PRESS NOTE
In a recently held Road Show organised by KCC&I with the support of the State Tourism Department in Malaysia, the President KCC&I, Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad thanked the Malaysian Tour Operators for their support of the tourism sector of Kashmir. In his welcome address, he requested the Indian High Commissioner to take up the demand of the tourism sector for direct flights to Srinagar. The KCC&I would also be requesting private airlines like Air Asia & Indigo to operate direct flights as it was a growing sector with a healthy demand. He also urged the Tour Operators to explore possibility of devising new circuits within the State which should include newer destinations. Dr. Mubeen Shah, Past President of KCCI during his address also requested the MOBTO to devise longer duration packages for Kashmir instead of the usual 2/3 nights program as one can’t see enough of Kashmir in just 3 days.
Shri Nikhilesh Giri, Deputy High Commissioner of India who was the Guest of Honour assured all support to KCCI and J&K Tourism to encourage more Malaysians to visit Kashmir and urged State Tourism Department to display more publicity material at the twin offices of High Commissions for distribution to all the tourists who approach them for VISA. Others who also spoke on this occasion were Shri Thangavellu, President of MITTA & Mr. Pradeep, Chairman of Communications – MATTA. Later President KCC&I, Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad announced FAM Tour of 50 Tour operators which will be jointly managed by MITTA & MATTA and jointly hosted by KCC&I with logistic support from our Hoteliers, Tour Operators and Houseboat Owners. Chief Guest of the function, YB. Muhammad Bakhtiar Bin Wan Chik, Hon’ble Dy. Minister Tourism & Culture of Malaysia assured his ministries support to J&K Tourism and KCCI for future promotions in Malaysia. Spokesperson of the tour operators assured the delegations that at least One Hundred Thousand tourists would visit Kashmir from Malaysia. Vote of Thanks was presented by Treasurer KCCI, Mr Manzoor A Pakhtoon.
Later, President KCCI, along with Office bearers called on the Indian High Commissioner & First Secretary. A wide range of issues regarding Trade, Commerce & Tourism where discussed, wherein the High Commissioner requested President, KCCI to participate in the Malaysia Heritage Expo scheduled to take place in June. The High Commissioner assured full support to the participants of KCCI.
A spokesman of the KCC&I stated that the Kashmir Chamber will make all out efforts to defeat the motivated propaganda by vested interests, intended to target economy of Kashmir and to prevent people from interacting with Kashmiri people. He said that it was unfortunate how social media, some selected TV Channels and print media were being used to spread false and misleading news. The divisive elements were attempting to influence the secular and unbiased opinion of a majority of people by exhorting them not to visit Kashmir.
In this hour, it is the responsibility of all public thinkers, intellectuals and members of the civil society to expose elements behind these sinister campaigns. Time has come to ask uncomfortable questions and seek answers from those busy in distortion of facts. True picture of Kashmir awaits unprejudiced minds to see for themselves how far from reality the obfuscation is. We are proud, as ever, of our hospitality, humanitarian values and secular ethos.
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce urges all secular and right thinking individuals, interested in knowing the truth to see how negative image of our place and people is projected.
Why all this? Only for elections. The politics of hatred and communalism has found no takers as the recent domestic election results for four states indicate and the escalation of conflict has been discouraged by all global powers. Patriotism seems to be the last refuge for some elements and needs to be seen in the light that it deserves.
This is a message of peace, brotherhood, love and understanding from a place where people are undergoing very tough and harsh conditions.
