Srinagar, October 29
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) condemned the house arrest of moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other separatist leaders by the authorities on the eve of Eid.

Senior separatist leaders, including the chairpersons of both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF chief Yasin Malik were placed under the house arrest ahead of Eid on October 26.

Mirwaiz Farooq was scheduled to offer Eid prayers at historic Eidgah, however, he was placed under the house arrest at his Nigeen residence and was prevented by the authorities to offer prayers at the Eidgah grounds. Geelani was placed under house arrest at his Hyderpora residence in Srinagar.

“The APHC condemns the house arrest of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and terms the action as anti-Islamic,” a Hurriyat spokesman said.

“The state government is being run by the bureaucrats and many of them are not well versed with the Islamic traditions and culture, which is one of the reasons that the emotions of the Kashmiri Muslims are being hurt on such auspicious occasions,” he said.

He said the house arrest of the Kashmiri separatists was condemned by the lead Imam of the historic Jama mosque, while leading his Eid congregation prayers at the Eidgah grounds in Srinagar.

Though the separatists were placed under the house arrest, thousands of people assembled at the Eidgah grounds here in Srinagar to offer Eid prayers on Saturday. In the absence of Mirwaiz, the Eid congregation prayers were led by Syed Ahmad Naqshbandi, the lead Imam of historic Jama mosque in Srinagar. 

Srinagar, October 29
The Northern Railways has rejected the proposal for arranging more trains for three days during the Eid festivity.

The railway officials in Kashmir had recently written to the Northern Railways seeking approval for running more trains for three days from October 28 to cater to the huge rush on Eid.

“They have rejected our proposal,” said an official at railway official. “Since Sunday, a day after the Eid, we managed the rush in a better way unlike the past when we faced a lot of problems,” he added.

During the Eid-ul-Fitr festivity in August, many trains were damaged as the passengers could not get seats in the trains. Keeping in view the past experience, the railway officials had proposed to Northern Railways to allow them to cancel the maintenance schedule of the already plying trains in the Valley for three days so as to increase the number of trains during the festival days. But the proposal was rejected.

The railway officials said on Monday nearly 9,000 passengers travelled in trains and today the rush was more.

“On an average, 7,000 passengers travel between Qazigund in south Kashmir and Baramulla in north Kashmir. But due to the Eid festivity, the rush picks up as most of the other modes of public transport are usually not available across the Valley,” he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had inaugurated the Valley's first phase of rail service between Anantnag and Budgam district on October 11, 2008.

The second phase of train between Budgam and Baramulla was flagged off by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on February 14, 2009, followed by the third phase between Anantnag and Qazigund by the Prime Minister on October 28, 2009. The train service, which is a hit in the Valley, is still to be connected with the rest of the country.

Srinagar, October 29
Forced by unscheduled power cuts, hundreds of residents in the city here and elsewhere in other districts of the Kashmir valley had their festival dinners under candlelight. The residents complained that power supply to their localities remained suspended most of the time during the two evenings of the Eid-ul-Adha festival.

Eid-ul-Adha, the festival of sacrifices, was celebrated in the region on Saturday and Sunday. Residents from several major neighbourhoods of Srinagar city said their localities went dark most of the time on the festival evenings.

Residents from Bemina, Natipora, Hyderpora, Nishat and Rawalpora - which are the major residential localities in the city - said they suffered continuous power blackouts for the two festival days and evenings.

In Bemina, where most of the residential colonies have metered connections, residents said on both the festival evenings they dined under the candlelight due to non-availability of power supply. Similar complaints of unscheduled power blackouts were also received from villages in north and south Kashmir.

Residents from several neighbourhoods of Srinagar city, which have metered electricity connections, have been complaining of growing electricity crisis since the beginning of this month. Some of the residents said the electricity supply has become more erratic since a fortnight as power supply remains suspended most of the time through the evening.

The state electricity department had recently announced a revised power curtailment schedule under which the metered area will have the service suspended for one night a week and non-metered areas will have three-night suspension every week.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the state’s Power Minister, had last week refused to comment when asked about the unscheduled and frequent power cuts that have hit the city.

Srinagar, October 29
Eid is not apparently over for a majority of Valley residents for whom the feast in the coming days has just started. Thanks to the greater Eid or Eid-ul-Azha (the Festival of Sacrifice), which is marked with slaughtering and distributing the mutton of sacrificial animals, the delicacies being savoured by Kashmiris can outnumber mutton dishes being prepared elsewhere.

The wazwan, which is the most popular multi-course Kashmiri cuisine comprising as many as 24 various mutton varieties, is not what every family goes for post-Eid when there is an ample amount of stored mutton at every home.

As a tradition, Kashmiris like to invite friends and relatives for lunch and dinner where Wazwan is usually served after the Eid.

“It has been a part of our tradition for the past many decades in the Valley to invite people over these feasts, which are post-Eid celebrations and even good get-togethers. Prior to turmoil, we would even invite Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits) to the feasts who too used to celebrate Eid like a Muslim,” recalls Muhammad Amin Malik, a veteran teacher.

