News Kashmir Magazine

News Kashmir Exclusive

In a major development, Veteran politician, Shri Satya Pal Malik was recently sworn-in as the 13th Governor of Jammu and Kashmir .J&K High Court Chief Justice, Justice Gita Mittal administered the oath of office to Shri Malik at a simple but impressive function at bedecked sprawling lawns of Raj Bhavan here.The warrant of appointment of Shri Malik was read out by the Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam. A poet and author, Shri Malik was previously the Governor of Bihar and Odisha and was appointed J&K Governor by the President of India on 21 August 2018.

 

Born on 24 July 1946 to a family of agriculturists in village, Hisawada, Baghpat (district Meerut) in Uttar Pradesh, Shri Malik after graduating in science, pursued law degree at Meerut University before joining politics. He also holds a diploma in Parliamentary Affairs from the Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies run by Parliament of India.

 

He was a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly during 1974-77. He was also the member of the 9th Lok Sabha and represented Aligarh Constituency from 1989 to 1991. He was member of Rajya sabha from Uttar Pradesh for two terms of 1980-86 and 1986-1992.

 

Shri Malik served as Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism from 21 April 1990 to 10 November 1990.

 

 

 

Former Chief Ministers, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti; Union Minister of State in PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, Speaker J&K Legislative Assembly, Dr Nirmal Singh; MPs; Legislators; Heads of Constitutional Bodies; Governor’s Advisors, B B Vyas, K Vijay Kumar and Khurshid Ahmad Ganai; serving and former Judges of the J&K High Court; Director General of Police, Dr S P Vaid; Administrative Secretaries, Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir & Jammu; senior civil, police CRPF, BSF and Army officers, political and civil society representatives were among the modest gathering of 400 dignitaries who attended the oath ceremony.

 

Bilal Bashir Bhat, a young journalist commenting on the development stated “Shri Malik has replaced a heavyweight like NN Vohra . We know he has been member of several Parliamentary Committees including Panel of Chairman, General Purposes Committee, Business Advisory Committee, Chairman, Joint Sub Committee on Telecasting of Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, Chairman, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table and Parliamentary Consultative Committee.He is also a poet and author and has written two books on poetry and a Political Commentary. We are hopeful that he uses his political acumen to fullest to guide the trouble torn state in right direction especially in these tough times .”

On the otherhand of the spectrum, Having special interest in history and archaeology, Shri Malik is also known for his social activities including establishing day-care centres for the children of poor labourers.

He has also organised several farmers’ and youth movements during his more than six decades long political career.

The pulse is filled with optimism that may his appointment change the fortunes opf state to better times .

 

 

News Kashmir

Effective policing helps in making a civilized society and it is only by relentless efforts of police that we see peace in societies and crimes getting thwarted or decreasing. In Jammu and Kashmir state due to burning political conflict the Police Department has had to play multiple roles and have given exemplary sacrifices while rendering their duties.

For some time the feel that Kashmiri based police officers at top positions is dwindling and also the ratio of Kashmiris in JK Police is dwindling is getting much vocal . Worryingly enough the presence of police officers from Kashmir at key district-level positions in the state, especially in the Valley, is witnessing decline with every fresh transfer order.

On the otherhand, The transfers effected by the state Home department on Monday have triggered fears among the local officers that they would be dumped to insignificant positions in coming days. “Are not we competent enough to handle crucial assignments? How can officers with four to five years of experience handle crucial and sensitive districts in Kashmir? It is sheer injustice with us,” a group of police officers told leading English daily of Kashmir Greater Kashmir.

Pertinently, With this latest reshuffle, the number of officers from Kashmir holding the positions of district police chiefs has reduced to five. Of them four are holding such positions in Kashmir and one in Jammu province.In Kashmir Valley’s 13 police districts, only four district police chiefs – Imtiyaz Hussain Mir (SSP Baramulla), Harmeet Singh Mehta (SP Kulgam), Altaf Ahmad Khan (SSP Anantnag), Imtiaz Ismail Parray (SSP Srinagar) – are from the region.

Also on the otherside of the spectrum, several netizens of Kashmir had expressed dissatisfaction over what they claimed less number of Kashmiris featuring in the latest selected Sub Inspector list. A total of 2,181 candidates have been shortlisted for vivo voce and personality assessment test for the post of sub- inspector and of these, 1,525 candidates hail from Jammu province and 656 candidates are from Kashmir province.

 

Although the police on Wednesday refuted the allegation of discrimination, spread through social networking sites, in the selection of shortlisted candidates for the post of sub-inspector (SI).

