Srinagar: Hurriyat (M) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Wednesday request Mitahida Ulema Council to take back the Hartal call given on March 16.
In a tweet “Express my deep gratitude to Mutahida Ulema council J&K the Traders fraternity and the civil society members for there concern and support ,I however request Mutahida Ulema council to take back the hartal call for 16th March in this regard“, Mirwaiz said.
Saba Khan
Srinagar, March 13: The three special observers appointed the Election Commission of India are expected to arrive in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow to gauge mood and to assess the prevailing security situation in the Valley and to submit feed to the ECI so that a final call on holding Assembly polls is taken.
Chief Electoral Officer (J&K), Shalidner Kumar said that the three observers met ECI on Tuesday and were mandated to review and to assess the situation in Kashmir so that a final consensus on holding Assembly polls is taken.
Three observers—former civil servants, AmarJeet Singh Gill, former DG CRPF Noor Muhamamd, and Vinod Zutshi an IAS officer were appointed by the ECI to assess the ground situation in Kashmir and that they also have a mandate to meet the political parties, heads of security agencies, and also the local people. “The aim is to build consensus on holding Assembly polls at the appropriate time,” sources said. ECI recently announced that only Lok Sabha polls will be held in Kashmir and Assembly polls will be deferred due to the security scenario prevailing in the state.
Security situation in Kashmir turned more fragile after the deadly suicide attack on the CRPF convoy at Lethpora, Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 CRPF men dead and over two dozen injured.
The three observers, sources said are expected to prepare a detailed report that they will submit to the ECI so that a final call is taken on holding Assembly polls already due for the trouble-ravaged state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Srinagar: The students of Kashmir University on Wednesday held a strong protest demonstration against the ban on Kashmir’s largest socio-religio-political organization in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dozens of students marched from the varsity’s History department upto Humanities block carrying banners and chanting slogans denouncing the ban on Jama’at.
A student told that the protesters later dispersed peacefully at the Humanities block.
Government of India last month imposed a ban on Jama’at for five years for “unlawful association” of having the potential to disrupt the unity and integrity of the country.
Prior to the ban, more than 200 members of JeI were arrested by the state police during raids at their residences including its Ameer Dr Abdul Hameed Fayaz.
Via Kashmir Reader
Srinagar: A complete shutdown is being observed in Tral area of south Kashmir on the second consecutive day against the killing of two militants in Pinglish village on Sunday.
All the shops and other business establishments are closed in the area and traffic is off the roads.
Earlier on Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir police said that based on a credible input about the presence of militants in Pinglish area of Tral Awantipora, a cordon and search operation was launched. The encounter ended up with the killing of two militants.
The slain militants were reportedly affiliated with JeM outfit.
Srinagar, March 13 : Police claimed to have busted a hideout in south Kashmir’s Kulgam and recovered huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the hideout.
Police official said that on a credible input, a joint party of Police and security forces busted a hide-out in a residential house at Yaripora area of District Kulgam and recovered arms & ammunition including grenades and live rounds.
Police has registered a case in the instant matter and investigation has been initiated.
In this regard One person Mohammad Ayoub Rather of Yaripora has been arrested in this connection.
Srinagar: A team of lawyers from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association Srinagar will remain present on 13 and 14 March in the Supreme Court when the pleas challenging the Article 35A and Article 370 might come up for hearing.
In a statement, the Bar said the team comprises Bar present MA Qayoom, vice-present Aijaz Bedar, general secretary Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, senior advocates ZA Shah, ZA Qureshi besides advocates Manzoor Ahmad Dar, Rafiq Ahmad Joo, Abdul Aziz Teeli, and Mudasir Yousuf.
“The cases relating to Articles 35A and 370 have been shown listed in the cause list from 12-14 March but have not been shown listed in the daily cause list already issued for 12 March, 2019,” the Bar said.
“However, as the daily cause list for 13 and 14 of March, 2019, will be issued in the evening of 12 and 13 March, 2019 respectively, therefore, the team members are required to reach Delhi on 12 itself so that in the event of cases getting listed in the daily cause list or supplementary cause list of 13 and/or 14 March, 2019, they will be present in the court,” the Bar said.
Kashmir Despatch News
Sopore, March 13 : A gas cylinder blast in Chankhan area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district triggering a massive fire this night.
Reports reaching Kashmir Despatch said a gas cylinder exploded in a residential house at Chankhan area of Sopore triggering a massive fire in the area.
Reports said that increasing fire catches other nearby houses also.
A team of fire tenders rushed to the spot to douse the flames.
