Curfew imposed in Srinagar, Kashmir

ISLAMABAD: The puppet authorities in occupied Kashmir have imposed undeclared curfew in Srinagar and placed the APHC Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyet leaders including Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, Fazl Haq Qureshi and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai under house arrest.

The Hurriyet leaders were to lead anti-India demonstrations after Juma prayers.

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Curfew imposed in Srinagar, Kashmir was first posted on February 27, 2009 at 6:18 pm.

Curfew-imposed Situation in Kashmir Valley After youths’ Murder in Sopore

Curfew-like situation prevailed in the Kashmir Valley Wednesday as authorities imposed stringent restrictions on the movement of people to prevent separatists from staging protest rallies and demonstrations on the fourth day ceremony of two youths killed in the alleged Army firing last week.

Thousands of police and paramilitary forces’ personnel have been deployed here and other major towns of the Valley as the separatists had called for observance of a general strike to protest against the “cold-blooded” murder of two youths in Sopore town of north Kashmir on Saturday.

Mohammad Amin Tantray and Javid Ahmad were killed and another youth, Firdous Ahmad, was injured in a firing incident at Bumai-Sopore, 55 km from here, sparking off massive protest demonstrations, prompting authorities to impose curfew in the town on Sunday.

The state government has already ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident while Army has also ordered a court of inquiry.

While locals alleged that the troops of 22 Rashtriya Rifles opened indiscriminate fire on the group of youth without any provocation, Army maintains that the two youths were killed in cross-fire between the security forces and militants.

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Curfew-imposed Situation in Kashmir Valley After youths’ Murder in Sopore was first posted on February 25, 2009 at 11:59 am.

25 killed, 17 injured as Bus Falls into Stream in Doda District: J&K

At least 25 people were killed and 17 injured in a bus accident in the mountainous Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning, police said.

The accident took place when the bus skidded off the road and fell into Neeru nullah, a tributary of Chenab river at Pul Doda in Doda district, about 170 km north-east of Jammu, the state’s winter capital.

The bus was on its way to the district headquarter town of Doda from Bhaderwah.

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25 killed, 17 injured as Bus Falls into Stream in Doda District: J&K was first posted on February 25, 2009 at 11:28 am.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Meets Tomorrow

The newly elected Jammu and Kashmir legislative Assembly is set to meet on Wednesday and the first item on its agenda is to elect a new Speaker, officials said Tuesday.

“The House (legislative assembly) will meet at 10 am Wednesday and the process for the election of speaker will commence,” said Mohammad Ramzan, secretary of the Assembly.

National Conference, the leading partner in the ruling coalition, may stake its claim to the post of Speaker. Though the party has not revealed its choice as yet, but the names doing the rounds in the political circles are of a former minister Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, who won from Handwara in northwest Kashmir, and former Deputy Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone, who was elected from Sonawari constituency of Bandipore district in north Kashmir.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and his son, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, are currently not in town to confirm the party’s final choice.

While Abdullah senior is in London, the chief minister is camping in New Delhi, party sources said.

It is also unclear whether the ruling alliance of National Conference and Congress would give the post of deputy speaker to the opposition or allot it to the Congress.

After the election of Farooq Abdullah and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to the Rajya Sabha, the effective strength of the two parties in the House of 87 has been reduced to 42 – 16 of the Congress and 26 of the National Conference.

Sources in the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that articulating peoples’ grievances was more important to them than getting the Deputy Speaker’s post.

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Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Meets Tomorrow was first posted on February 24, 2009 at 12:07 pm.

Lashkar-e-Taiba Militant Arrested in Jammu And Kashmir

Security forces have arrested a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir, police officials said here Thursday.

On a tip off, army laid an ambush and intercepted LeT militant Mohmmad Yasin Boru alias Nora Bhai on Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Batote area in Ramban district last night, they said.

Boru was arrested when he was on his way to Banihal forest belt from Doda, they said, adding one chinese pistol, 70 rounds, three sim cards and some money was recovered from him.

The militant revealed during interrogation that he was going to deliver pistol, ammunition and sim card to self styled Lashkar district commander Abu musa in Chamalwas forest belt in Banihal, they said.

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Lashkar-e-Taiba Militant Arrested in Jammu And Kashmir was first posted on February 19, 2009 at 1:09 pm.

IAF Airlifts Relief Supplies in Kashmir

The Indian Air Force (IAF) dropped food articles in Kashmir’’s Doda and Kishtwar districts where road connectivity has snapped after heavy rain washed off parts of a crucial highway last week.

“They are facing shortage of essential commodities. What the State Government is supplying, we will take there safely. And whatever the commodities they need, we will try to get it for them,” said Wing Commander Pawan Sharma, an IAF officer at the Udhampur Air Force Base.

Half-a-kilometer stretch of the road between Batote-Kishtwar NationalHighway-1B collapsed as water from Chenab river submerged it.

Officials said the critically ill patients were being airlifted on a priority basis.

“We have been airlifting patients almost daily. As far as patients are concerned, the critically patients who cannot be given treatment there, is concerned,” said Pawan Kotwal, divisional commissioner of Jammu.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has begun work on opening an alternative route on Bani-Bhaderwah road to connect the two districts. Usually the road remains closed during winter.

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IAF Airlifts Relief Supplies in Kashmir was first posted on February 13, 2009 at 1:49 pm.

Sacrifices of Kashmiris to Bear Fruit: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Thursday said the Kashmir issue is becoming prominent with the passage of every day and expressed the confidence that sacrifices of Kashmiris will bear fruit.

Talking to state television of Pakistan, he said Kashmir was an internationally recognised dispute as per the relevant UN Resolutions and the liberation movement would continue till its logical end.

He urged India to adopt positive approach by taking international community’s involvement in resolving the Kashmir dispute as an opportunity for working towards durable peace in South Asia.

To a question he said Pakistan’s observance of the Kashmir Solidarity Day will further boost the morale of Kashmiris, who have been rendering unique sacrifices to secure their right to self-determination.

It would help further highlight Kashmiris’ cause at the international level, he added.

He expressed the confidence that Pakistan would continue its moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiri’s just struggle.

The APHC Chairman said command of ongoing liberation movement has been transferred to youth who would continue the struggle till its logical end, he added.

To a question he, said that more than 10,000 Kashmiris have disappeared and thousands of youth, Hurriyet leaders and innocent people were languishing in the jails of occupied Kashmir and India.

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Sacrifices of Kashmiris to Bear Fruit: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was first posted on February 5, 2009 at 7:30 pm.