News Kashmir Magazine

Valley of Crime!

News Kashmir Exclusive
Moral degradation has plagued  kashmir over the past few years. We have been continuously witnessing growing drug addiction, vulgarity, loss of respect for elders are some of the evident realities that once pious kashmiri society is fast losing its moral fabric. All this is impacting our growth as a society.
 As a result once known for its pious values the region of Jammu and Kashmir is experiencing a highly disturbing scenario with crime level reaching to an alarming level here.Srinagar the heart of Kashmir has also witnessed many ugly crimes in recent times . The Valley of Saints Kashmir is fast becoming known for all the wrong reasons . Few weeks back murder of Ziyaan Chisti, son of Mohammad Ashraf Chisti, a resident of Rainawari area of Srinagar was stabbed to death while another youth namely Faizan Fida Bhat, son of Fida Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Elahibagh was left  wounded near the Dastgeer Sahib shrine in Khanyar in  evening time .
Police on its part stated that , one of the main reasons behind this entire episode has been established that an accused person owed the deceased youth a sum of rupees 7 thousand. The entire argument revolved around the issue of money and seems to be major reason behind the argument, which has resulted in the killing of one person namely Ziyaan Chisti, while another Faizan Bhat has been injured.Shockingly the murder was commited by dear friend .Police after few days  claimed to have cracked the sensational murder of a 17 year old youth and arrested three accused from Srinagar old city.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Zahid Bhat and Faizan Fida Bhat of Ellahi Bagh, Soura and Wajid Altaf Kaullah of Jabgri Pora Nowhatta Srinagar.
Police said all the three  accused persons have been arrested within 12 hrs of the incident and investigation of the case is underway.On the other hand, J&K has witnessed an increase in crimes against women during the past two years, a report by state Crime Branch (CB) has revealed.
In 2017, at least 3363 cases of atrocities against women were registered by police. These included cases of kidnapping, abduction, rape, molestation, dowry, cruelty by husband and other crimes.
 In previous years one has been witness to the fact that heinous crimes unheard in Kashmir some decades ago have occurred  frequently .
Sane voices are urging that all the stakeholders of the society urge that we all introspect to check the rising tendency of crimes in Kashmir.

Ration Crisis Cover 25 January 2021

News Kashmir Exclusive

Food security is key to the human survival
Recently the massive cut in ration quota and the directions to provide ration to only Adhar card holders triggered a protest in the premises of Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs here in Srinagar city.  The protesting employees from the department alleged that field staff is unable to confront the general public due to vague orders issued by the government.   The protest was led by Jammu and Kashmir Food and Supplies Employees Association President Riyaz Ahmed Sofi.   The protesters raised the slogans against the government and alleged that the department has endangered the lives of field staff especially store keepers.   Employee leadership stated that the Department has deleted one lakh 25 thousand consumers from its portal just because they have no Adhar Cards. This is absurd and a move to harass people.  They opined consumers ask store keepers to show formal order.   
  Pertinently, Government has curtailed over 120371.62 quintals of food-grains (rice and wheat) in Kashmir Valley. Store Keepers and Fair Price Shop dealers have virtually locked their stores demanding supply of rice as per the desired quota and a formal announcement from the Department in this regard.           Under National Food Security Act (NFSA), Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Directorate of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Kashmir has allocated 210849.89 quintals of food-grains for the month of January 2021. Last year in October, 331221.51 quintals of food-grains had been allocated for Valley. “This is a deficit of 120371.62 quintals of food-grains and it is a huge margin that will affect people badly.For the month of January 2021, under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) category, 30457.95 quintals of rice (50595.74 quintals in Nov 2020) have been procured. Under the same category 1321.60 quintals of wheat has been allocated while the figure in November 2020 was1488.11 quintals.    For the month of January 2021, under Priority Household (PHH) category, 98035.79 quintals of rice (155941.69 quintals in Nov 2020) have been procured. Under the same category 6620.00 quintals of wheat has been allocated for the current January month while the figure in November 2020 was 8207.46 quintals.    For the month of January 2021, under Non- Priority Household (NPHH) category, 70701.04 quintals of rice (109239.08 quintals in Nov 2020) have been allocated. Under the same category 3713.51 quintals of wheat has been allocated for the current January month while the figure in November 2020 was 5749.43 quintals.  The political pulse of Jammu and Kashmir is expressing deep anguish over the sorry state of affairs with reference to ration availability and the paradigms brought in.Expressing concern over the shortage of ration and arbitrary curtailment in food supplies quota in Kashmir division, Apni Party senior leader Muhammad Dilawar Mir Monday urged Lt Governor ManojSinha to address the issue on priority.
A statement of Apni Party issued here said that Mir said that Kashmir was witnessing an awful shortage of ration supplies and the Director Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Kashmir appeared to be in “deep slumber”.On the other hand , in a joint statement issued here, senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather and NC Women’s Wing President ShameemaFirdous said that there was a crisis-like situation in Kashmir due to non-availability of basic essentials  and the administration had failed to live up to its obligation of ensuring people all  basic civic amenities and essentials. The statement quoted the NC leaders as saying that the curtailment of monthly ration to APL and BPL families had compounded the woes of people across J&K in general and people of Kashmir in particular due to the ongoing harsh winter season.