“Baseless comments and queries are reportedly circulating among the public through social networking sites about the alleged discrimination to the candidates of Kashmir province which is an intentional move to defame the credibility of the entire recruitment process,” a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said the post of sub-inspector was a state cadre post and a common statewide merit was to be drawn for it.

“The written examination for the post was a competitive examination conducted on an OMR-type answer sheet. The J&K Police has completely switched over to the transparent recruitment process. The current recruitment process is a technologically driven one with minimum human intervention,” the spokesman said.

He described the allegations of discrimination as “baseless, fake, concocted and ill-intentioned”.

 

But analysts state that without an iota of doubt the situation calls on looking into these burning facts and ensure remedial measures.

 

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution is an article that empowers the Jammu and Kashmir state’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents. It was added to the Constitution through a Presidential Order, i.e., The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 – issued by the President of India on 14 May 1954 in accordance with the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and with the concurrence of the Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

In a way , Article 35A defines the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and bars outsiders from settling in the state, and prevents them from buying properties and take part in elections.

The article has been challenged in the apex court by a NGO on the contention that the article has been inserted in the Constitution by a mere Presidential Order and should be struck down.

 

 

Now with clamor growing for its abrogation the unease and resentment especially in the Kashmir valley is growing .

 

Top Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq  directed his cadre and supporters to get ready for an agitation in case the Article 35A of the Constitution is tinkered with by the Supreme Court.

From Civil society members to profreedom leadership and mainstream politicians alike have come together to offer suggestions on what can be done if there is any tinkering with the law.

 

 

Keeping up the heat over the issue the MLA Javed Rana, a senior National Conference leader, lashed out at the BJP and warned them against the scrapping of Article 370 that will give an autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. There has been pressure from the BJP in the past as well since it has been in debate for a very long time.

Addressing a huge crowd, the Mendhar MLA is stated to have said that the Indian tricolor will have no presence in the militancy-hit valley if the government tries to do away with Article 35A and Article 370. He further said that these Articles make a bridge between the country and the state. He also warned that any attempt to break this bridge will have ‘disastrous’ consequences, as per a report by Financial Express (FE).

On the otherhand, The CPI(M)’s Jammu and Kashmir unit has also  moved the Supreme Court in support of the Constitution’s Article 35A that empowers the state assembly to define ‘permanent residents’ for bestowing special rights and privileges to them.

The Left party sought an approval to intervene in a pending writ petition through its state committee member and Kulgam MLA Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami.

While on the other hand of the spectrum, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday said Articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution are temporary laws which can be removed without a vote in the Parliament. Swamy’s statement came after National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah stated that any attempts made to thwart Jammu and Kashmir’s special status would not be allowed to succeed.

Nevertheless a heated debate is on over article 35 A in entire state and has given rise to uneasy situation.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

A historic turn  has taken place in the politics of Pakistan after nearly 30 years. Neither the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) nor the Pakistan Muslim League (N) will form the government in Islamabad this time. It will be the new party  the centrist PTI on the block — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

After more than two decades of hard work in politics it looks finally hardwork and charisma of Imran khan has paid dividends. In his victory speech  from his house in Bani Gala in the capital Islamabad’s suburbs, Khan shared his ambitious plans for the country and vowed to safeguard the interests of the ordinary people. “I will live humbly because I belong to the masses and come from you,” he said in a televised video message.

As a matter of fact , Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) (Urdu: پاکستان تحريک انصاف‎, “Pakistan Movement for Justice”) is a political party in Pakistan founded in 1996 by former national cricket captain Imran Khan. PTI is the most rapidly growing political party of Pakistan, and has created a tri-party system, in which it opposes both the leftist People’s Party and the conservative PML-N.

The biggest curiously is how the cricketer turned politician will take steps to better the worsen ties with India and also what will be his policy on Kashmir issue .

Mani Shankar Aiyar, prominent Indian politician and writer in his column wrote : “

For us in India, the near-universal rejection of Pakistan’s religion-based parties is perhaps the most significant outcome of this election – for it demonstrates (once again) that far from being partisans of fanatical Islamic terrorists, Pakistanis, by and large, reject religious extremism and terror politics. The mainstream of Pakistan’s public opinion is remarkably like India’s: deeply religious but very wary of basing politics on religion,. and wedded to the ballot rather than the bullet.”

While talking to the News Kashmir Nasir Khuehami,  a young journalist states :” Imran Khan offers a change that many will find at least a new and dynamic change. We are yet not much aware about how he will go in the governance matters or foreign policy issues but I feel that less burden of any horrible past will make him take some good decisions hopefully .One hopes he takes steps in establishing peaceful relations with India and seeking solution to the vexed issue of the Kashmir. On relationship with India or on Kashmir issue I feel something new is offing as the previous government in Pakistan had become too predictable and traditional in approach.”

