News Kashmir Magazine

Drug crimes 

News Kashmir Analysis 

With rising drug addiction the crime graph in Jammu and Kashmir especially the valley of Kashmir is also running north.

Unheard crimes and that of heinous, brutal nature are happening with regular occurrence in Kashmir. 

As a matter of humongous shame,  Matricide is also happening often. 

In a grim episode, drug addict’ son killed his elderly mother in Dangerpora village of Sopore in north Kashmir’s on Wednesday night, 29 March , 2023.

The accused Showket Ahmed who strangulated his mother to death was a chronic drug addict and was taken by police in preventive custody several times owing to his drug addiction. 

“Around 11:30pm, Showket knocked on our door and was carrying an iron rod in his hand. We got panicked especially my wife who had undergone a surgery yesterday. Showket told me there are some unknown men at his home but noticing him under the influence of drugs, I pushed him away and locked the door again,” said Showket’s brother, Mushtaq Ahmed, who resides next to mother’s house told to media outlet.

Confirming the unfortunate incident, a senior police officer said that they have launched a large-scale manhunt to nab the accused.

“We are looking into all possible angles regarding the incident”, the officer said adding, “Once any further details are available, same will be shared accordingly.”

Before it  October last year, a resident of Kehribal in Anantnag killed his own mother only to steal money from the deceased. After the murder, the suspect, along with his friend, created a fake story to mislead the people and the police by blaming his relatives for the crime.

The heinous crimes in Kashmir are linked to rising drug abuse. Kashmir has become epicenter of drug abuse in country.

The National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India conducted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment India through National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi has said that there are nearly 10 lakh drug addicts in Jammu and Kashmir.

The data was revealed after National Conference Member of Parliament Hasnain Masoodi in Lok Sabha sought details of total number of suspected drug addicts in the union territory.

As per the data, 1,08,000 males and 36,000 females were found using cannabis while 5,34,000 males and 8,000 females were found in the dragnet of opioids and 1,60,000 males and 8,000 females were found using sedatives of different kinds.

One hopes that this dangerous trend of cocktail of drug and crimes in Kashmir is brought to an end. 

Maternal Deaths

News Kashmir Analysis

Maternal Deaths is an issue of grave concern. Every two minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth, according to the latest estimates released in a report by United Nations agencies today. This report, Trends in maternal mortality, reveals alarming setbacks for women’s health over recent years, as maternal deaths either increased or stagnated in nearly all regions of the world.

“While pregnancy should be a time of immense hope and a positive experience for all women, it is tragically still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world who lack access to high quality, respectful health care,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “These new statistics reveal the urgent need to ensure every woman and girl has access to critical health services before, during and after childbirth, and that they can fully exercise their reproductive rights.”

The report, which tracks maternal deaths nationally, regionally and globally from 2000 to 2020, shows there were an estimated 287 000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2020. This marks only a slight decrease from 309 000 in 2016 when the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into effect. While the report presents some significant progress in reducing maternal deaths between 2000 and 2015, gains largely stalled, or in some cases even reversed, after this point.

The silver lining amid dark clouds is that there is good news from India. per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India (RGI), the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has improved further by a spectacular 6 points and now stands at 97/ lakh live births.

On the regional level, Assam continues to have the highest MMR (195) but has improved its own performance over the years.

In 2014-2016, the northeastern state’s MMR was at a dangerously high 237 deaths per one lakh live births. This has improved significantly over the years to 229 in 2015-2017, 215 in 2016-2018 and 205 in 2017-2019, showed the data released November 28, 2022.

One hopes India and world is able to deal with the grave issue of maternal deaths.

To tackle maternal deaths, women need quality, respectful healthcare before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth.

It is worth mentioning here that India recorded the second highest number of maternal deaths in 2020, coming second at 24,000 to only Nigeria which saw 82,000 maternal deaths in the pandemic year. However, there has been an overall reduction of 73.5 per cent in maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in India — deaths per lakh live births .

Land Grab Debate

News Kashmir Analysis 

The issues and debate around the Government action on Land grabbers in Jammu and Kashmir are heating up. For the past three decades, Land Grabbing has been an issue of major concern. Now the ongoing Government action has started a debate. 

It is worth pointing out that 

The L-G administration passed directions to all deputy commissioners to evict illegal occupiers from the State land in J&K by January 31 this year.

As a matter of fact, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday said only influential and powerful people who misused their position to encroach upon the State land would be evicted in the Union Territory (UT).

“The High Court has passed directions repeatedly to evict illegal encroachers from State land. Let me clarify that influential people who have misused their position, violated rules and grabbed land will be evicted. The common man and poor man will not be touched. We will ensure their rights are secured,” L-G Sinha said in Srinagar.

“The drive will continue and no one will be spared and all the illegal encroachments on the State as well as ‘kahcharai land’ will be removed”ShyambirDeputy Commissioner Ganderbal stated.

According to official figures released on Thursday, around 1,600 kanals (200 acres) of government land was recovered in a single day during anti-encroachment drives in Bandipora.

With these 1,571 kanals, the total retrieved land has increased to around 28,000 Kanals (3,499 acres), which have been retrieved from the land grabbers.