The low temperature, which the Kashmir valley is currently witnessing, comes no less than a blessing as it means that mutton could be stored for longer time even after Eid is over.

“People should be taking care of health while indulging in the food mania, especially when it comes to non-vegetarian foods like mutton which have a tendency to cause heart-related disorders by increasing blood cholesterol levels,” Dr Nighat, a dietician, said.

Even though experts have a word of caution for the people, there would probably be no stopping from relishing the favourite mutton delicacy whether home cooked or professionally made.

Handwara, October 29
Fruit business has become a distasteful exercise in Handwara villages due to the increasing incidents of theft. A gang of burglars, active in many villages of Handwara, have stolen apples worth lakh of rupees since past one week from various orchards.

The fruit growers said the burglars had stolen hundreds of boxes laden with apples during the night hours from the fruit orchards across Handwara. The incidents of theft had been reported from the villages, including Bagatpora, Qaziabad, Ganipora, Kralgund, Shatgund Bala, Chukloo, Keinal Ashpora and Kaloosa.

Expressing concern over the growing incidents of thefts, the fruit growers said they were helpless to stop such incidents as thefts were committed during the night hours.

To minimise the transportation charges and extra labour, most of the growers in Handwara dump the apples in the orchards, pack them in boxes and transport the same.

A gang of thieves yesterday decamped with at least 52 apple boxes from the orchard of Haji Ghulam Mohidin Bhat of Sudal, Handwara.

“It was a shock for me when I found 52 boxes missing from the lot of apples dumped in the orchard. I had to transport the fruit to Sopore fruit mandi within two days. It is difficult for me to manage the huge loss,” said Haji.

The fruit business is at its peak in the Valley and is fetching good prices. The delicious apples are sold between Rs 700 and Rs 800 per box and the American apples between Rs 500 and Rs 600 per box.

The apple growers in Handwara, however, said the thefts this year had incurred them huge losses. “The thieves decamped with at least 150 apple boxes from my orchard in Keinal Ashpora on Friday. I had engaged six labourers to pluck and pack the fruits. The other day, I transported around 300 boxes back to home and had to bear extra transportation charges,” said Ramzan Dar of Ashpora.

The police in Handwara intend to carry out patrolling during the night hours to put a check on the incidents of burglary.

Handwara SP Mohammed Aslam Chowdhary said, “We will put in place night patrols to keep a check on the movement of the burglars and will nab them.” 

Srinagar, October 29
As the annual Haj pilgrimage culminates with the Eid-ul-Adha festival, Hajis of the state will start arriving at the Srinagar International Airport this week.

The first Indian Airlines flight carrying 270 Hajj pilgrims is expected to land here on November 2.

The was stated by an official after Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon convened a meeting of officers to finalise the arrangements for the arrival of Haj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.

“From November 14, two flights will be operated carrying as many as 540 Haj pilgrims and will reach at the Srinagar Airport at 8 am and 11 am, respectively,” the official added.

While direct Haj flights were operated from here to Saudi Arabia after a gap four years, around 9,170 pilgrims from the state would perform Haj this year. This year’s quota for Jammu and Kashmir had been increased from 8,441 to 8,670. In addition, private Haj operators are facilitating 500 Haj pilgrims.

It was decided in the meeting that for each Haj pilgrim, only one attendant and a vehicle with a driver would be allowed to reach Srinagar Airport to avoid heavy rush.

“The Airport authorities during the meeting assured that necessary arrangements for customs, emigration clearance, parking of vehicles of attendants, sanitation, deployment of home guard volunteers, issuance of entry passes to the deployed officials at the airport besides heating arrangements at the reception lounge shall be put in place to ensure smooth and hassle-free arrival of Haj pilgrims,” the official said. 

Srinagar, October 29
While 1,788 halqas across the state are without Panchayat Ghar buildings, orders have been issued to complete work of Panchayat Ghars in the Kashmir division by March next year.

After chairing a meeting of the Rural Development Department officials here recently, Minister for Rural Development, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohmmad Sagar urged the officers to ensure that all Panchayat Ghars of the Kashmir division are completed by March.

The minister said the government had already sanctioned an amount of Rs 666 crore under 13th Finance Commission/ Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for taking up work on 788 Panchayat Ghars to be constructed in the Kashmir valley.

He urged the officers to ensure that works on Panchayat Ghars are completed as soon as possible so that different panchayats get the requisite infrastructural assets for carrying out their day-to-day work. Sagar said under the Indira Awaz Yojana, 17,567 dwelling units had been taken up, out of which 6,354 have been completed by incurring an expenditure of Rs 26.40 crore. Similarly, an amount of Rs 157 crore has been earmarked under convergence programme of MGNREGA with Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC).

Out of 4,128 panchayat halqas in the state, only 2,340 have Panchayat Ghar buildings while works taken up at other halqas have not been completed to date.

This was revealed in official documents tabled by the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj during the recently concluded autumn session of the Legislative Assembly.