Highway Hiccups

News Kashmir Exclusive
The travel along the 255-km so-called all-weather Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, which connects Kashmir with the rest of the country, has since long time  become a nightmarish and horrible  experience for people especially in the winter months despite constructions of tunnels .Pertinent to mention here, Notably, tunnels, such as the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel and the Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel have reduced the distance between Jammu and Srinagar (formerly 295 km) by about 40 km .The Banihal to Ramban sector is still proving to be uphill challenge with often closures in winter . The heavy snowfall at the start of this year has mean that in the month of January 2021 national highway has hardly remained open for traffic .
The closure of highway has given much difficulty to the commuters and drivers plying on this road. The collapse of bridge near Ramban caused big obstacle .Jammu-Srinagar National Highway shall remain closed due to sudden collapse of retaining wall of a bridge near Kela Morh, Ramban on January 10 at 6:20 pm. Repairing by concrete filling and settling of the concrete for making it motorable may take approximately 10 days as per project director NHAI,” the Traffic advisory said .Highway closure of this nature leads to inflation .The much long nature of closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway has now started affecting the smooth delivery of supplies to the Valley. The markets are already witnessing inflation in form of sky-rocketing of prices especially that of basic food items and vegetables.
On average, every day, around 1,200 trucks and as many tankers, besides 1,000 vehicles ferrying passengers, ply on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. There are also over 500 vehicles of government forces on the road on a routine day. Nearly 7,000 vehicles cross the Banihal toll post on an average day.
Recently also , The drivers stranded along Srinagar—Jammu highway for the past four days on  rued lack of facilities alleging that the administration seems to have forgotten them.
The drivers  stuck along the highway following the damage to the bridge at Kela Morh in Ramban stated they are facing many difficulty.
Many are hoping that four lanning , and start of rail link between Kashmir to Jammu would start soon so that highway blockades would not hamper lives of people soon.
The work on the intervening 111 km section of Katra-Banihal is ongoing and is the most challenging portion due to its geology and extensive riverine system with deep gorges. Recently, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal asked the engineers working on the project to expedite the remaining portion on a mission mode.
For the moment although the closed highway is giving much troubled time to the people of Kashmir .

