by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
Mohan Bhagwat
New Delhi : RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday discussed the issues related to constitutional amendments needed to integrate the troubled Jammu and Kashmir and also the present economic situation of the country with top intellectuals of the country.
Continuing his outreach programmes, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday met intellectuals from different walks of life and officials of different government and NGOs here at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
The event, attended by Vice Chancellors of various central universities, heads of PSUs, top bosses of other government-run organisations and eminent personalities like doctors, former bureaucrats, lawyers and industrialists, was a indoor meeting.
The meeting of the RSS chief with the top intellectuals of the country assumes significance as the government is under attack within and from the opposition as well over the state of economy.
“After Vijaya Dashmi speech, Sarsanghachalakji meets people from different walks of life and discusses issues raised in his speech. He discussed the issues here also,” Manmohan Vaidya, the head of RSS Publicity Department (Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh) told IANS.
Bhagwat also got feedback from the invitees about the working of RSS and the improvement needed in the organisation.
Besides the RSS chief, senior functionaries like Bhaiyaji Joshi, Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabale, Manmohan Vaidya attended the meet.
Before reaching Delhi, Bhagwat met with a minor accident during his return from Vrindavan in the morning.
Bhagwat, since last few years, has been meeting industrialists, educationists, diplomats and intellectuals from different walks of life to strengthen the saffron organisation.
Recently, Bhagwat met diplomats of different countries here at a function organised by India Foundaion.
During his Dussehra speech, Bhagwat had raised concerns about constitutional provisions like Article 35(a), that empowers the state’s legislature to define Jammu and Kashmir residents and accord citizenship rights to them, for the “backward life” of these Hindu migrants and also Kashmiri Pandits, who migrated from the valley in early 1990s when an armed insurgency broke out in the state, saying their condition “remains as it is”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Srinagar : Suicide attackers of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit carrying guns and explosives stormed a BSF camp on Tuesday morning near the highly secured Srinagar international airport, triggering a gun battle that left three militants and a trooper dead, officials said.
The officials said an unknown number of militants in military fatigues around 4.30 a.m. broke into the Humhama-based 182 Battalion BSF camp that shares a wall with an air force station and is located in a hilly area.
The audacious attack claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) — led by Masood Azhar, who is based in Pakistan and is one of the most wanted militants in India — is being compared to the January 2016 strike at the Pathankot airbase.
Four BSF troopers were also injured in the Srinagar attack and have been hospitalised.
The attackers breached four layers of security in the highly-protected area housing the Srinagar international airport and a posh neighbourhood where many of the state’s Who’s Who live.
This is the first militant attack in nearly 30 years of militancy that occurred so close to the airport which has always been in the radar of Pakistan-based militants.
Officials said the militants fired indiscriminately and threw grenades at security pickets before entering the BSF camp when it was still dark and the airport was yet to open for the day’s operations.
A police spokesman said one the attackers was shot down after the militants barged into the camp while two more were killed in the operation that was still on till early afternoon.
The body of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) was found during search operations.
Flight operations at the airport were disrupted in the morning and the road leading to the airport was sealed. Schools in the vicinity were also ordered to shut for the day.
Police said security personnel sealed all possible escape routes as a major operation jointly carried out by the Army para commandos, BSF, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and state police was launched to flush out all the attackers. Gun shots and explosions were heard hours after the attack.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh immediately called for a high level security meeting in New Delhi later on Tuesday to discuss the overall security situation in the state.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World, News
Srinagar : Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Bader Eddin Muhammad Adib Hassoun and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday discussed ways and means to end the cult of violence in Muslim countries, an official statement said.
Currently visiting the Valley, the Syrian Grand Mufti called on the Chief Minister here, it said.
“The two leaders discussed several issues confronting the Muslim world and the need to weed out the cult of violence from the Muslim society. They also underscored the need for inculcating values of peace, tolerance and coexistence among the younger generation.
“The two leaders exchanged ideas on education, social system, history and welfare of the Muslim world and the need for an effective inter faith communication to spread the message of Islam,” the statement said.
Mehbooba Mufti informed the visiting dignitary of various socio-developmental initiatives undertaken by her government in the State including the education and empowerment of women and invited him to visit the state again for exhaustive sessions with the local Islamic scholars and academicians, it added.
“The Grand Mufti informed the Chief Minister that he was happy to meet her and know about her views on the subjects discussed,” the statement said, adding he termed her a “role model for the Muslim world”.
Noting Syrian women would take an inspiration from her personality, he also extended an invitation to her to visit Syria.
