The occasion

* People of Shia faith attended the Zuljinnah procession at Zadibal area of Srinagar and other interiors of city as the government disallowed the Muharram processions after the eruption of militancy

* The martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain is also mourned by the Sunnis during Friday sermons but the Shias hold religious functions on a bigger scale

* Gatherings were also held at Alamgari Bazaar, Balhama, Baarji Harwan, Kral Mohalla Harwan, Gulshanbagh Lal Bazar and Shalina Nowgam in the summer capital

Srinagar, November 25
Clashes took place between Shia mourners and police personnel in the old city where authorities had imposed restrictions on all civilian movement to stop people from taking out Muharram processions.

Incidents of stone pelting and some clashes were reported at the Hawal area, which had been sealed by the police since early Sunday morning. Hundreds of youths threw stones at police personnel deployed in the area. The restrictions were in place from Hawal to Aali Masjid.

Several protesters and policemen were injured in the clashes during which police resorted to shelling of tear-smoke canisters, chilli-grenades and rubber bullets, eyewitnesses said.

A police spokesman said restrictions were in place in several parts of the city.

Over the last two decades, the authorities have been imposing restrictions during the Islamic month of Muharram to stop Shia mourners from leading processions.

Restrictions were also imposed in the main commercial nerve centre of Lal Chowk, where barbed wires were placed to block civilian and traffic movement. A large number of police and paramilitary personnel patrolled the streets in many parts of the city while armoured vehicles were placed at several key junctions.

Many parts of the city, where there were no restrictions, wore a deserted look as residents preferred to remain indoors on Sunday. Public transport was severely hit as key roads in the city remained blocked.

The inter-district transport services were also hit.

Aga Syed Mujahid of Ikhwaan-ul-Mutazireen, a Shia leader, was detained at Lal Chowk when he attempted to take a mourning procession, his party spokesman said. 

Kupwara, November 25
The scare of wild animals continues to haunt people in north Kashmir, especially those who live close to forest areas. Residents in many remote villages in Baramulla and Kupwara districts say the animals are on prowl and continue to attack their livestock every now and then.

Villagers feel an increasing movement of animals of prey is not only posing threat to livestock but human lives as well.

Residents of Moori, a remote village in Lolab, said the animals come down to villages in the evening which was making their movement difficult. They said their livestock was increasingly falling prey to the animals.

“We have spotted a leopard and a bear in the village at least four times in the past two weeks. The wild animals have devoured dozens of cattle here. The increasing scare of these animals of prey has confined us to our homes,” said Rafiq Ahmad of Moori in Lolab.

A man in the remote Potoosa village of Rafiabad in Baramulla district was killed in wild animal attack on November 21 and another person was injured at Rajpora in Handwara on the same day.

Residents of Chowkibal, another remote village 28 km from Kupwara, said they were living amid constant fear of attacks from wild animals. They said the movement of animals in their village had become a routine thing and children in particular were prone to attacks.

The residents have appealed to the wildlife authorities to take necessary steps to deal with the problem.

“The animals have devoured dozens of cattle in our village. People are scared to move freely even during the daytime. We will be forced to take to the streets if the Wildlife Department does not take measures to curb the movement of wild animals,” said Ghulam Nabi, an employee with the Cooperative Bank.

An increasing number of wild animal attacks had triggered strong protests last week against the wildlife authorities in Baramulla.

Wildlife Warden (north Kashmir) Mohd Maqbool Baba said, “People should not dump apple in orchards as the fruit attracts animals. The cold conditions forces animals to come down to villages from the higher reaches. People should not panic as animals are likely to go back to their own habitats once the cold recedes.” 

Srinagar, November 25
Pulwama town in South Kashmir remained shut today for the third consecutive day as protests were held against the non-availability of electricity and LPG cylinders. Demonstrations were held in the town and there were reports of minor clashes between the protesters and the police.

The Pulwama Coordination Committee which spearheaded the protest in the town alleged that Pulwama had been facing shortage of electricity and cooking gas in the district.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the Saturday’s police action against protesters in the town.

“The crisis in South Kashmir is a failure of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who visited the district to seek votes but did not hear the grievances of public representatives,” PDP MLAs Mohammad Khalil Bandh (Pulwama), Syed Basheer (Rajpora) Zahoor Ahmad Mir (Pampore), Mushtaq Ahmad Shah (Tral) and Abdul Razaq Zawoora (Shopian) said in a joint statement.

