches, three pressure/relay mechanism switches, an improvised switch and an anti-mine wireless antenna were recovered from the house of one of the arrested persons, the spokesperson added.

  • Development work in J-K was discussed with foreign diplomats, says Budgam’s DDC Chairman

    By ANI
    BUDGAM: Nazir Ahmad Khan, the DDC Chairman of Budgam district on Wednesday said that the issues of development were discussed with the group of 24 foreign envoys, who are on a two-day visit to the Union Territory.

    “It’s been a month since we assumed our posts and we received the opportunity to interact with a foreign delegation. We interacted about our development schemes, work done and work which remains to be done,” Nazir Khan told ANI .

    When asked what all issues were discussed, Khan said, “the discussions revolved around development work only. We held talks mainly on roti (food), kapda (cloth), makaan (house), sadak (road), bijli (electricity) and paani (water) because the region is poor and lacks literacy.”

    The envoys also interacted with Srinagar Mayor, DDC chairpersons, chairpersons of Block Development Councils and Municipal Council from all parties.

    On the first day of their visit, the foreign diplomats interacted with locals in the Magam block of Budgam district, as part of their two-day visit to the Union Territory. French envoy Emmanuel Lenain and Italian envoy Vincenzo de Luca were seen talking to the locals in Magam block.

    After the diplomats landed in the Union Territory today, they were accorded a traditional welcome by the DDC Chairman, and other panchayat representatives.

    The foreign envoys were briefed on Panchayati Raj and grievance redressal through Back to villages and Block, thus elaborating how the administration reaches the doorstep of people.

    Foreign diplomats from Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh, Malawi, Eritrea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and the European Union are on the visit.

    The latest visit of foreign envoys comes in the backdrop of District Development Council polls, which saw huge participation and restoration of 4G mobile internet in the entire region after 18 months, which many see as a return of full normalcy in the Union Territory.

    This will be the first visit by foreign diplomats to Jammu and Kashmir since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two batches of foreign diplomats had earlier visited J-K in January and February last year after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

    Sources told ANI that some elements, who are working against Jammu and Kashmir’s progress and restoration of normalcy, have been giving calls of a shutdown during the visit of envoys. Last year, similar visits took place in the month of January and February. 

  • Suspicious object found on roadside in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri

    By PTI

    JAMMU: A suspicious object, believed to be an improvised explosive device (IED), was found on the roadside along the Jammu-Poonch highway in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Wednesday, officials said.

    The bomb disposal squad of the Army has reached the site at Manjakote and is inspecting the suspicious object, they added.

    Station House Officer (SHO) of the Manjakote police station Pankaj Sharma said the bomb-like object was found on the roadside around 8.30 am.

    “The whole area was immediately cordoned off and the Army’s bomb disposal squad was requisitioned to inspect the object,” he said, adding that the traffic on the highway was suspended as a precautionary measure from both sides.

    The traffic movement resumed subsequently after the spot was secured with sandbags and an armoured vehicle, the SHO said.

  • Mission Kashmir: Foreign envoys start two-day visit to assess ground situation

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: A group of foreign diplomats landed in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning to assess the ground situation in the state after its special status was scrapped by the Centre on August 5, 2019. 

    After its arrival at the Srinagar Airport, the group drove to central Kashmir’s Budgam district to interact with civil society members there. The visiting envoys will also interact with recently elected DDC members in Srinagar and seek their feedback on the situation and developmental activities.

    The first-ever DDC polls for 280 seats in Jammu and Kashmir were held during November-December last year in which six parties Gupkar alliance on Article 370 restoration emerged as the single largest group with 102 seats and BJP became the single largest party with 75 seats. 

    The envoys will also be visiting the Hazratbal shrine and meet civil society members, newspaper editors and journalists. 

    This apart, top civil and police officials will brief the delegation about the economic, political and security situation of the state. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha will give the delegation the overall brief of the situation.

    It is the third visit of foreign diplomats since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and bifurcation of J&K state by centre on August 5, 2019.

    Ahead of the visit, forces removed some security bunkers in Srinagar. Besides, high-speed mobile internet, which was suspended on August 5 2019, was restored a few weeks back.

  • PDP demanding restoration of pre-August 2019 status for Jammu and Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said her party was not merely demanding statehood but the restoration of pre-August 2019 status for Jammu and Kashmir.

    She also called for resumption of dialogue for the resolution of the Kashmir issue and alleged that there was “jungle raj” in the country.

