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Baramulla killing: No let-up in protests across Kashmir
JKPCC chief backs Omar on AFSPA revocation
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Rights panel takes notice of youth’s death
Police detains Hurriyat chief
on his arrival in Srinagar
Governor for proper functioning of vigilance commission
Surveys show Valley women more depressed than men
Cross-LoC trade via Poonch remains suspended for 3rd consecutive day
Police releases car owner
detained in Handwara case
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Baramulla killing: No let-up in protests across Kashmir
Srinagar, March 7 The Kashmir valley has had a series of protests throughout this week against the mysterious death of a PhD student in Hyderabad on March 2 and then over the killing of a protester in Baramulla district allegedly in Army firing on Tuesday. City roads remained deserted as shops, banks, colleges and universities remained closed with residents observing a shutdown for the third day. Most of the public transport, including private cab services, remained off the roads on all routes. The region has remained shut throughout this week so far. The Kashmir-wide closure is also the 17th in a series of shutdowns since the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, which has threatened to send the region into a fresh unrest after a period of calm for two years. Curfew remained imposed for the second day in dozens of localities falling under the jurisdiction of Nowhatta, Khanyar, M R Gunj, Rainawari, Safakadal, Zadibal, Kralkhud and Maisuma police stations in Srinagar city, a police spokesman said. Most of these areas are in the summer capital’s volatile old city. A police spokesman said nine policemen and two civilians were injured in separate incidents of clashes across the region, while reports from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district said 13 protesters were injured in clashes in the district. A vehicle of a private cement factory was partially damaged when it was set afire by “miscreants” near Wuyan in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The police spokesman said curfew was also in place in north Kashmir’s Sopore town. Restrictions on civilian movement were also imposed at several places in north and south Kashmir. Clashes broke out between protesters and the police at several places across the region as tension mounted after the Tuesday’s killing of the youth in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. In the city, clashes between policemen and protesters erupted at Batamaloo, Zakoora, Hyderpora and in interiors of the old city. At Hyderpora, clashes broke out when hardline separatist Syed Ali Geelani returned from New Delhi and was immediately detained and shifted to his Hyderpora residence. Hundreds of youth, who were waiting outside Geelani’s residence, were infuriated when the 83-year-old separatist was placed under ‘house arrest’, triggering clashes, eye-witnesses said. The police fired tear-smoke canisters and detained a white-bearded man from the spot, the witnesses said. Clashes between protesters and the police also broke out at Cement Bridge and Palhalan in Baramulla district, at Narbal crossing in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, Papchan in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district and at Cherkoot, Lalpora and Trehgam in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. There were also reports of protests from several areas of south Kashmir’s Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts. A state government spokesman said the Srinagar district administration had ordered restrictions on the movement of civilians and transport in the entire district from Friday till further orders. |
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JKPCC chief backs Omar on AFSPA revocation
Jammu, March 7 “I don’t say you remove it (AFSPA) now, but you must understand Omar Abdullah’s perception of the subject. Omar and the Union Home Minister must be decisive in one voice. Otherwise, it would generate a lot of confusion,” Soz said outside the Assembly Complex here. The JKPCC chief had come to the Legislature Complex to hold a meeting with party legislators in view of the elections to five Legislative Council seats which were held today. Soz said he had requested Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to hold a meeting with Omar Abdullah, who is the Chairman of the Unified Command, to have a definite view on the AFSPA. “Let the Home Minister have a decisive meeting with Omar regarding the revocation of the AFSPA,” he said. On a question on whether the AFSPA should be revoked from the state, the JKPCC chief said: “It is a temporary law and it can go anytime. As I said last year, it has to go but stakeholders must be consulted. The Army, Ministry of Defence, people of the state and paramilitary forces have to be consulted.” Soz has put the Congress in a piquant situation, with the Central Congress leadership distancing itself from his statement. Yesterday, senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit reportedly said in New Delhi that the people engaged in the Valley’s affairs believed that it was not the right time to revoke the Act. The Defence Ministry has made it clear that there would be no “hasty decision” on the issue. The demand for the revocation of the AFSPA was renewed after the killing of a youth allegedly in Army firing in Baramulla on Tuesday. The Chief Minister had expressed his helplessness in his efforts to get the AFSPA removed from the state. On being asked whether the issue (AFSPA revocation) was discussed in the Coordination Committee (CC) of the coalition partners constituted by the state government to resolve the issue, Soz said, “Now, it might come up in the CC meeting. There is no bar on discussing the issue there. Omar Abdullah has consistently been saying that since the situation has improved, the AFSPA must be removed from some areas. Therefore, I suggested to the Union Home Minister to hold a decisive meeting with Omar.” Responding to another question on Shinde’s statement that he had received no request letter from Omar on AFSPA revocation, Soz said, “No written request has been made regarding the revocation of the AFSPA to the Home Minister. We will pay attention to it (making a formal request to the Union Government),” he said. He, however, dispelled the notion that there were differences between him and the Central leadership on the issue. |