Cover 11 January, 2021 Issue

 Snow Vagaries

News Kashmir Exclusive
Kashmir has seen one of the heaviest snowfall in decades . On 3 January, 2021 Sunday heavy Snowfall began to lash parts of the Kashmir .And, after Four days of incessant snowfall, weather in Kashmir witnessed a significant improvement on Thursday, 7 January  but heavy snowfall left property worth lakhs of rupees damaged and two persons including a CRPF sub-inspector dead.As a matter of fact ,heavy snowfalls in Kashmir have given testing times to both people and authorities.
Jammu Srinagar NHW [national highway] blocked due to snow accumulation at Jawahar Tunnel and Landslides/mudslides/shooting stones at Samroli, Magarkot, Panthyal, Marog, Cafeteria mor, Dhalwas, Nashri @JmuKmrPolice,” tweeted Jammu & Kashmir traffic police.
A group of tourists from Rajasthan had a narrow escape along the highway near Panthal when a landslide hit the vehicle they were travelling in. Police said the tourists were rescued and were safe.
The snowfall, heaviest in decades  created  havoc on the road and electricity infrastructure in the Valley.
The heavy  snowfall  caused faults in several feeder lines in Kashmir leading to power outages in many areas especially the rural areas .In many areas of Sriningar the administration was seen clearing the snow but in many areas of Kashmir Valley especially the rural areas people were on their own clearing snow and facing hardships .Electricity supply remained good in some areas but equally poor in many with bad reports of many transformers exploding causing hardship to the masses .The claims and counter claims continued .CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami alleged that the claims of the administration on alertness had been exposed “especially in South Kashmir that saw massive power breakdown, road blockades and scarcity of essential commodities”.
Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P.K. Pole said adequate stock of essential commodities was available in the Valley. “For the higher reaches and the other areas, which remain cut-off during the winter period, we have kept ration for 4-6 months stocked,” Mr. Pole said.
The need of the hour is to strengthen the roots of Administration further so that we meet such heavy snowfalls with better preparedness.As heavy snowfall blocked roads in Kashmir, local youth ferried a pregnant woman on a cot in South Kashmir, marched for 12 km on foot amid 7-inch snow accumulated on got the road and took her to the hospital. Later, she delivered the baby safely. The patient had developed labor pain but the snowy roads blocked her way. Locals accused the administration of failing to clear the snow accumulated on the road because of which, no vehicle could ply on the road and the patient had to be taken on the cot.
One hopes administration would take holistic view of these serious issues .

Cover Story 4 January, 2021 Issue.

Terrible 20Hopeful 21
News Kashmir Analysis 
The year 2020 will undoubtedly go down in history as the worst year ever — at least to those of us living in it. It started with Australia forests on fire ,a near war between Iran and USA over killing of General Soleimani . And who knew that it was just the start .The Coronavirus Pandemic that spread from China began to rattle entire world from March 2020 . Millions have died and Crores got Infected due to Coronavirus in the year 2020.The pandemic destroyed economies and millions of Jobs throughout the world .Perhaps the biggest outstanding mystery surrounding the virus’s biology is where it came from. Strong evidence suggests that it originated in bats, and probably passed to humans through an intermediate animal. A number of animal species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, including cats and mink. In September, the World Health Organization (WHO) formed a scientific team to investigate the animal origin of the pandemic, starting its search in China and expanding elsewhere. US President Donald Trump and others have claimed, without substantive evidence, that a Chinese laboratory released SARS-CoV-2, but most scientists think that is highly unlikely.Farmer agitation against the farm reform bills passed by the Government was another bad news .The farmers’ agitation against new agri laws will lead to economic loss of over Rs 70,000 crore in the December quarter owing to supply chain disruptions, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and border areas of Delhi, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said recently. The chamber’s President Sanjay Aggarwal said “the 36 days farm agitation so far will have more than Rs 70,000 crore economic loss in the Q3 FY 2020-21 due to…disruption in supply chains and day-to-day economic activities particularly in the progressive states of Punjab and Haryana and border areas of National capital Delhi.”Even in Kashmir job loss ,Covid and conflict deaths made Kashmir an unhappy place to live .Now masses are hoping for a better year 2021.As 2021 prepares for its time in the spotlight, perhaps no year in our lifetime has so much weight on it to perform brilliantly. social feeds were full of GIFs and memes panning 2020 and begging for 2021. There is so much hope, so much expectation for 2021 to be a great year. The anticipation for 2021 was  immediately palpable.
One hopes that after worst 2020, the year 2021 would offer hope to humanity and prove to be better year .