    “We are not demanding (the return of) statehood. We are demanding the pre-August 5, 2019 position of J&K and we also want the Kashmir issue — for which thousands of youth have rendered sacrifices, lakhs of homes have been destroyed and losses in millions of rupees have been suffered — to be resolved by talking to Pakistan and the people of J&K,” Mufti said.

    The PDP chief was speaking to reporters after the party’s convention in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

    Mufti said and people were being arrested first and then their crime was being proven.

    “There is a saying that show me a person, I will show you the crime, which means that first they arrest a person, then they prove the crime.

    Many of our leaders are in custody and they have been shown no orders and there is nothing against them.

    “There is jungle raj here right now, the jungle raj is happening across the country also now, but it is more so in J&K,” she said.

    On the arrest of National Conference (NC) leader Hilal Lone, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state said the BJP government was “inflicting cruelty” on the people of Kashmir as well as the people in other parts of the country.

    “Wherever they think there is some resistance, someone is raising his voice against their cruelty and tyranny, see they have arrested a 21-year-old girl, what they have done with the farmers… Some of the cruelty and tyranny that they have done in Kashmir is being witnessed in other parts of the country.

    “Our farmer brothers and young girls are also now seeing what cruelty the BJP government is inflicting upon the people of Kashmir,” she said.

    Asked about the future of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an alliance of several mainstream parties seeking the return of the special status of the erstwhile state, Mufti said the people want the alliance to continue.

    “The Gupkar alliance talks about the aspirations of the people of J&K.

    The people of J&K want the alliance to continue and this alliance will be there till the people of J&K want it to be,” she said.

    Mufti also demanded immediate release of all political prisoners and youths, including former MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid who is under detention since August 5, 2019 when the Centre abrogated Article 370.

  • Mehbooba Mufti seeks probe into ‘attempt of abduction, molestation’ of girl by Armymen

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday demanded an impartial probe into the alleged attempt of abduction and molestation of a minor girl by Army personnel in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, claiming the family was being pressurised to withdraw the FIR.

    “Locals in Bandipora have alleged that 3 army men tried to abduct & molest a 9-year-old girl. Her family is now being pressurised to withdraw the FIR. Its a complete travesty of justice & an impartial probe must be set up immediately so that they are given the harshest punishment (sic),” Mufti wrote on Twitter.

    Police said the incident took place on February 10 in Ajas area of the north Kashmir district and three people have been arrested and an FIR has been registered against them.

    بانڈی پورہ کے مقامی لوگوں کا الزام ہے کہ 3 فوجی اہلکاروں نے 9 سالہ بچی کو اغوا کرکے اس کے ساتھ زیادتی کرنے کی کوشش کی۔ اب اس کے گھر والوں پر ایف آئی آر واپس لینے کے لئے دباؤ ڈالا جارہا ہے۔اس واقعہ کی فوری طور غیر جانبدارانہ تحقیقات کرکے قصورواروں کو سخت سزا دی جانی چاہیئے ۔
    — Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 16, 2021

    “People alleged three persons were trying to kidnap a girl, so the police swung into action and the three were caught on the spot,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bandipora, Rahul Malik said.

    Malik, however, did not identify those arrested or disclose if they were security forces’ personnel.

    The SSP said an FIR has been registered in the case.

  • Those using children for stone-pelting in J&K to now face strict punishment under JJA: Jitendra Singh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday emphasised the need for strict implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act in Jammu and Kashmir under which those using children for stone-pelting and other illegal activities will now face rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years.

    The minister said using or inducing children to stone pelting is not only a crime in the eyes of law but is also a crime against humanity.

    The Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) has now become applicable in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370 and the erstwhile state becoming a Union Territory, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

    Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, was on Sunday briefed about the law against using children as stone pelters, according to an official statement.

    ALSO READ | JeM planned terror attacks in Delhi; terrorists sourcing weapons from Bihar: DGP Dilbag Singh

    Use of children for illegal activities will invite rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh, it said.

    Chairman of National Commission for Protection for Child Rights (NCPCR) Priyank Kanoongo met Singh and discussed the important issues concerning the rights of children in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh that had emerged from the analysis recently conducted by the NCPCR.

    Singh emphasised the need for strict implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act which now stands extended to the two UTs of J-K and Ladakh, the statement said.

    Kanoongo informed Singh that as per Section 83 (1) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, any non-state, self-styled militant group or outfit declared as such by the central government, if recruits or uses any child for any purpose, shall be liable for rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine of five lakh rupees.