Visit Kashmir:-
1. If You want to escape unrelenting warmongering by sections of the media;
2. If You are tired of unashamed ridiculous news anchors;
3. To know difference between Truth and Hype;
4. To know How propagation of Hate Politics has alienated people;
5. To know how good our people are, in particular youth, who have been pushed to the wall;
6. To know how secular our people are, who opened their doors for the visitors, stranded or otherwise, in moment of crisis;
7. To know how appreciative we are of the help extended and doors opened to our people, especially students, when under attack from goons and hooligans in various States;
8. To know that like all human beings, what we strive for is respect, honour and a life of dignity.
Farooq Amin
Secretary General
Shutdown tomorrow against ban on Jamaat, ammendment in Article 35-A : Kashmir Traders
Person who solves Kashmir dispute worthy for Nobel Peace Prize, not me: Imran Khan
Days after the people in Pakistan urged Nobel Peace prize for the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, the premier said that the person who would solve Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of Kashmiri people and paves way for peace and human development in the sub-continent will be worthy of Nobel Peace Prize.
In a tweet today after people came out in support of Imran Khan demanding Nobel Peace Prize for him for his peace gesture to release the Indian pilot, the prime minister said that he is not worthy of the prize.
“I am not worthy of the Nobel Peace prize. The person worthy of this would be the one who solves the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people and paves the way for peace & human development in the subcontinent,” Khan wrote on his official twitter handle.
Earlier, on Friday Pakistan government handed over the Indian Pilot who was captured in Pakistan, to India at Attari Wagah border, terming it a gesture of peace.
(Agencies)
Amid rains thousands participated in the last rites of Sopore militant
Suhail Khan
Sopore, March 04 : Braving incessant rains thousands of people including women on Monday morning attended the funeral prayers of slain Lashkar-e-Toiba North Kashmir militant at his native village Brath.
Ishfaq Ahmed along with foreigner militant Kalimullah were killed in a three day long gunfight in Babagund area of Handwara.
An eyewitness said that thousands of people braving rains assembled in Brath village of Sopore to take part in the last rites of slian.
A large number of mourners shouted pro-freedom slogans while carrying militant body in a procession to the martyrs’ graveyard for burial, reports added.
Amid sloganeering, Slain was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard.
Earlier authorities have suspended the Internet service in parts of Sopore as a precautionary measure.
Meanwhile parts of Sopore shuts to mourn the Killing of two Lashker-e-Toiba militants.
Pertainally, in the 50 hour long gunfight five security forces personnel including an Inspector also killed and eleven others were injured.
In this three day-long gunfight a civilian also was allegedly killed in government forces action amid clashes near the gunfight site on second day of Friday evening.
This Encounter ended up with the heavy loss to many families whose houses have been razed to rubble, while two cowsheds and a tin shed also damaged during the course of gunfight.
Heavy firing on LoC
Heavy firing took place on Monday between Indian and Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor sector, a defence official said.
“At about 3 a.m. today, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation by shelling and firing in the Akhnoor sector,” Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said.
“Our positions effectively retaliated. The firing exchanges stopped at 6.30 a.m.,” he added.
After trading heavy fire on the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu districts for seven days, clashes between the two armies had stopped on Sunday.
All educational institutions within a 5 km distance from the LoC in Poonch and Rajouri remained closed on Monday.
Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat visited forward positions on the LoC and the International Border on Sunday to review the preparedness of the deployed troops.(IANS)
Jammu-Srinagar Highway Being Restored For Traffic
The Jammu-Srinagar highway was being restored on Monday for one-way traffic after remaining closed for the night, an official said.
The highway was closed for traffic on Sunday night due to a landslide at Panthal in the Ramban-Ramsoo sector,” the traffic department official said.
According to the official, one-way traffic will be restored later in the day as the landslide debris have been cleared.
The highway opened on Sunday afternoon to clear stranded traffic and decongest the road before the landslide occurred at Panthal.
Another landslide at the same place had shut the highway on Friday.(IANS)
Four JeM Militants Nabbed Between 2014-17 Were Trained At Balakot
At least four Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants caught between 2014-17 were trained at the Jaish’s Balakot camp that was targeted by the Indian Air Force in a “non-military” strike on February 26, official sources said. The four militants, all Pakistani, told during their interrogation that militants trained at Balakot were either sent to Afghanistan or Kashmir.
According to officials, Waqas Mansoor, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was arrested by security forces in 2014-15, said he was trained with 100 youths.