It had also been stated that 899 Panchayat Ghar buildings across the state had been taken up for construction in the state but none of these have been set up as "it took a lot of time in identifying land". 

Srinagar, October 29
An Afghanistan-based musical troupe-Ahmad Sham Music Group today mesmerised the audiences in the city with their qawwal performance.

The seven-member group, which is based in the Afghan capital Kabul, and is led by Mir Ahmad Sham, presented the qawwalis at a function organised here at the auditorium of Radio Kashmir in Srinagar.

‘Mehfil-e-Mausiqi’ was organised by the regional office of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) of the Union Ministry of External Affairs.

State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who was present at the function, greeted the members of the Afghan group and presented shawls to them as a token of respect, an official spokesman said. Rather assured full support to the ICCR for their attempt at reviving and conserving the rich heritage, art and culture of the state, the spokesman said.

The function was attended by a distinguished gathering of art lovers, musicians, singers, poets, writers, including Radio Kashmir director Rukhsana Jabeen, director, Doordarshan Kendra, Jammu, Shabir Mujahid, Majrooh Rashid and Waheed Jeelani, the spokesman said. 

Srinagar, October 29
A 65-year-old woman died in a road accident in the central Kashmir’s Budgam district while nine more persons were injured in various accidents across the region.

Ashi (65), a resident of Magraypora locality of the Budgam district, was hit and injured by a car near her residence, the police said. The police said the woman was shifted to the Srinagar hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. In two days, Ashi is the second sexagenarian to die in the road accident. Mohammad Ismail Bhat (60), a resident of Khankah-Bagh in Pampore, was killed on Sunday when he was hit by a motorcycle near Lasjan bridge in the city.

In south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, a 61-year-old woman, identified as Shamala, was injured when she was hit by a car. The woman, a resident of Amnoo village of Kulgam, had been shifted to a hospital.

A motorcycle collided with a passenger bus near Saida Kadal bus stop resulting in injuries to three persons - the motorcyclist, his pillion rider and a pedestrian. Three of them had been shifted to hospital for treatment, the police said.

A passenger bus hit and injured a 45-year-old man in the Budgam district while a taxi collided with a car in the north Kashmir’s Baramulla district resulting in injuries to two persons. In Pattan area of Baramulla, a car hit a motorcycle resulting in injuries to the motorcyclist Mehfooz Ahmed Wani and pedestrian Sameer Ahmad Ganie. Both of them were hospitalised, the police said.

The police has registered FIR in all the cases.

Srinagar, October 29
Minister for Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Taj Mohiuddin today flagged off two contingents of 38 students, including 20 boys and 18 girls selected from the remote areas of the Valley for Bharat Darshan.

The students would visit various historically important places, including Bangalore, Mysore, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur in south and central India during their Bharat Darshan. The minister, while highlighting the significance of the educational-cum-motivational tour, said the aim of these tours was to acquaint the students with composite culture and multilingual culture of the country.

"The tours will motivate the students to develop adventurous spirit and explore their talent in different walks of life,” the minister said.

“This tour is in continuation of commitment of the BSF for the people of the Valley,” said a BSF spokesman.

The tours will help in motivating the students to develop an adventurous spirit and aim higher in life. It will also give a chance to the students to broaden their horizon and make them aware of the opportunities awaiting them in the country,” he said.

Kupwara, October 29
It is time for farmers in north Kashmir to stock ration for consumption in the winter season ahead. With an improvement in weather conditions since Thursday, the farmers are busy in thrashing the paddy for obtaining grains.

Thrashing of paddy is the last phase of farming before the onset of winter and usually poses challenges to the farmers due to untimely rains in October. Rains in the third week of October had delayed the thrashing of paddy in north Kashmir.

The grains obtained after thrashing of paddy are later dried under sunlight in open fields and grilled in rice mills to obtain the rice. “The weather has improved and we have started thrashing the paddy manually. The grains are later dried and rice is obtained by grilling the grains in rice mills,” said Ghulam Hassan, a farmer.

Labourers are engaged by the farmers for thrashing of paddy. The labourers charge between Rs 300 to Rs 350 a day for manually thrashing the paddy. Most of the farmers had stocked piles of paddy crop in the open fields and many others transported the same to their houses in September. “It is a tricky time for farmers. A change in weather at this point in time could play a spoilsport or destroy the yearly yield as most of the farmers are busy in the process of thrashing of paddy. It is good to engage more labourers and finish the process before the first week of November,” said Latif Ahmad.

At some places in Lolab and Kupwara, the farmers have completed the thrashing of paddy and are busy in drying the same in fields. At few other places, the rice mills are witnessing a good sale as the farmers are grilling the grains to obtain rice. “Most of the families consume local brand of rice especially during the winter season. The ration depots often witness a shortage of ration due to the closure of Srinagar-Jammu highway in December and January. They stock adequate quota of ration to ensure that there is no shortage,” said Mohd Yasin.

North Kashmir has the distinction of producing over 60 per cent of foodgrain (mainly rice) in the Valley as more than 90 per cent of people cultivate paddy crops as their mainstay.