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Rights panel takes notice of youth’s death
Srinagar, March 7 “Prima facie from the (perusal ) of news reports, there appears the use of excessive and disproportionate force (by the security forces) to bring the situation under control in which one life has been lost and one (person) injured, which makes it out a case of gross human rights violation,” a single bench of the commission headed by its member Javaid Kawoos observed while taking strong note the youth’s killing, which has also rocked ongoing budget session of Assembly. Tahir Rasool Sofi, a postgraduate in social work, was killed in Baramulla on March 5, when the Army allegedly opened fire during a protest demonstration in the town. Tahir’s parents alleged that he was killed by the Army, while the latter has denied the charge, saying soldiers had fired in the air. Another boy Ajaz Abbas was also injured in the firing incident. He is currently undergoing treatment at Srinagar’s Bone and Joints Hospital. The commission has told the police to file its report by the next hearing, which has been fixed for March 20. “Immediate factual reports regarding the incident be sought from the Director General of Police and the District Magistrate (DM), Baramulla,” the commission said in its orders. The commission has told the DM that he should not rely on the police for the factual report into the incident but gather it from his own field staff. The police in Baramulla has already registered a case of murder against the 46 RR unit of the Army stationed in the town. |
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Police detains Hurriyat chief
on his arrival in Srinagar
Srinagar, March 7 Most of the separatist leaders continue to be under detention since Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru’s hanging on February 9. Geelani had been camping in New Delhi since the winter began. He had earlier been detained at his Malviya Nagar residence in New Delhi when Guru was hanged. Since early morning today, the authorities had deployed a large contingent of security forces personnel around Geelani’s Hyderpora residence in Srinagar. As soon as Geelani, accompanied by his wife and son, arrived at the Srinagar airport from New Delhi in the afternoon, he was whisked away by a team of police personnel in his private vehicle and was driven to his Hyderpora residence, where he was placed under house arrest. A group of the youth, infuriated by Geelani’s detention, clashed with police personnel outside his residence. “As soon as Syed Ali Geelani arrived in his white ambassador car, followed by police vehicles, protesters started throwing stones on the police. Some stones hit Geelani’s vehicle,” said an aide of Geelani. The police fired dozens of tear-smoke canisters to disperse the protesters and also detained some of them, witnesses said. Condemning Geelani’s house arrest, the Jammu Kashmiri Liberation Front (JKLF) today said the police and other security forces had started a series of raids and arrests to nab the separatist leadership and protesting youths. “The house arrest of Syed Ali Geelani soon after his arrival and continuous detention of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is an act of frustration of the government,” a JKLF spokesman said. |
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Governor for proper functioning of vigilance commission
Jammu, March 7 The Governor stressed the high importance of all required steps being taken for ensuring the sound functioning of the SVC. The Governor observed that the effective functioning of the SVC would have a vital bearing on the enhancement of accountability and good governance and, consequently, eradication of corruption. This was Jerath’s first meeting with the Governor after he recently took over as the Vigilance Commissioner. The Governor wished Jerath a successful tenure. Former president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce Nazir Bakshi also called on the Governor. Bakshi thanked the Governor, who is the Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, for taking a number of initiatives to involve all stakeholders concerned for improving the facilities for the Amarnath yatris. He particularly referred to the Compulsory Health Certificate for applying for a yatra permit. Lauding the efforts of the Governor in involving local stakeholders in providing facilities to the yatris, Bakshi, who has been associated with the travel trade for the past 45 years, said this has generated tremendous economic benefits to the local population. — TNS |
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Surveys show Valley women more depressed than men
Srinagar, March 7 A survey conducted by Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital, Srinagar, revealed that women constitute 55 to 60 per cent of the patients who visit the hospital annually to seek treatment for psychiatric diseases. The report says in 1989 (before the onset of militancy) only 1,700 patients were treated at the hospital while over 1 lakh patients checked in the hospital in 2008, a majority of whom were women. Dr Meer Zafar Iqbal, a clinical psychologist, at the Regional Composite Centre run by the Centre says women in Kashmir have higher depression levels than men. “I have seen many women patients in whom the depression level has reached the extreme levels of 7 to 7.8 which could even lead to suicides among them. Surprisingly, in Kashmir, women do not have depression due to work load. Even housewives report to us with depression problems. The problem seems to persist because of unfavourable environment factors, particularly violence, tension and encountering a trauma incident,” said doctor Zafar. Various forms of mental health disorders which were unknown to people before militancy