DDC Verdict 2020

News Kashmir Analysis 
DDC (District Development Council) Results have come in Jammu and Kashmir as a big surprise to one and all.The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), led by Farooq Abdullah, won 110 seats of the total 280 constituencies in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party with 75 DDC constituencies followed by J&K National Conference with 67 seats. The PDP bagged 27 while the Congress won 26 seats.
The newly formed J&K Apni Party (JKAP) won 12 while JKPC and CPI-M bagged eight and five seats.278 results were declared out of 280 .While as top leader of PAGD and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted to say that the BJP “had made this election a prestige issue about Art 370 & J&K’s special status. The people have now spoke hin & it’s for those who believe in democracy to pay heed to these voices”.He added that All of us in the @JKPAGD are deeply indebted & grateful to the people of J&K for your support at this critical juncture. We reaffirm our commitment to use all democratic & legal weapons at our disposal to continue to fight for our rights.On the other hand , Union Minister for Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad,  in a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi said that several candidates among independents who won 39 seats in DDC elections are BJP supporters.

He further said that the BJP has emerged as the single largest party in DDC election in Jammu and Kashmir with the 74 seats and highest number of votes, i.e. 4.87 lakhs. 

“The People Alliance for Gupkar Declaration was formed because the component of that alliance knew they could not fight BJP single-handedly,” said Prasad during the press conference.BJP is rejoicing over the fact that it first time ever won three Seats from the Kashmir valley while as PAGD is countering it by saying that they won 35 seats from Jammu region .
Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikander , eminent political analyst stated : “DDC elections have depicted that citizens of J&K still have not accepted BJP. Although the election boycott trend is still vibrant but people have supported PAGD candidates. The newly launched JK Apni party did not fare well in these elections despite the aura created around it. Apni party is home to more than half of the renegade PDP candidates and congress dissidents, but it’s performance was quite poor, making one surmise that it cannot prove to be alternative to NC, PDP and other such parties. BJP lost many seats in Jammu region too, pointing out the fact that assembly elections whenever they will be held will not prove to be a cakewalk for it. The three seats that BJP won in Kashmir, make it clear that election boycott plus Pandit vote can prove decisive for BJP in Kashmir valley.”The next big curoisty would be how many DDC chairman’s and Vice Chairman each alliance bags out of 20 Districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Cover 21 December, 2020

Pharmacy Reforms in JKNews Kashmir Health Bureau 

The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients, with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate the symptoms. Pharmaceutical companies may deal in generic or brand medications and medical devices.
In Jammu and Kashmir region many pharmacy shops over the decades have functioned in a very dubious manner with untrained and non professionals running them . There has been a growing demand to provide pharmacy shop license only who are well versed as lack of same act as a great peril and threat towards public health .
Jammu and Kashmir has been also plagued by the massive prevelance of fake drugs in market ,which many studies and surveys over the years have pointed out .Pharmacy reforms in Jammu and Kashmir are long due and now are happening steadily ,which is a good news .
Recently in a very positive development with reference to it , Jammu and Kashmir Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo, formally launched portal for online registrations/validation of Pharmacies under Pharmacy Act, 1948.

As many as, 3 candidates who had uploaded their documents were handed over certificates as Registered Pharmacist on spot.

Financial Commissioner, while appreciating functioning of Pharmacy Council of Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, expressed hope that all stakeholders shall get immensely benefitted by this initiative. He said that Pharmacists play a pivotal role in the healthcare system and their contribution is critical towards mitigating sufferings of ailing masses.He expressed hope that the Pharmacy Council shall strive hard to ensure that the practice and profession of Pharmacy in the Union Territory of J&K is regulated in an efficient manner and this body continues to uphold the sanctity of moral ethics, code and conduct among Pharmacy professionals.

He appreciated the Jammu & Kashmir Pharmacy Council for eliminating physical interface in various services offered by it. He said that a transparent, accountable and time bound system is always required to address the problems being faced by candidates aspiring to acquire grant/renewal of their Pharmacist Registration certificates.Expert pulse has been in favour of what they term the  implementation of central pharmacy laws to the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh that in a positive manner  ended the hegemony and monopoly and shook the nerves of under-qualified practitioners as now as per central laws every Tom, Dick and Harry can’t enter the profession of pharmacy without valid credentials – the old practice much  prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir.In another great development this year IMAGEJammu and Kashmir Government has established 12 AMRIT Pharmacies across the Union Territory to reduce Out Of Pocket Expenditure for consumers. These stores provide branded drugs and implants surgical and disposable at affordable prices. AMRIT pharmacies, which are operating under an MoU between both central and Union Territory administrations, sell branded drugs such as those used for treating cancer and cardiovascular diseases at an average discount of up to 60 per cent. These pharmacies offer an inventory of more than 5,200 drugs, implants, surgical disposable and other consumables besides ensuring availability of generic and lifesaving branded drugs is its prime objective.
The pulse on ground is quite positive over the public interests reforms being brought in Jammu and Kashmir .