“The government led by National Conference has no time to address the sufferings of people but its only agenda is how to remain in power,” party chief spokesperson Naeem Akhter said.

Srinagar, November 25
The Bandipora police registered an FIR over 24 hours after the tragic death of mother-child duo at a private maternity clinic in Bandipora.

The police said the delay in filing an FIR was due to the fact that the deceased Masooda Begum’s family had not approached it yet. The FIR was registered on the instance of the State Health Department.

Srinagar, November 25
“I am in pain,” says 22-year-old mentally-challenged destitute Basher Ahmad Payer who is suffering from gangrene (a tissue degeneration condition) and becomes silent.

Basher Ahmed Payer at the GB Pant Hospital in Srinagar. A Tribune photograph

As doctors treating Basher at the Bones and Joints Hospital, Srinagar, did not know where he came from, they were eventually forced to cut-off both his limbs fearing the spread of infection to his entire body.

However, some volunteers of Help Poor Voluntary Trust (HPVT) managed to track down Bashir’s residential address and contacted his distant cousin brother from Darsu village in Kupwara.

Doctors say that nobody from the government or NGO bothered to help this young man for so many years. A timely help could have possibly saved him from becoming physically disabled.

After losing his legs, Basher has nowhere to go due to absence of any rehabilitation centre in the state for physically challenged people in the state.

“He is an orphan. His younger brother is also mentally retarded. He has an old ailing grandmother at home. We are enquiring about his relatives,” said Farooq Ahmad, president, Help Poor Voluntary Trust, (HPVT), a free healthcare service organisation.

As the state is yet to come up with a rehabilitation centre for the physically challenged, Basher Ahmad’s fate remains undecided.

“There are many people like Bashir Ahmad Payer who have been left at the mercy of the Heavens. No government agency or individual gives a thought to such people who are an equally important part of our society. There is an urgent need for a rehabilitation centre in the state which could look after these less fortunate souls,” said Dr Muhammad Salim Khan, Deputy Medical Superintendent at the GB Pant Hospital.

“Somebody has to support him for now. We will have to send him to his ancestral village in Kupwara till the time he recovers. We somehow managed to find a shelter for Bashir but what is the fate of thousands of such people with nobody to take care of them,” said Farooq. 

Srinagar, November 25
Minimum temperature across the Kashmir valley plunged to shivering conditions, with mercury at the Gulmarg resort falling nearly seven degrees below the freezing point.

The minimum temperature in Gulmarg in north Kashmir was recorded at-6.8 degrees Celsius during night, an official of the state meteorological department said. Gulmarg was the coldest place in Kashmir valley.

In Pahalgam of south Kashmir, the mercury last night fell to minus five degree Celsius and the day temperature there rose to a maximum of 9.8 degrees Celsius.

Parts of the Kashmir division, including the famous Gulmarg resort, nearby Tangmarg, Haji Bala in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district and higher reaches of Pir Panchal mountain range in south Kashmir, had received snowfall on Saturday.

In the wake of snowfall, the Kashmir division administration had imposed restrictions on vehicular movement for two days which ended today on Kargil-Zanskar, Srinagar-Zojila-Kargil, Kupwara-Machil,Kupwara-Tangdha rand Bandipora- Gurez roads.

Restrictions are also in place for vehicular movement on the Anantnag-Sinthan-Kishtwar road and the Shopian-Mughal road as a “precautionary measure”.

In Srinagar, mercury dropped below freezing point to minus 1.4 degree Celsius, an official said. The minimum temperature in the city had shown a considerable rise last week from minus one degree.

The Valley is gearing up for a harsh winter which is set to begin officially from next month. Leh and Kargil districts in the remote Ladakh region recorded minus six degree Celsius. Qazigund town in south Kashmir recorded a cold night with mercury falling to minus 1.4 degree Celsius and Kupwara district in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of -1.1 degrees Celsius overnight.

The state weather department has forecast dry weather in the state in the next 24 hours.

Srinagar, November 25
The state government has asked the Anantnag district administration to constitute a team of officers for monitoring the rehabilitation work at Frislan village, where 46 houses and few cow sheds were gutted last night.

The directions were issued by the Minister for Forests and Environment, Mian Altaf Ahmad and Minister for Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo, who visited the village on the instructions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, to take stock of the rehabilitation measures being taken by the administration.

Deputy Commissioner (DC), Anantnag, Farooq Ahmed Shah apprised the ministers of the measures taken by them.