“Mansoor was active in the Valley since 2007 and told us that 40 militants who were trained with him were sent to Kashmir while the remaining 60 were sent to wage war in Afghanistan,” a top government official said, while quoting interrogation details of Mansoor.
Mansoor was involved in two major attacks in the Valley, according to officials. In March 2009, he was part of a group of militants that attacked Army personnel at Lolab near Kupwara, killing four of them, the officials said. They added that he was involved in another attack in June 2009 in which six Armymen died.
“Mansoor, upon his return to Pakistan in 2010, joined Lashkar and was trained at LeT’s centre in Mansera,” officials added.
The details, sources said, are in the dossier given to Islamabad regarding the presence of JeM terror camps in Pakistan. Officials said that they had learnt during the interrogation of arrested Jaish militants that JeM militants underwent different training courses. The militants were imparted a three-month advance combat course called Daura-e-Khas and an advanced arms training course called Daura-Al-Raad, they added.
Arrested in 2016, a JeM militant identified as Abdul Rehman Mughal alias Raja had said during interrogation that every militant sent to Kashmir was given a code name, said officials. According to officials, Mughal’s code name was Romeo and he was tasked to set up training camps in Kashmir. “Mughal, during his questioning, said that in order to become a fidayeen (suicide attacker), one has to express his willingness and apply in writing before the camp commander at Balakot,” said an official.
According to officials, another Jaish militant Nasir Mohd Awain, who was arrested in Kashmir in 2014, had said during questioning that the Balakot camp had over 80 trainers. A native of Attock in Pakistan, Awain was trained there, said officials. He was involved in an attack on Radio Kashmir in 2003 in which one CRPF personnel and one BSF personnel were killed, said officials.
Officials also cited the interrogation details of Mohd Sajid Gujjar, a resident of Sialkot in Pakistan who was arrested in 2015. The officials said Gujjar was involved in an attack on November 3, 2015 at an Army camp in Tangdhar in which three militants accompanying him were killed while he managed to escape.
The three killed during the attack were later identified by Gujjar as Rizwan, Hussain Pathan and Muivah, said officials. “All of them were Pakistani nationals who trained with Gujjar at Balakot camp and infiltrated into the Valley together,” said another official.
The Indian Express
Excise Department Dispels Apprehensions About New Excise Policy
JAMMU, MARCH 04: The Department of Excise has dispelled the apprehensions created by a report carried in a section of press today regarding the new Excise Policy for 2019.
Clarifying, a spokesman of the Department in a statement said that the Excise Policy is announced every year to define the duties and procedures to levy the taxes and duties and also to remove any difficulty in regulating the sale of liquor. In the policy for 2017-18, it was for the first time defined that the distance of the liquor vend from the religious places, educational institutions, Hospital or existing liquor shops should be 100 meters away.
However this position was changed in the Excise Policy for 2018-19 and the distance between such establishments was defined as 300 meters, the spokesman of the Department said in a statement.
The spokesman added that in the current Excise policy (2019-20), the same position as was existing in the policy for 2017-18 has been maintained and no new criteria has been adopted as has been given the impression in the said newspaper reports.
The spokesman reiterated that the opening of the liquor vends is regulated by the J&K Excise Act, 1958 and the Rules framed there under vide SRO NO.679 dated 13-12-1984. Under these rules new vends are to be opened after due notification for objection of the general public and seeking opinion of the District Magistrate, Sr. Supdt. Of Police and Municipal Authority.
The spokesman also clarified that the opening of sub vends during 2004-05 in unserved/underserved areas was mainly to control the illicit liquor and psychotropic substances. 11 such vends are operational since 2005 in various areas of the State and current policy has made various provisions to regularize these already operational sub vends subject to fulfillment of formalilites as envisaged in the J&K Liquor License and Sales rules, considering the fact that these are operational since last fifteen years and people of the area have been utilizing the services of these vends, he added.
The new excise policy for the year 2019-20 aims at balancing the aspirations of the citizens, consumers, manufacturers, wholesalers and the Government keeping in view drinking is injurious to health, and it is the State’s duty to contain and regulate its use, he reaffirmed.
