Tag: Jammu and Kashmir

Article 370: How Modi government changed status of Kashmir
9Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Article 370: How Modi government changed status of Kashmir

On August 5, 2019, the Narendra Modi government in the Centre brought two resolutions related to Jammu and Kashmir. The first revoked Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and the second resolution was for bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.This step fulfilled a much-awaited demand of the RSS-BJP, since the days of Bharatiya Jan Sangh, whose leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee died in a Kashmir prison, campaigning against the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.Article 370, combined with Article 35A, accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status under the Constitution of India, allowing it to have a separate constitution and a separate penal code among other legal distinctions.Article 370 is a temporary provision in relation to Jammu ...
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Article 370: Can Jammu and Kashmir regain statehood?
9Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Article 370: Can Jammu and Kashmir regain statehood?

Soon after the Indian government announced abrogating the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in 2019, converting the state into two Union Territories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said it was a "temporary" situation.PM Modi said statehood of Jammu and Kashmir would be restored at "some point of time".In March this year, PM Modi told a visiting delegation of politicians from Kashmir that "the government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity".Union Home Minister Amit Shah also told the Jammu and Kashmir leaders that "visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months".However, around 10 days after the meeting, the coronavirus lockdown had to be imposed across the coun...
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J-K: Huge cache of weapons, drugs recovered from vehicle in Kupwara
8Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

J-K: Huge cache of weapons, drugs recovered from vehicle in Kupwara

The Jammu and Kashmir police and Indian Army seized an enormous cache of weapons and drugs on July 26 when a vehicle was stopped at a joint check post, sources said.According to sources, teams of 7 Rashtriya Rifles and the Kupwara police had stopped a vehicle for checking at Sadna Top, which was being driven by Umar Sheikh, a resident of Hajinagar.On searching the vehicle, the security forces found one AK-56 rifle with two magazines, two pistols along with four magazines, 76 rounds of rifle ammunition and 90 rounds of pistol ammo.Six grenades with Chinese markings, six blue-plastic grenades, and eight OG plastic grenades were also recovered along with approximately 10 kilogram of packets containing narcotics, the sources added.“10 kgs of brown sugar, Ak 47 rifle, 2 pistols, 20 grenades &am
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Jammu and Kashmir: A year without Article 370
8Aug By Stuart WhiteNo Comments
Opinion

Jammu and Kashmir: A year without Article 370

It has been a year since the government of India scrapped Article 370 (and Article 35A), taking away the special status of Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcating it into two Union Terrirtories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Undoubtedly, August 5, 2019, was a watershed moment, popularly dubbed as “historical blunder being corrected in one stroke”. Of course, the cynics cried foul – ranging from the killing of a democratic polity, recommitting a historical blunder, a betrayal, to a sinister ploy to alter Kashmir’s demography, so on and so forth.Nonetheless, it was a monumental step taken by the Narendra Modi government to seal Kashmir’s fate. In one stroke it removed all the ills of Kashmir misfortune, which boosted national domestic confidence, struck a deadly blow to Pakistan’s ostentatious
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No violence, stone pelting, Pakistan flag since scrapping Article 370: J&K BJP leader
6Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

No violence, stone pelting, Pakistan flag since scrapping Article 370: J&K BJP leader

On the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kashmir unit unfurled the national flag at the party office and accused those protesting the constitutional changes of being sympathizers of the ISIS.“We are celebrating the completion of one year of abrogation of Article 370 (provisions) and the positive changes that it brought in Jammu and Kashmir,” BJP leader Altaf Thakur told reporters at the party office in Jawahar Nagar.Thakur said the abrogation of Article 370 provisions of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, had brought about many positive changes and put an end to stone pelting in Kashmir.“There used to be stone pelting during encounters that has stopped. There used to be ISIS flag, Pakistani flag…that has st
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Kashmiris celebrate one year of abrogation of Article 370 with fervour
6Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Kashmiris celebrate one year of abrogation of Article 370 with fervour

As the abrogation of Article 370 completed its one year on August 5, hundreds of Gujjars, Bakarwals and other Kashmiri sightseers from Kupwara, Tangdhar and Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir celebrated Bangus Awaam Mela, rejecting Pakistan's efforts to create a false narrative about abrogation of Article 370.The Annual Fair saw participation with great fanfare for two days since it kicked off on August 3.Rustic games like horse racing, sheep herding, Tug of War and Wood Chopping competitions were organized on the first day in which the Gujjar, Bakerwal communities from various Bhaiks living in the meadows during the summer months actively participated.On the request of senior community members, a veterinary and medical camp was also organized by the local Rashtriya Rifles unit. A total of 679 ...
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Article 370 abrogation impact: Decline in stone-pelting incidents, strikes in Kashmir
5Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Article 370 abrogation impact: Decline in stone-pelting incidents, strikes in Kashmir

After the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, people of the valley have reported a significant drop in the incidents of stone pelting and militancy, saying the youth is now more focused on their studies.“The youth here has become prudent. The game that few people played with the youth of Kashmir has stopped. They know it very well that they will get nothing from militancy. Today’s youth is focused on their studies. All the protests and stone-pelting incidents that we used to see every day no longer takes place,” says Mohammed Yousuf.Stone pelting, as the name suggests, refers to assault by throwing stones, by a section of Kashmiri youth on security forces, deployed for crowd control. There were 2,653 incidents of stone-throwing in 2016. A probe by the National Investigating Age
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PMKVY-trained Kashmiri youth prepare masks, PPEs for earning livelihood
5Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

PMKVY-trained Kashmiri youth prepare masks, PPEs for earning livelihood

After the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year, a lot of significant development has taken place in the valley, one of them is Kashmiri youths’ contribution towards Covid-19 fight.According to reports, youth trained under Pradhan Mantri Kushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) are preparing masks and PPEs at a local institute in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district.The institute which is an undertaking of 'She Hope Society for Women Entrepreneurs', train youth in tailoring so that they can earn their living without being dependent.However, this is not the only centre which is contributing to the fight against COVID-19 in Kashmir. There are many such institutes which are proving to be a helping hand in the battle against the virus.Uzafia Jan, a programme manager, said t
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Kashmir’s Farhana Bhat makes mark in Bollywood, bags 2 more projects
5Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Kashmir’s Farhana Bhat makes mark in Bollywood, bags 2 more projects

Farhana Bhat never wanted to be an actor and therefore, she never thought she would be working with the big shots of the Bollywood industry, but in 2018, she bagged an Imtiaz Ali film ‘Laila Majnu’ and now she has in her kitty two more big Bollywood projects.Farhana, who lives in the Chanpora area of Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir), studied at a local school and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Government College for Women, Srinagar.“I didn’t want to be an actor, but by God’s grace, I landed in this field and got along with the flow. I have always been passionate about journalism and always wanted to become a journalist. I am also working on becoming a broadcast journalist or a news anchor. I will also go for an internship with a national TV
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J&K: Ganderbal’s Govt Degree College gets massive upgrade
5Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

J&K: Ganderbal’s Govt Degree College gets massive upgrade

The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that they have now begun at full speed the construction for several new facilities at the Government Degree College located in the Union Territories’ Ganderbal district.According to the Deputy Commissioner of Ganderbal, Shafqat Iqbal, the ongoing construction includes many new projects like an auditorium, new classrooms, an additional modern library, a conference hall, a cultural hall and a debate hall."To boost the education sector in the Ganderbal district, construction has begun in full swing with the support and help of funds issued by the Central government. Earlier, we used to face a lot of problems with funding. But for the last year, ever since our state received the status of the Union Territory, development work has been fast-tracked," he
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