The DC informed them that a cash relief of Rs 10,000 was distributed among each family out of Red Cross Fund this morning, while Rs 40,000 would be provided to them at the earliest.

He further said the sufferers would be provided free ration for two months. Besides, Indira Awaas Yojna (IAY) cases shall also be sanctioned in favour of the fire victims.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti, also visited Frislan and urged the government to go beyond the routine scale fixed for such losses and provide generous financial assistance to the victims.

Mufti said, “I also urge the district administration to ensure hassle-free transportation of timber, tin sheets and other building material to the village, so that the re-building process could be started urgently without any restrictions”.

He also appealed NGOs and social organisations to come forward in this hour of need and help the families in both cash and kind.

Srinagar, November 25
Reviewing the availability of essential commodities in the Valley, the J-K Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, today directed oil companies to expedite the process of verification and ensure home delivery of LPG cylinders during the winter months.

He was addressing a high level-officers meeting here yesterday, which was convened to take stock of the availability of LPG, kerosene oil, essential commodities and power supply in the Valley.

A government spokesman said Lal has also asked the divisional administration to gear up men and machinery to face the challenges during ensuing winter month, with regard to heavy snowfall.

“He stressed for expediting the verification process and also directed the oil companies to ensure home delivery of LPG to consumers, which shall be monitored by a task force comprising representatives of oil companies, Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution, Revenue and Police Departments, who shall submit the feedback on day to day basis to the divisional administration”, the spokesman said.

“He also directed Manager, Indian Oil Corporation, to ensure bulk storage of LPG in the Valley within a few weeks”, the spokesman added.

Srinagar, November 25
Expressing concern over the prevailing political situation in Kashmir, chairman of a moderate faction of Hurriyat conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has termed it ‘extremely worrisome’.

He said the arbitrary detentions, arrests and restrictions were not a solution to Kashmir’s problem and cannot suppress the aspirations of the Valley’s people.

He made these comments while speaking at a function organised in Narooora area of Srinagar, during which he also paid tributes to Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was martyred in seventh century.

A Hurriyat spokesman said Mirwaiz urged India, Pakistan and Kashmiris to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute through peaceful negotiations, which may usher the subcontinent into an era of lasting peace.

“Mirwaiz said without finding a solution to Kashmir, rapid development and peace cannot be achieved in sub-continent”, the spokesman added.

Srinagar, November 25
In order to bring down the number of incidents of man-animal conflicts in the state, documentation of indigenous faunal varieties (animal species) in the unexplored areas of the Valley should be done.

This was suggested by experts during the recently concluded national seminar at University of Kashmir, organised by Indian Science Congress Association, in conjunction with Department of Zoology of the university.

Experts recommended launch of a ‘Fauna diversity conservation project’ with financial assistance from the national and international environment bodies.

Eminent zoologists from the country presented 133 research papers at the three-day seminar. They emphasised on the management and conservation of threatened animal species and preservation of their habitat from degradation.

Dean, Biological Sciences, KU and Director of the seminar, Prof G Mustafa Shah, said the recommendation put forth by the scientific community should be forwarded to policy makers and the government, so that faunal diversity of the country could be preserved.

Experts added that sensitisation of common masses should be done regarding benefits and values derived from faunal resources. People should be educated about the importance of faunal resources through conservation awareness programs, conducted in collaboration with various national and international conservation agencies.

Experts said emphasis must be laid on restricted use of pesticides and insecticides for cropping and agricultural activities. Bio-control measures with emphasis on integrated pest management may instead be promoted. They felt that mapping and revisiting all aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems harbouring rich faunal diversity, with proper conservation and management strategies should be put in place.

Srinagar, November 25
As many as 532 Haj pilgrims, comprising 287 males and 245 females, returned from Saudi Arabia this morning after performing Haj, an official said.

Around 9,170 pilgrims from the state performed Haj this year, from which over 8,000 pilgrims have returned home so far.

The last Haj flight is expected to reach the Srinagar International Airport on November 30.

This year’s quota for Jammu and Kashmir had been increased from 8,441 to 8,670. In addition, private Haj operators facilitated around 500 Haj pilgrims.

Air India is operating direct Haj flights from here to Saudi Arabia after a gap of four years.

Haj is among the five fundamentals of Islam and every believing Muslim aspires to perform the annual pilgrimage at least once in his/her lifetime.