The coming weeks and months will be very interesting to note as to how the new PTI Government functions.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

In a development that has disappointed many the Jammu and Kashmir government has asked cable television operators in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, to stop airing 30 channels broadcasting programmes based on news and religion. It said the move was necessary for the “maintenance of peace and tranquillity” in the region. As a matter of fact , Most of the channels are based in Pakistan, Iran,   and Saudi Arabia. J&K has been under Governor’s Rule since June 20 following the resignation of chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who quit after her People’s Democratic Party-led government collapsed after losing  the support of its alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party

“It has become necessary and expedient in the larger interest of public and maintenance of peace and tranquility to prohibit you from transmitting non-permitted TV channels (which are not permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India),” Srinagar’s additional district magistrate said in an order passed on July 12 in response to a communication from the state’s home department.

On the otherhand,  magistrate issued notices to cable networks SEN Digital Network and K9, quoting the department as saying that they were telecasting “unpermitted or banned” private satellite channels within the jurisdiction of the district.

Cable Tv operators haveen asked to close around 30 channels including Geo, ARY, QTV, Hadi TV, Karbala, Paigam, Peace TV Urdu, Noor, Sehar, Madani, Saudi Quran, Saudi Sunah and many other religious channels.

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Cable TV operators and masses have criticized the decision and termed it as a move aimed at choking them.“More than business loss, this ban will curb viewers’ choice. People will question our credibility once the Islamic channels go off-air especially since Hajj  is approaching fast. On one side we face the government directive and on other hand  strong public demand for these channels puts us in a catch-22 situation” said Amjad Noor, president of Cable operators association adding that thousands of people are associated with the cable TV business in the Valley.

Pertinently, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference also criticized   government for imposing a ban on the transmission of 30 channels operating through cable saying this diktat to cable operators is nothing but a move to block information and keep people of Kashmir away from the day to day happenings across the globe.

“It is surprising to see that even religious and sports channels have been banned and one would ask as to how such channels can pose a ‘threat to peace’ in Kashmir,” a spokesperson of the amalgam said in a statement.

He said in the present times of globalisation and the age of technology and social media, such gags and bans to block information are bound to fail and only reflects the “myopic and dictatorial” approach of authorities.

Definitely the decision to ban these channels is evoking criticism and negative reactions from several quarters.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

Life is a very very valuable endowment given to a living thing by god and all the sane voices have from time to time have stated that we need to value life. The overall contours of human life is to ensure that it creates a better world for all , and in a creative,  fearless manner think, exist and contribute .

 

Unfortunately over the past three decades of violent turmoil In Jammu and Kashmir especially in the Kashmir Valley, the life has simply lost its meaning. Deaths, killings, arrests, injuries, blinding have become ugly realities of life in the valley.  One cycle of death has been followed with other cycle of death . Fear has completely taken over the logic and reasoning.

In the year 2018 too we witnessed that the growing insurgency and mayhem  in violence –ravaged  Jammu and Kashmir state is exhibiting the ugliness and shrill  as of 90s decade when spilling of human blood was order of the day. Now every day we hear series of tragic news updates .

The level of destruction that we are in can be gauged from the  data published by a local English daily ‘Rising Kashmir’ on its 30th June issue which reads, “in first half of 2018, at least 192 people including civilians, militants, policemen and army men were killed in violence in the Valley.”

 

 

 

Jaffar Ahmad Allie , an educationist states – “ It is a grave tragedy that life is losing its meaning and essence in Kashmir to huge bouts of violence . History bear testimony to the basic reality that violent conflict wherever takes roots in the world it brings with it mayhem and destruction and frequently results in the loss of precious human lives.

Enough is enough and we all need to brainstorm how to restore back the value of life despite all odds .In the current times we need to formulate an effective strategy for saving the precious human lives and ensure eyes are saved  from blinding. Every sane human in pain hit Kashmir wants to live   a life of dignity and we plead, urge with utmost great concern to all the stakeholders of the conflict to ensure speedy peaceful conflict resolution.”

Undoubtedly it is high time that bloodshed is put to an end in Kashmir and value of human life not just restored in Kashmir but respected as tragically currently the urge and phenomenon of death is ruling roost over urge to live.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

 

 

Cracks in the prominent political party of the Jammu and Kashmir state especially the Kashmir valley the People’s Democratic Party are with every passing moment getting more bigger and entire party looks in utter disarray.