Cover 14 December, 2020 Issue

Brain Drain Hurting Kashmir Rameez Makhdoomi 

Brain Drain since decades is wrecking havoc in the valley of Kashmir.It is worth pointing outhere that Brain drain is a slang term indicating substantial emigration or migration of individuals. A brain drain can result from turmoil within a nation, the existence of favorable professional opportunities in other countries, or from a desire to seek a higher standard of living.
The shifting to better places for employment is not only causing the brain drain meaning leaving of efficient human resources from native land in this case Kashmir bearing the brunt, but also causing pain and emotional trauma to the elders of families . 

Change is the law of nature and Kashmir cannot be exception but since many years faster  exodus to foreign lands is matter of great concern. 

Syed Arshid Hussain Kashani, a writer and scholarly voices who ponders on this subject states :”  Brain Drain is a very serious issue .There is a case of settling abroad in almost every locality now, with rest of family trying to adjust in the situation. We see a little jubilation in the beginning in most of the cases;however, the families with an old history of such development live in a different shade now. I few months back wrote how an uptown old couple wished to donate their entire property as despite huge properties because of well settled kids outside they had no one around when they needed them most. It was painful to note that the owner told the charity group that there was no dearth of money, he pleaded that he will be donating all his wealth provided in turn charity group  will take care of them as long as they continue to live. This case is not exception but such cases and scenarios are now common thing throughout length and breadth  of the Kashmir valley. “

Syed Arshad Hussain Kashani adds that to great worry  settling abroad is now irresistible; parents and kids have almost surrendered on this issue. It has been found that settling abroad is usually one way traffic; you rarely return to attend your moral obligations and this trend is increasing. 
The voices of sanity on ground state  that if this phenomenon remains unchecked and more youngesters began to abandon their homes, the need for setting up old age homes may become a reality.All this will also hurt the overall talent pool of the Kashmir valley .For decades, Kashmir’ s skilled professionals have preferred emigrating to the Gulf or  West in search of better jobs, lucrative salaries and higher standards of living.  All this is causing loss of talented humans to Kashmir and in this regard the Government of Jammu and Kashmir should create widespread opportunities so brain drain of talented humans is stopped .

Cover story 7 December,2020

Weak IT Sector Hurting Kashmir News Kashmir Technology Bureau 

Information Technology is considered among the major sectors  of world  today generating a sizeable revenues  and considerable  proportions of employment throughout the world  .
Over the past few decades the  IT Sector has taken center-stage in the progress of global economies and played a very important  role in the  development of Indian economy too. 
Pertinently, India, one of the most technologically forward moving countries in the globe; the IT sector plays a major  role in economy and as a matter of fact sometime back it employed more than 3  million people and accounts for over five percent of the country’s gross domestic product and export earnings. 
 It was stated that India’s outsourcing industry is expected to hit 225 billion dollars by in 2020.
 But unfortunate part is that in Kashmir not much attention has been paid to the development of Information Technology sector and despite producing huge number of IT professionals we do not have  job opportunities for them. 

Most importantly despite being announced several years back the dream of having Mega IT Park in Kashmir has remained an elusive dream. Now with Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir coming into being many voices are hopeful that IT sector of Kashmir gets due attention. 