The Department is fully conscious of the sentiments of the people and these shall be fully taken care of while considering cases for regularization or issuing of licenses and it is not the intention of the Government to promote these nearby schools, religious places or near Hospitals, the spokesman added.
Schools, mosques, orphanages kept outside scope of seizure, sealing: Govt
JAMMU, MARCH 03: JK Government Spokesman, Rohit Kansal this evening made it clear that schools, mosques and orphanages have been kept outside the scope of seizures and sealing in the wake of the ban imposed by the Government of India on Jamaat-e-Islami, J&K.
“Action is being taken against offices, assets, properties and other equipment of the banned organisation,” Kansal said in a statement adding that the ban is for 5 years and subsequent orders to do so have been issued by the State Government and the Deputy Commissioners.
Handwara gunfight: Health team disallowed to visit 5 ‘starving’ families, question mark on SOP adherence
Suhail Khan
Kupwara, March 3 : Government forces on Sunday allegedly disallowed a health team carrying first aid kit besides essentials including baby food and biscuits to visit five families, who according to the locals are stuck inside their houses at Babagund Handwara in this north Kashmir district, where a fierce gunfight between government forces and militants ended earlier this morning after nearly three days of siege.
The incident has called into question adherence of SOP by government forces which mandates evacuation of civilian population before gunfight.
A team of officials of health department, carrying first aid kit, essentials including baby food, biscuits and ‘dals’ were not allowed by the government forces. “We were not allowed to meet the families,” the health officials told GNS near the spot of the gunfight.
When contacted Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Anshul Garg said that he would confirm with SSP concerned given this is a “police monitored encounter.”
Later, the GNS contacted a senior police officer who said that the team has been allowed after the area was clearedonce.” “There is apprehension of stray explosives in the area and once the area was sanitized, the team has now been allowed.” (GNS)
48-hour long Handwara Gunfight ends: Two militants killed, injured CRPF trooper succumbs in military hospital, toll 5
Suhail Khan
Srinagar, March 3 : Two militants, five government forces personnel were killed as nearly 48-hour long gunfight ended at Babagund Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
While a militant and four goverment forces personnel including a CRPF Inspector were killed and eleven others were injured on Friday.
On Saturday morning, elite Para commandos from 3 and 9 battalion joined the already strengthened posse of government forces comprising army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles, 92 battalion CRPF and police’s Special Operation Group.
On Sunday morning, one more CRPF personnel succumbed to injuries while the militant beleived to be a foreigner who was changing locations was gunned down, a top police officer said, adding that searches are going on to find if there is any more militant body.
The CRPF trooper who succumbed today in army’s 92 base hospital Badamibagh Srinagar has been identified as Head Constable, Sham Narain Singh Yadav of CRPF 92, a senior police officer said.
With the killing of two militants, the overall death toll mounted to 8 including a civilian who was allegedly killed in government forces action amid clashes near the gunfight site on Friday.
The encounter broke out during the night between February 28 and March 1 after the joint team launched a cordon-and-search operation. A fierce encounter started and two militants were believed to have been killed.
However, when the joint search team went to retrieve the militant bodies amid a lull, one of the two militants, earlier believed to be dead stood up and fired indiscriminately. A CRPF Inspector namely Pintu Kumar and paramilitary trooper Vinod besides two policemen– Naseer Ahmad Kholi and Ghulam Mustafa Barah—were killed and eleven uniformed men, seven of the army men, were injured in the subsequent gunfight. A civilian Waseem Ahmad Mir was also killed in alleged government forces action amid clashes near the encounter site.
Three houses have also been razed to rubble during the course of gunfight. The three houses damaged belong to Manzoor Ahmad shah son of Ghulam Hassan, Fayaz Ahmad Peer son of Wali Mohammad and Imtiyaz Ahmad Bhat son of Ghulam Ahmad Bhat. Two cowsheds and a tin shed were also damaged so far, the officials added. (GNS)