From one top leader to the other we are now coming across frequent statements from the PDP leaders expressing displeasure over the manner party was being run and also expressing anger towards former  Chief Minister and Party head  Mehbooba Mufti.

 

 

‘The storm was kicked by senior leader and former minister Imran Raza Ansari who has almost  existed  the party.

“I have been telling Mehbooba Mufti for a while that I feel suffocated in this party. From the time she has joined PDP, she keeps thinking about benefits of her relatives. Nepotism has destroyed this party and the entire Kashmir,” Former minister and PDP leader Imran Raza Ansari told media here.

“I told Mehbooba Mufti some time ago that ‘humne aapko khuda-hafiz kar diya hai’. We are stuck for now as we are MLAs, but we are ready for elections. We want to work for public even if we have to change 50 parties for this purpose,” Imran Raza added.

 

His thoughts were echoed by People’s Democratic Party MLA Gulmarg Muhammad Abbas who  said on Monday he would follow in the footsteps of his party colleague Imran Raza Ansari who has openly criticisedMehbooba Mufti and her policies.

Abbas told a local news agency that he endorsed Ansari’s statement against the party leadership and blamed “a few” for hijacking the party.

Nasir Khuehami,  a young journalist reflecting on the issue of Cracks in PDP,  while talking to the News Kashmir stated :” We are certainly and surely seeing many cracks in the People’s Democratic Party which was just few weeks back the ruling party. Many are saying that nobody wants to be part of the sinking ship as we live in day and age when political opportunism rules the roost. It looks divisions and cracks in coming days will get widened and the rebellious elements from PDP might come handy to BJP in its dream of forming the government on its own .The biggest loser at this juncture of time seems to be PDP which seems to be with every day shrinking with its top leaders clearly expressing the dissent and dismay. Next few weeks would be thus also crucial to know as to whether we are heading for another unique government formation or we are heading for the elections. How far will the anti defection related things come into play would also be an interesting point to note,  but one thing is clear that cracks in PDP are now clearly far and wide. ”

Several other senior leaders too have joined the rebellious tone and definitely PDP looks a house totally out of order.

News Kashmir Exclusive

 

 

On June 14, the Office of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights released a first of its kind report documenting alleged human rights violations in Kashmir.

The 49-page report has strongly recommended UN-supervised inquiry commission to probe into the alleged atrocities against civilians by both Indian armed personnel and the militants.

 

 

 

Eminent Human Rights Activist Mir Imran, while talking to the News Kashmir stated : “The Indian state  is in denial about the civilians it’s killing in Kashmir. Civilians have been killed on a horrific scale. The report of UNHRC sheds light on how Indian security forces are responding to demonstrations that started in July 2016. It says, “Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries. Civil society estimates are that 130 to 145 civilians were killed by security forces between mid-July 2016 and end of March 2018, and 16 to 20 civilians were killed by armed groups in the same period. One of most dangerous weapons used against protesters during the unrest in 2016 was the pellet-firing shotgun.” Under international law, States must investigate and prosecute gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law. People in Kashmir are made to suffer and hope ‘UNHRC’ will use its good office and influence to persuade all the parties of the conflict to solve Kashmir issue once for all. The welfare of the people of Jammu & Kashmir should be overriding interest and all the parties of the conflict should respect the views and opinions of the people.

 

The political dimension of Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan has long been at the centre stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time, Commissioner of the United Nations’ Human Rights Zaid Ra’ad Zedi Al Hassan told a press briefing in Geneva after the launch of UNHRC’s first-ever report on politico-military situation in both parts of Kashmir administered by India and Pakistan.

Recalling recent incidents of protests crushed under security jeeps, Zaid said, “Given all that we have learned, the current serious tensions including those stemming from a series of recent incidents in Srinagar, I urge the  security forces to exercise maximum restraint, and strictly abide by international standards governing the use of force, when dealing with the future protests.”

NEWS KASHMIR EXCLUSIVE

This week was quite dramatic, unpredictable, sensational  for the Jammu and Kashmir State .Nobody had thought that PDP BJP Government would end in such a quick manner . ON 19 JUNE 2018,  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to pull out of the alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Described by the political pundits as  The ‘unholy’ alliance was formed on 1st March 2015 led by Late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. On January 2016, following the demise of Mufti her daughter Mehbooba Mufti took charge of the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

With this development , the Jammu and Kashmir state seems to have gone back to square one with governor rule being imposed  . Many say the state will now have to start once again from the blank slate.

After BJP ended its alliance with PDP and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti resigned, President Ram Nath Kovind has imposed the Governor’s Rule in the state. This is the eighth time the state has been put under the Governor’s Rule.