The visit of the Syrian Grand Mufti has been coordinated by Indian Council of Cultural Relations, and he was accompanied by Syrian Ambassador to India Riad Abbas, Advisor in Syrian Embassy, Nazen Nasri and other officials of Syrian Embassy besides ICCR Regional Director Balwant Thakur, the statement said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Engineer Rashid
Srinagar : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday summoned to New Delhi Jammu and Kashmir independent legislator Engineer Rashid for questioning.
Informed sources here said Engineer Rashid, who represents the north Kashmir Langate assembly constituency, has been asked to reach the NIA office on October 3.
The agency is investigating an alleged terror funding case involving separatist leaders, some local businessmen and others.
It is for the first time that a MLA from the state has been summoned by the NIA.
So far, 10 people, including separatist leaders and a businessman, have been arrested by the NIA.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Sheikh Qayoom,
Srinagar : As compared to last year, Kashmir has so far witnessed a steady drop in both the intensity and prevalence of street violence.
In 2016, spiralling public violence was sparked by the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight with the security forces on July 8.
The events that followed Wani’s death set the Valley on fire.
Official figures say 96 civilians and two policemen were killed in the unrest in the Valley and around 2,000 people, including civilians and security personnel, were injured.
Separatists claim 158 civilians were killed and 15,000 others injured in the unrest.
Nobody, however, disputes the fact that nearly 200 civilians suffered either permanent or partial loss of vision due to the use of pellet guns by the security forces during crowd control operations.
The writ of the state government was completely eroded during the unrest and this led to a situation in which the security forces could not carry out any anti-militancy operations, especially in the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian, after July last year.
This encouraged the militants to move about freely and create an impression of so-called “liberated areas”.
This prompted dozens of local youths to join the militant ranks in south Kashmir areas.
The most serious fallout of the unrest on the security front were the public protests during anti-militancy operations.
“Over two dozen anti-militancy operations had to be called off to avoid loss of civilian lives in the beginning of this year,” said a senior intelligence officer who did not wish to be named.
The officer added that the grip of the state administration and the security forces on the ground situation has been re-established. Although there are still public protests during anti-militancy operations, the intensity of such protests has fallen appreciably.
The authorities believe the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) crackdown on the alleged beneficiaries of terror funding in Kashmir has seriously impacted the incidents of stone-pelting and other anti-India protests in the Valley.
“There is no doubt that stone-pelting incidents have unseen hands behind them that support and prompt such violence.
“Yet, many protests during anti-militancy operations are spontaneous because of the involvement of local youth in militancy,” said another intelligence officer.
“Believing that all protests are supported by funding would be fallacious. This is the reason why efforts to engage local youth in healthy activities like sports and social interactions are necessary while giving the unemployed job opportunities to live a life with dignity and confidence,” the officer added.
That the security forces are now talking of surrender opportunities to youth who joined militancy since last year in the “heat of the moment” definitely indicates the tightening of grip on the ground by the army, state police and the paramilitary forces.
“Operation All-Out” was launched in the Valley after the Union Home Ministry, in consultation with the army, decided that the slipping away of the ground situation any further, especially in south Kashmir areas, could result in a situation that might be worse than what was witnessed during the early 1990s.
“Since January this year, 147 militants, including some top commanders, have been killed,” said a senior police officer.
“We have been able to push militants from populated areas to higher reaches and the intelligence network has been strengthened to an extent that enables hot pursuit of militants the moment they venture into villages and towns,” he added.
He, however, did not attribute the improvement in the overall security situation to any single factor.
“It is the overall impact. It is the NIA raids, the hot pursuit by the security forces and also the concern of parents for their children that have had an overall impact on the ground,” the officer added.
Whether or not the NIA raids had a crushing impact on the morale of the separatists can always be debated, yet the fact remains that the security situation has definitely improved in the Valley after these raids.
Ironically, the tourist inflow into the Valley has been disappointing this year even though the security situation has improved.
“We had better tourism last year till July.
“Despite the unrest, we had 1.1 million tourist arrivals till the end of July 2016. This year, as September draws to a close, we have less than 50 per cent of that number till now,” said a senior official of the state’s Tourism Department.
The state government has blamed the media outside Kashmir for over-hyping the street violence in the Valley.
“Kashmir today is as safe as any other tourist destination in the country. We are expecting large numbers of tourists during this winter and next year,” said the Tourism Department official.
The optimism of the state government, the security forces and political observers apart, predicting Kashmir has always been a difficult task.
(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)
—IANS
