Anantnag, March 4
A large number of people on Monday attended the funeral prayers of Kashmiri research scholar, Mudassir Ahmad Malla, at Parigam village of this south Kashmir district.

29-year-old Malla was found hanging in his hostel room at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, on Saturday evening.

Sources said people poured in from adjoining villages of Parigam to attend the funeral prayers.

Mudassir was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Parigam village at 3pm.

Ridiculing the police version, calling the death a suicide, the family of the deceased said their son was a person with religious bent of mind and there was no question of his committing suicide. “My son’s upbringing was based on religious teachings,” said Ghulam Qadir Malla, Mudassir’s father. “I have always made sure that he does not feel devoid of any facilities whatsoever,” he said.

He said his son was a pious soul and could not have even thought of committing suicide. “He had been killed and now they are coming up with bizarre theories,” he alleged.

“He was killed for his pro-freedom stand,” he said, adding: “No Kashmiri is safe in India. I had sent my son to study, not to die.”

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also told the state Assembly today that the scholar has committed suicide.

“We have shared all information with the family as to what led to depression and if they want we can make it public,” Omar said ruling out any conspiracy.

The people present at the funeral procession pitched for a fresh post-mortem to be conducted after they learned that Mudassir had visible torture marks over his body. However, doctors said they were satisfied with the post-mortem conducted by doctors in Hyderabad.

“We examined the body and are satisfied with the post-mortem conducted by the doctors of Hyderabad,” Block Medical Officer (BMO), Pampore, Dr Sanaullah said.

He said there were black spots on right shoulder and left elbow. “We are not certain about their nature and can be confirmed only through post-mortem report,” he added.

A complete shutdown was observed throughout the Valley in protest against the death of the scholar.

Sources said clashes were witnessed between youths and contingents of the police and the CRPF at several places throughout the Pulwama district.

The police had erected barricades on the roads leading to Parigam village.

ANC to take up issue with Union Home Ministry

The Awami National Conference (ANC) today said it would raise the issue of death of Mudassir Malla with the Union Home Ministry.

“An ANC team headed by senior vice-president Muzaffar Shah will meet the Home Minister on March 9 and demand punishment for the guilty,” ANC president Begum Khalida Shah said in a statement here.

She said Muzaffar Shah was in Hyderabad currently on a personal visit and had got details of the incident from Malla’s neighours in the hostel. The ANC held the university proctor responsible for Malla’s death. The statement alleged that the proctor mentally tortured the deceased. — TNS

Srinagar, March 4
Terming the death of Kashmiri scholar as mysterious, the faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has called for an independent investigation into the incident which sparked protests in Kashmir.

The Hurriyat has also urged the authorities to ensure safety of Kashmiri students and businessmen putting across India who have developed a “sense of insecurity” after the incident.

Mudassir Ahmad Malla alias Mudassir Kamran, a Kashmiri scholar, died on March 2 in Hyderabad.

The Andhra Pradesh Police has termed his death as a case of suicide, however his family has alleged that he was tortured before his death.

“On the instructions of Hurriyat chairman Mirwaz Umar Farooq, a delegation of Hurriyat leaders led by Zaffar Akbar Bhat visited Parigam village to participate in the funeral prayers of Mudassir, who body was brought back today”, a Hurriyat spokesman said.

“While condoling his death and showing solidarity with the family, Bhat termed his death as conspiracy, urging the authorities to carry out an independent investigation into Mudassir’s death”, he said, adding that Hurriyat Conference reiterated its demand that the government should take steps to ensure safety of Kashmiri traders and students studying in various parts of India.

Kupwara March 4
At least 170 persons, including women and children, suffering from gastroenteritis at Kachahama village, 30 km from Kupwara, are undergoing treatment.

Gastroenteritis hit the village on Saturday, when at least 90 persons fell ill to the infection. The victims started vomiting and also suffered from diarrhoea. At least 60 more fell ill to the water-borne disease the other day and were hospitalised.

Kupwara Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Muneer Ahmad Khawaja said, “Most of the victims have recovered fully and a few are still undergoing treatment at nearby Kralpora hospital. Doctors are working hard to ensure speedy recovery of victims and all necessary medicines are available.”

Residents of village said in the absence of drinking water facility, they were forced to consume contaminated water from open nullahs. “The victims are suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea. In some families, all the members have fallen prey to the outbreak due to consumption of contaminated water,” said Muneer Ahmad of Kachahama.

The health authorities are constantly monitoring the situation in the affected village and people have been asked to consume only boiled water. “Teams of doctors camped in the affected village for two days and the situation is under control,” Dr Muneer said.

“People have also been asked to keep their houses and surroundings clean to prevent the infection from spreading further,” he added.

The CMO said the infection had been contained and there was no need to panic. “There is no need to send water samples for testing as the locals consume contaminated water from nullah, which is the only source of drinking water,” he said.

Kralpora Hospital BMO Dr Farid Ahmad Khan, however, said water samples had been sent to a laboratory for testing and report was awaited. “Two teams of doctors are visiting door-to-door to check the outbreak. The situation is under control. We have sent the water samples for testing and the situation is under control,” he said.

Srinagar, March 4
More than 100 persons reportedly fell ill after drinking contaminated water at a village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

Residents of Watterad in Budgam said contaminated supply from a water tank at the village had led to complaints of gastric diseases in the area during the past three days.