    Section 83 (2) of the same Act states that any adult or an adult group uses children for illegal activities either individually or as a gang shall be liable for rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine of five lakh rupees, he said.

    This, by implication, means that anyone responsible for inducing or using children in stone pelting or any other violent activity will face serious action under the law, the statement said.

    ALSO READ | Major terror plan averted in Jammu on Pulwama attack anniversary, four arrested

    Singh appreciated the NCPCR efforts for the protection of child rights in the country, including in the newly created Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

    The minister is the Lok Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur constituency.

    Further, NCPCR chief Kanoongo discussed with Jitendra Singh the implications of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 which is also now applicable in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

    He also briefed the minister about various awareness workshops and programmes conducted by the NCPCR to sensitise the stakeholders in different districts of Jammu & Kashmir.

  • Major terror plan averted in Jammu on Pulwama attack anniversary, four arrested

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: The Valley has averted what could have been a major tragedy. Police foiled an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack planned by militants in Jammu. A Kashmiri youth studying in Chandigarh was arrested. About 6.5 kg of explosives was recovered from him.

    Police display arms & ammunitionrecovered from a  bus stand inJammu on Sunday | ptiThree more were arrested in this connection. Police says the plan was a blast in a crowded place on the second anniversary of the Pulwama attack. IGP of Jammu Mukesh Singh said police was on high alert after receiving inputs that militants were planning an attack in Jammu. He said that on Saturday evening, policemen on patrol arrested Sohail, who was moving around suspiciously. “We found a bag in his possession and recovered 6.5 kg of IED from it. The IED was not activated,” he said.

    Singh revealed that in Jhang area of Ram Nagar in the border district of Samba, police had recovered six pistols and 15 small IEDs on Saturday evening in a separate operation. Investigations are on to find out if there is a link between those and Sohail. According to police, Sohail is a student of nursing in a college in Chandigarh. “During questioning, he said he was directed by his handler from the Al-Badr group to plant the IED in Jammu,” the IGP said.

    Sohail was apparently given four targets in crowded places – Raghunath Mandir, bus stand, railway station and Lakhdata (jewellers) bazaar. He was asked to choose one. According to the IGP, after placing the IED Sohail had to fly to Srinagar where he was scheduled to meet Athar Shakeel, a top overground worker of Al-Badr. He added that during investigation, it was found that another youth called Qazi Wasim – also studying in a Chandigarh college – had information about the plan.

    ALSO READ | ‘Did not forgive, will not forget’: CRPF on Pulwama terror attack anniversary

    “He has been picked up from Chandigarh and another person, Abid Nabi, has also been arrested,” Singh said.The IGP said with the arrest of these three and timely recovery of the IED, a major danger on the second anniversary of the Pulwama attack was averted.

    Recent arrests of militantsPolicemen on patrol arrested Sohail in Jammu who was moving around suspiciously. The police recently arrested two top militant commanders from the Jammu region and foiled their attempt to establish bases there. Chief commander of Lashkar-e-Mustafa (offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad) Hidayatullah Malik and chief of The Resistance Front (offshoot of Lashkar) Zahoor Ahmad Rather alias Sahil and Khalid were among those arrested.

    In the netArrested Sohail (Jammu), Qazi Wasim (Chandigarh), Abid Nabi (Srinagar), Athar Shakeel Khan (Srinagar)

    In SambaRecovered 6 pistols, 15 small IEDs

  • Statehood would be given to Jammu & Kashmir at appropriate time: Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

    By Online Desk
    Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha on Saturday that statehood will be re accorded to Jammu and Kashmir at ‘an appropriate time’.

    Replying to a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, he also slammed some opposition members for their claim that the proposed law negates the hopes of the region getting back its erstwhile statehood.

    Lashing out at the Opposition, “We were asked what did we do about promises made during abrogation of Article 370. It has been 17 months since the abrogation & you are demanding an account for it. Did you bring the account of what you did for 70 years? Had you worked properly, you need not have asked us. I have no objection, I will give an account for everything. But those who were given the opportunity to govern for generations should look within if they are even fit to demand an account”.

    The government of India on August 5, 2019, revoked articles 370 and 35A and bifurcated the state of J&K into two UTs.

    Jammu and Kashmir has been a top priority for the current government since it took power in 2014, he said. Shah added the government expects that around 25,000 government jobs will be created in Jammu and Kashmir by 2022.