 Experts from time to time have made it clear that there are a wide variety of career opportunities available for capable and experienced IT professionals. 
Experts are urging upon the government to take all the necessary steps for the promotion of IT Sector in the valley of Kashmir.
 Dvelopment of IT sector in Kashmir holds the key towards the path of peace and progress . The Information Technology sector outhere lacks quality IT Parks and a large number of IT Professionals are thus jobless in the valley of Kashmir.We have been witness to the negative fact that  IT Parks have been promised but no pragmatic effort made to build the same.
Javaid Ahmad  ,an Information Technology  professional said, “ Information Technology is big  sectors of today’s world and no country or place can progress swiftly  without it.We in Kashmir as a  matter of worrisome facets  lack quality IT Parks in Kashmir .The majority of IT Professionals in the valley of Kashmir are facing a host of issues and problems on account of lack of job avenues in this all important sector in the entire state especially  kashmir valley. We are hopeful that major steps would be taken to promote IT Sector of Kashmir.’
One hopes IT Sector of Kashmir sees brighter tomorrow soon.

Inefficient WAQF
Rameez Makhdoomi

Kashmir is the famous allover globe as being land of great Saints, Sufis. It is bestowed with religious wealth in the form of abundant shrines and places of worship enjoying reverence and allegiance of people professing different faiths.The valley of Kashmir with the inception of Islam did undergo tremendous  positive changes at all levels and strata of society. Islam in Kashmir wasn’t result of some brutal and bloody conquest but by the efforts and toil of Sufi Saints. The imprints which Islam left on Kashmiris have been rightly observed by the noted historian Prem Nath Bazaz “Politics had dehumanized the Kashmiris; Islam made them men again. Just as the Muslim rule was established in Kashmir without much bloodshed, so was Islam spread throughout the length and breadth of the valley by peaceful preaching and lucid persuasions of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani(RA) and hundreds of the Sayyid Missionaries who came from Hamadan and other parts of Persia.As a matter of fact, the sacred shrines in Kashmir belong to both Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims and are visited by lakhs  of devotees. Some of the shrines are the world renowned  such as shrine of Dargah Sharif Hazratbal, Baba-Zain-ud-Din Wali R.A. (Aishmuqam), Baba Hyder Reshi R.A. (Anantnag), the last of the saints of the Rishi order in Kashmir about whose resting place the Alamdar-i-Kashmir (Flag Bearer of Kashmir), Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Rishi R.A. (Charar- e -Sharief) , Baba Dawood Ghoni R.A. (Vailoo), Hazrat Noor Shah Bagdadi R.A. (Kund), Hazrat Sheikh Syed Samnani R.A. (Kulgam), Baba Naseeb-ud-Din Ghazi R.A. (Bijbehara) Hazrat Syed Yaqoob Sarfi R.A.,Hazrat Baba Gulindin Sahib (R.A.),Hazrat Baba Reshi Sahib R.A. Gulmarg, Hazrat Baba Shikur – u –din Sahib R.A. Watlab Sopore, Shrine of Hazrat Peer-e-Dastgeer Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Geelani R.A.at Khanyar Srinagar etc.Besides, these Muslim shrines, in J&K there are other sacred religious places like Chatti Padshahi Gurudwara  in Srinagar and Shri Vaishno Devi In Katra managed by Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (GPC) and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi .Muslim WAQf Board is managing these all shrines which has the unique distinction of being second largest asset rich body in Jammu and Kashmir after the  government as it  is the custodian of these 47 holy shrines in the Kashmir Valley. WAKF Board gets tremendous income   from the Nazar o Niyaz (Donations) made by the devotees visiting these sacred shrines with unflinching faith.What is tragic to note is the fact that despite generating tremendous resources, the  corruption and malpractices have marred the functioning of WAQF since decades admitted even by top management.WAQF in Kashmir should have been known for philanthropic activity ,building strong institutes of health and education but it is most of times in news for all the wrong reasons .Recently, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Member, Central Waqf Council and Chairperson, Waqf Development Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs,  Dr. Darakhshan Andrabi stated  that Waqf Board is corrupt to the core and no place Is left untouched by the corrupt hands of the board in Kashmir.
While speaking  at Balhama, She said, “Since I’ve been a part of the board, I’ve seen a lot of corruption take places. I will make sure that all of those people, who have done corruption, will not get away with it.”
Chairperson of Central Waqf Development Committee said, “The corruption is everywhere, Mosques, graveyards, shrines, etc. no place has been left. I am a part of the board, I request the government of India to create a separate Waqf board for the Shia community.”
Masses are hopeful that WAQF Functioning would improve.