However no loss of life or injury was reported immediately in the mishap.
Details Awaited
KD NEWS SERVICE
SRINAGAR, Mar 12: At least three fetuses have been found inside the Kishtwar district hospital, all the three of whom were female indicating that it could be a case of female foeticide, Times Now reported.
While one was found inside the washroom of Kishtwar district hospital, the other was found inside a dustbin situated within hospital premises and the third was found on the rear side of the hospital. Investigators also suspect that this could be the misdeeds of an illegal abortion racket.
As per latest reports, two people have been detained by authorities for questioning in this regard. The superintendent of the hospital is also being interrogated by investigators in order to get to the bottom of the matter. Such instances of female foeticide have rarely come to light from the state of Jammu and Kashmir with some exceptions that have been reported from Jammu city in the past year.
As many as 117 million girls demographically go “missing” owing to sex-selective abortions, asserted the United Nations Population Fund in a report last year. India still holds the dubious reputation of witnessing one of the highest instances of female foeticide in the twenty-first century. The practice is still prevalent despite the implementation of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT Act) and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971.
Pertinently, on January 14, this year, in a shocking incident an abandoned new born girl was found dead inside a box across the road from the city’s maternity hospital Lal Ded in Rajbagh area in Srinagar.
According to police, the newborn girl was already dead by the time police got to know about it. “We received a call from the Police Control Room today morning. She was already dead,” the then SHO Rajbagh, Ayaz Rasool had said while detailing that the baby girl was found in a small carton near the Town square crossing in Rajbagh.
He had added that the newborn “must have been left on the spot last night” and was found on Monday morning. “An FIR No. 9/2019 has been registered and we will fulfil other legal formalities,” he had ifnormed.
Abandoning babies in a conservative Kashmir has seen a rise and has been condemned across by the local populace and civil society. In 2015, a dead newborn was carried to Press Enclave by a dog. Last year, a newborn baby was found abandoned near Bahuddin Ganj Baksh Park at Nowhatta locality drawing ire from netizens.
In December 2018 a father tried to bury alive his infant son having a deformity, at Malkha graveyard in Srinagar’s Old City. Police arrested the man who justified the action under the pretext of being poor to take care of the son. The person, Manzoor Ahmad Banyari, a resident of Check Shopian, had approached the gravedigger in Malkha asking him to dig a grave for the infant baby.
KD NEWS SERVICE
ISLAMABAD, Mar 12: The threat of further escalation between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama attack is over, an internal assessment of the Pakistan government has concluded.
The Express Tribune reported that the assessment was shared by a senior official on Monday in a background briefing on the current state of relations between the two neighbouring countries.
“There is a visible de-escalation in tension,” the official said. The official told journalists that Pakistan did not foresee any further “aggressive action” from India, the report said. Tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14.
Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force carried out an air strike, hitting the “biggest JeM training camp” in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26.
The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured Indian pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.
There was fear that India may launch more strikes or escalate the situation to end the crisis on a high note, the paper said. When asked whether Pakistan feared another possible ‘misadventure’ by India before the elections in the country, the official confidently replied: “There is no room for such aggressive action from India”.
The upbeat assessment of the government is apparently linked to hectic diplomacy involving many regional and international players, seeking de-escalation in tensions between the two countries, the paper said.
In a first sign of easing of tensions, Pakistani and Indian high commissioners resumed their diplomatic work in Islamabad and New Delhi on Saturday. Both countries called back their envoys for consultations soon after the Pulwama attack.
The female foeticide is the biggest sin against humanity. Despite a series of measures taken by the successive governments in the state this menace cannot be eradicated completely. Alarming reports of female foeticide in Kashmiris highly surprising in a society where protection, security and well being of girls and women is considered as a cultural trait.
The report that three female fetuses were found in dustbin and washroom of a hospital in Kishtwar is deeply frustrating. This act is a highest sin against humanity which would ruin the future of the society.
However, no government in the state or for that matter at the center can alone eradicate it by enforcing laws. Public awareness and participation of civil society is imperative in this regard. The civil society in close coordination with the government has to address this menace.
In a state like Jammu and Kashmir, where majority of the population follows the religious scriptures in their daily lives, female foeticide can never be taken as a new normal. Need of the hour is that the civil society must come forward and start massive awareness campaign with the help of the government to evolve a consensus that Jammu and Kashmir should have zero tolerance for foeticide especially female foeticide in future. Those responsible for such heinous crimes need to be identified and booked under law. Exemplary punishments need to be awarded to the culprits of foeticide so that they don’t set an precedence of impunity.