The official pulse is that 

most of these encroachments had taken place on the posh outskirts of the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar—in Bahu tehsil (Sidhra, Bhathandi, Sunjwan) in Jammu and Humhama and Rangret areas of Srinagar—in the last several decades. Cost of land in these areas ranges between Rs 2.00 crore and Rs 4 crore.

Consequent of the UT Government’s recent decision of retrieving all these lands, Commissioner-Secretary Revenue, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, has directed all the 20 DCs, vide Circular No: 02-JK(Rev) of 2023 dated 09-01-2023, to remove all the identified encroachments and achieve “100% target” by 31st January 2023. He has asked the DCs to submit daily progress of the retrieval of State land and Kahcharai land, as per a format, through respective Divisional Commissioners every evening.

Despite protest from some political parties Jammu and Kashmir Government is going ahead with retrieving of land grabbed and so far thousands of Kanals have been received back.

One hopes all the land grabbed illegally would be retrieved back.

GI Tags Boosting Economy 

News Kashmir Analysis 

Geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product’s source, is intended as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, is made according to traditional methods, or enjoys a good reputation due to its geographical origin.

Article 22.1 of the TRIPS Agreement defines geographical indications as “…indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member [of the World Trade Organization], or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.”

In India, sometime back adding to the present collection of Geographical Indications (GIs), nine new items, including gamocha of Assam, Tandur red gram of Telangana, Raktsey Karpo apricot of Ladakh, and Alibag white onion of Maharashtra, have been given the coveted GI tag. Kerala has been awarded five GI tags for its agricultural produce.

With this, the total number of GI tags in India comes to 432. The top five states holding the maximum number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Of these, 401 are Indian-origin products, 31 foreign-origin.

In Kashmir too the large number of GI tags given by the Government is giving many positives by boosting the local economy and promoting orginal and pure products of Kashmir..

The GI tag ensures that none other than those registered as authorised users (or at least those residing inside the geographic territory) are allowed to use the popular product name.

As a matter of fact, The Department of Handicrafts and Handloom (H&H) Kashmir has submitted the dossier for registration of two more crafts viz. Crewel and Chain-stitch to Intellectual Property India, Chennai, an apex body for the registration and better protection of geographical indications (GI) relating to goods in India.

Recently also, to give a impetus to saffron production in Kashmir, J&K government launched new initiatives including the introduction of GI tagging.

The GI certification of Kashmiri saffron by Geographical Indications Registry would cease the adulteration and will also put an end to the marketing of saffron cultivated in other countries under the garb of being produced in Kashmir.

In other development sometime back, The Jammu and Kashmir government has finally started a Geographical Indication (GI) registry for the famed Kashmiri carpet with a quick response (QR) code with details of artisans and the material used. The first ever consignment of GI-tagged carpets were exported to Germany from New Delhi.

One hopes Geographical Indications would continue to boost economy of Jammu and Kashmir and entire India.

Dhangri Bloodbath

News Kashmir Analysis 

The recent bloodbath in Dhangri Area of Rajouri District is a matter of great worry. Terror and extremist elements have been able to commit a heinous crime against humanity. The killing of Hindu civilians which included even children have saddened the hearts of every sane human in Jammu and Kashmir.

A large crowd gathered in Dhangri village on Tuesday, 3 January 2022  morning to attend the last rites of the six civilians killed in the terror attack in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday on New year 2023 eve .

In the massacre, Four civilians, including a father-son duo, were gunned down by terrorists who barged into their homes in Dhangri village on Sunday night.

The carnage did not stop here. Hours later an improvised explosive device (IED) went off around 9 am on Monday at the house of one of the victims. The blast killed two minors and injured 12.

Following both the attacks, on Monday evening, the Medical Superintendent of GMC Association, Rajouri said, “Six people are dead and 12 are under treatment in Rajouri in three Government Medical Colleges, Jammu.

National Conference top lesder and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah  condemned the killings.

Deeply shocked as more details emerge of this targeted attack in Rajouri district of Jammu. I unequivocally condemn this heinous attack & send my condolences to the families of the deceased. I hope those injured in this attack will make a swift & complete recovery. #RajouriAttack,” Omar Abdullah tweeted. 

Civil society is also pained by Dhangri Bloodbath.

J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu Wednesday boycotted work in all courts and held a protest demonstration against the brutal killing of innocent people in Rajouri recently by the terrorists.

On the otherhand, Fifteen companies of CRPF comprising 1,500 personnel have been deployed in Jammu and Kashmir’s twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch to secure minority areas in the region, officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Ravinder Raina on January 03 went to Dangri village to pay his last respect to the deceased of the terror attack. Speaking with ANI, Ravinder Raina said, “The burning pyres of people is the murder of humanity. Those who committed this crime will be punished by our Army and Police. God will also never forgive these murders. Which kind of bravery is to kill women and children? These cowardly Pakistani terrorists are not worth fighting with the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police.” Earlier, on the morning of January 03, locals of Dangri village in Rajouri of Jammu and Kashmir gathered for the last rites.

The Dhangri Bloodbath has raised fears in Jammu and Kashmir, and pained every human.