“Over 100 people have fallen ill during the last three days at our village due to contaminated water that is supplied from a water tank here. The villagers, who complained of stomach diseases like diarrhoea, have to be taken to nearby hospitals for treatment,” GH Khanday, a resident of Watterad, said over the phone.

Khanday blamed the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department for occurrence of gastric diseases. “We have been complaining to the PHE but the same fell on deaf ears. Action was taken only after a large number of people fell ill,” he said.

Another resident of Watterad said water contamination was caused by debris around the water bodies in the area and the authorities should take adequate measures so that the problem was not repeated.

Budgam Deputy Commissioner Khurshid Shah said several persons had fallen ill at the village after drinking contaminated water. However, he said the diseases were “minor” in nature.

“The persons suffering from stomach related diseases were treated at the hospital. All patients were discharged after treatment and no one was admitted…the problems were minor,” Shah said.

Stating that a medical team was rushed to the area, he said the Watterad water tank was being cleaned on “war-footing” basis. Shah said the tank would be completely cleaned by today evening only. 

Kupwara March 4
Shortage of medical staff may have affected healthcare services in the Valley’s major hospitals, but lone doctor assisted by two juniors are working hard at Ayush unit of the Community Health Centre (CHC), Kupwara, to ensure better treatment to patients.

At least 22,313 patients suffering from various ailments have been treated at the unit from January last year to February this year, according to figures available at the centre.

The unit, which witnesses a huge rush of patients from across the district, lacks services of at least one Indian System of Medicine (ISM) doctor, pharmacist and nursing staff as the posts remain vacant for the past many years.

Senior medical and nodal officer of the unit Dr Shabir Ahmad Bhat, who heads the Ayush unit, was awarded with the best performance award for providing the best healthcare facilities to the patients. The award was presented by former Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma at a function of the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, in Srinagar on October 25.

While doctors are working round-the-clock to treat patients at the unit, shortage of medicines is forcing the patients to purchase these from the market. Dr Shabir said availability of medicines and staff would further help in improving the healthcare facilities in the border district.

“The Ayush unit will continue to work hard to ensure better patient care in the frontier district. I make a fervent appeal to the higher authorities to make necessary medicines available and also fill the vacant posts to help the unit improve healthcare facilities for the benefit of the patients,” said Dr Shabir.

“I am pleased to receive the award, which obviously reflects the hard work of the unit. I am satisfied that the Health Department recognised the outstanding services of doctors in the frontier district. The Ayush unit will continue to provide better treatment to ailing population of the district,” said Dr Shabir.

Out of the total number of patients treated till February this year, six had tested “sputum positive” (suffering from tuberculosis) and two malaria positive. Only one patient had been found suffering from Hepatitis-D.

Nearly 100 to 130 patients are registered in the Out Patients Department (OPD) of the unit everyday. “Doctors at the unit are caring and treat every patient wholeheartedly. Medicines should be made available for patients at the earliest,” said Sayeed Ahmad of Bohipora near Kupwara.

Srinagar, March 4
The Army organised an educational-cum-motivational tour for schoolchildren, drawn from different areas of Downtown Srinagar.

The 27 schoolboys will be visiting different parts of the country, including places of historical importance at Delhi, Ajmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner in Rajsthan, an Army spokesman said here.

“The tour is being organised under the ongoing ‘Operation Sadbhavana’ for schoolchildren from the downtown area of Srinagar. The tour was flagged off from Srinagar by the General Officer Commanding, 31 Sub Area yesterday”, he said.

The aim of the tour was to provide expose the youths to the rich heritage and cultural grandeur of our country and to give them a glimpse of the development achieved by other states in the fields of technology, education and agriculture, he added.

“The students will also get an opportunity to meet a number of dignitaries”, the spokesman said.

Srinagar, March 4
The Kashmir Bar Association has rescheduled the seminar on the proposed police law. The day-long seminar, which was scheduled to be held on March 5 has now been postponed and will be held on March 9, a Bar spokesman said.

“The Bar has decided that in view of the protest calendar issued by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Mushawarat (MMM), the seminar on the proposed J&K Police Bill 2013, is postponed and now the conference will be held on Saturday, March 9,” he said.

Adding that there would be no work on the said date, he said all the presiding officers of the respective courts had also been informed.

The draft of the Bill was made public by the authorities on February 15 and suggestions were sought within two weeks from the public. However, the Bill evoked a lot of criticism from different quarters, with many terming the proposed legislation an attempt to turn J&K into a ‘police state’.

The opposition People’s Democratic Party said it would oppose the Bill if introduced in the House in its present form.

In a bid to allay the criticism of the Bill, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said there was ‘no chance’ that a bad legislation could pass through such a tight scrutiny.

Srinagar, March 4
A four-day workshop on traditional Ladakhi music started at Leh, in Ladakh region, today.

A spokesman of the J&K Cultural Academy, Leh, said the workshop was being held to encourage and support people interested in playing traditional music.

He said several 'surna' (shehnai) artists performed on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Officer for Culture, Tsewang Paljor described the culture of Ladakh region as very rich, which needed to be highlighted and promoted for the benefit of the youth.

Renowned 'surna' musician Ali Mohammad, who was the guest of honour on the occasion, said it was the prime responsibility of every Ladakhi to protect and conserve their rich traditional and cultural values. He urged for collective efforts to preserve and promote the music of Ladakh.