In an interesting  development in this context, Former Chief Minister and Vice President of National Conference (NC) Omar Abdullah  termed the breakup of the PDP-BJP alliance was a “well-planned game”.

Taking on social media site twitter Omar shared a clip from the 1977 political satire movie ‘Kissa Kursi Ka’.and wrote The PDP & BJP have been watching Bollywood movies for political strategy. This is how they have crafted their “divorce”. Brilliant fixed match, scripted to perfection except the audience aren’t fools & neither are the rest of us

The former chief minister called for immediate dissolution of the state assembly, saying keeping it in suspended animation encourages ‘dalals’ (brokers).

PDP’ Srinagar District President and MLC Mohammad Khurshid Alam said the reasons that the BJP gave for pulling out of the support from the PDP are worth to hail and that the party feels proud for such reasons.

 

“The reasons are demands made by Mehbooba Mufti for talks with Pakistan and separatists, withdrawal of the cases against the stone pelters, implementation of the ceasefire on ground and measures to be taken for successful dialogue and reconciliation,” Alam said.

 

He stated that since assuming office in the state, Mehbooba Mufti as the chief minister remained in the forefront to ensure in every way that the people of Kashmir are accorded due rights and a dignified living. He added that from protecting the state subject law to punishing the rapists of Kuthua, Mehbooba Mufti remained as a wall to protect people of Kashmir from the insurmountable predicament and the conspiracies being hatched against them far from the state.

 

On the otherhand, asking NC and PDP to show even a single achievement on political or human rights front since 1996, AIP Supremo and MLA Langate Er. Rasheed has said that both the parties have given New Delhi a free hand from time to time to bulldoze the sentiments, rights and aspirations of people of Jammu & Kashmir and it is obvious that they have a silent understanding while compromising everything. Addressing an overcrowded press conference in Srinagar Er. Rasheed  reiterated that no doubt end of collation is victory of people’s resistance but the way BJP took everyone especially PDP by surprise is not less than a slap on the face of regional parties who have been making tall but false claims of fighting for protecting the special status and other interests of state

Whatever be the political rhetoric, the state of Jammu and Kashmir with this development seems to have slided once again backwards and one hopes the situation does not get uglier.

Horror at Home

News Kashmir Exclusive

The monster of domestic violence against women in Kashmir has been constantly growing over the past few decades in entire valley of Kashmir. In past few years, even the Urban Police Stations have registered hundreds of cases of domestic violence showing the grim nature of the issue. Sometime back the Data compiled by the Jammu & Kashmir Police Crime Branch revealed  that in the past two years, it had registered over 4,000 cases of crimes against women.

In a latest unfortunate case it is learnt that Mehnaz Siddiqui came to Kashmir from Karachi, Pakistan, in July 2009 when she married Abdullah Danish Shervani, whom she met on social networking site Orkut. She was 25 at the time. Nine years later, she has publicly alleged that her Kashmiri husband has “assaulted and tortured” her, since right after marriage.

The said case has generated serious debate in Kashmir in both online and real world. On the larger paradigm the issue of domestic violence has remained a serious issue in our part of the world.

The Former President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented Nari Shakti Puruskars for the year 2015 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan  (March 8, 2016) on the occasion of International Women’s Day had aptly highlighted the grave nature of this serious issue.

Speaking on the occasion, the former President had said we must remind ourselves most emphatically and as often as we can, that every member of our society male or female has, equally, the right to live in security, peace and dignity. It is intolerable that in this day and age, women are still being exposed to barbaric brutality and violence because they are women. Violence or fear of violence reduces the freedom and development of everyone, particularly our women and children. But more than that, it diminishes our society when it allows such inhuman treatment of its women rather than guarantee their safety, security and equal rights. On this day, let us all, Government, civil society and public at large, pledge to work together for developing relevant legal, administrative and other measures to ensure the safety and security of our mothers and sisters

The expert pulse on the ground is that Women can no longer be driven like cattle; hence they are termed rebellious and responsible for breaking up the family. Women must sacrifice; kill their dignity and ego to save the family, as if men are not part of a family. For patriarchal Muslims women must undertake every obligation, duty and hardship but men should enjoy every right and authority. They stress on shunning such outdated mentality.

Way Ahead

As the number of silent sufferers of  Domestic violence goes up, it becomes increasingly difficult to track the problem. Strengthening  the Women Commission, increasing awareness in women to resist the menace of domestic violence are the some steps to be taken immediately to wipe out the menace of domestic violence.

The authorities need to act soon and book all the culprits responsible for the monstrous crimes like Domestic violence.