started in the Valley have suddenly become prevalent, which include the Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression disorders such as stress, anxiety and suicidal tendencies. “The PTSD has seen a surge in the Valley, especially among women, due to experiencing of a trauma. They are unable to cope up with the after effects of it and that is when PTSD occurs. Women are generally over-sensitive and they tend to have the effects of that traumatic incident in the form of nightmares, insomnia, hyperventilation and isolation,” said Dr Aijaz Ahmad Khan, former Medical Superintendent of Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital. Doctors say the government has been unable to come to the rescue of depressed women in Kashmir as there are no government-aided counselling centres in the Valley where these women could get help. “This especially concerns rural women who have no access to good psychiatric treatment facilities. There is only one psychiatric hospital in kashmir. Unfortunately, adolescent girls who experience depression disorders are afraid of speaking about it, fearing social outcasting,” said doctor
Iqbal. A survey conducted by Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital, Srinagar, revealed that women constitute 55 to 60 per cent of the patients who visit the hospital annually to seek treatment for psychiatric diseases. The report says in 1989 (before the onset of militancy) only 1,700 patients were treated at the hospital while over 1 lakh patients checked in the hospital in 2008, a majority of whom were women
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Cross-LoC trade via Poonch remains suspended for 3rd consecutive day
Jammu/Poonch, March 7 The trade remained suspended last week for four days. Indian traders have been on an infinite strike and are protesting against the authorities for blacklisting Dewan Traders and for not implementing the standard operating procedure. Three empty AK cartridges were recently found in the consignment of Dewan Traders sent by his counterpart in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “No trade took place on the third consecutive day today and the uncertainty over the trade looms large. Neither a single truck from our side nor from PoK arrived at the trade centre as the gates on the LoC remained shut,” said Pawan Anand, president of the Chakan da Bagh Cross-LoC Traders’ Association. However, the Poonch Deputy Commissioner, who is also the nodal officer of the trans-LoC trade, said he had a meeting with the traders on March 1, wherein the latter didn’t raise any issue in written about blacklisting of Dewan Traders. “There would be no compromise on security. In case of Dewan Traders, the investigations are on. If he is found innocent, he will be reinstated,” said Sahu. On undeclared strike by the traders, Sahu said, “Neither they gave us any representation about the strike nor we asked them to stop the trade.” On recovery of contraband from time to time from the consignments sent from PoK to Indian traders, Poonch-Rajouri Range DIG Danish Rana said there was nothing to worry about. “This is not a serious issue. We have a foolproof system in place and that is why we are able to detect it (contraband in small traces). But at the same time, it could be an attempt by some elements on the other side (in PoK) to see our security grid, put in place for the trans-LoC trade,” said Rana. He said full-body truck scanners would soon be installed at the Chakan da Bagh Trade Centre for further strengthening the security grid. Reacting to blacklisting of Dewan Traders vis-à-vis the Poonch Deputy Commissioner’s assertion of no complacency in security, general secretary of the traders’ association Krishan Singh said the blacklisting of Dewan Traders had instilled a sense of insecurity among the traders. “The Poonch district administration is not safeguarding our interests. In fact, it has adopted a callous attitude towards the traders. For the second straight week, the trade hasn’t taken place. The administration should have called us for a meeting to address our concerns,” said Singh. President of the traders’ association Pawan Anand put to rest speculations that the traders on both sides had no stocks and hence were not doing trade. “In fact, our stocks of bananas have started to rot,” said
Anand. |
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Police releases car owner
detained in Handwara case
Srinagar, March 7 The owner and driver of a Maruti Suzuki Eeco, Showkat Ahmad Rather of Tikkipora in Lolab, Kupwara, was detained from the Langate area hours after militants shot dead two policemen of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) near the old bus stand of Handwara on Saturday. Police sources said during the investigation it was learnt that his car was not used by militants for carrying out the attack. “Some people, including a few drivers, who were detained on suspicion were released after questioning,” said a police officer in north Kashmir. “The investigation in the case is going on,” he added. The police sources said two or three militants, who shot dead two policemen identified as Santosh Kumar Singh (26) and Azad Chand (27) had reportedly arrived on the scene in a red Maruti Suzuki Eeco, which was without a number plate. After the attack, the militants fled in the same car. Hours after the attack, a red Eeco bearing a Kupwara registration number was traced at the neighbouring Langate area and the police got more suspicious as one of its windowpanes was broken. “The owner of the car was immediately picked up and questioned. He was released on Wednesday as it could not be proved that he had any role in the attack. In fact, we also picked up the previous owner of the car who hails from Kupwara, but he too was released,” a police source said. Rather had brought this car two months ago. Two militant outfits Hizbul Mujahideen and Jamiatul Mujahideen have claimed responsibility for the attack. Police investigations have so far revealed that the attack was carried out by a module of the Hizbul Mujahideen. |
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Jammu, March 7
Jammu/Poonch, March 7
