Srinagar: Suspected militants on Sunday shot dead a member of the minority community in Achan village of Litter area in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district evoking sharp criticism in the union territory. 

The Jammu and Kashmir police identified the victim as Sanjay Sharma, a local of Pulwama, working as an armed security guard. He was shot at from a close range whilst he was on his way to the local market. Immediately after the attack Sharma, a Kashmiri Pandit, was rushed to the hospital but the police later said that he succumbed to the bullet injuries. 

The police posted in the area said that they have since launched an investigation and cordoned off the area to track the attackers. 

The attack comes just two days after a civilian identified as Asif Ganai was targeted by suspected militants in the Bijbehara area of South Kashmir on Friday. Ganai however survived the attack and his condition is said to be stable. His father Ali Mohammad Ganai, a head constable with J&K Police was killed in a similarly targeted killing last January. 

The attack on the minority community member has renewed fears of similar attacks that caused fear and subsequent demand for relocation of the Pandit community employees. 

The prominent group which represents the Kashmiri Pandit minority in the region Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) in a statement lashed out at the authorities for failing to protect the minorities from such attacks in the region. 

“Govt and BJP4India canot handle 75 lakh Kashmiri Population and want to control PoK and Balochistan. Kashmiri  Pandits are killed like dogs in Kashmir and HMO India and office of LG J&K sensor the information that Kashmir most dangerous place for KPs in this world (sic),” KPSS tweeted. 

The political parties condemned the attack on Sharma terming it dastardly and a reflection of the deteriorating situation in the region. 

“The vicious cycle of killings doesn’t seem to end. GOI has failed to protect minorities in J&K & reduced them to sitting ducks. Everyone here is paying a heavy price for this facade of normalcy. My deepest condolences to his family,” Mehbooba Mufti of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said.

The killing was also mourned by others including National Conference, People’s Conference and Apni Party leadership. 

“Deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sanjay Pandith of Achan in Pulwama district of South Kashmir. Sanjay was working as a bank security guard & was killed in a militant attack earlier today. I unequivocally condemn this attack & send my condolences to his loved ones,” NC vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted.

Condemning the attack senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) M Y Tarigami said that the attack has once again brought back the uncertainty caused last year due to such attacks against civilians. 

“Condemning in no uncertain terms the killing of Sanjay Pandith in Pulwama. The unfortunate incident has again raised the spectre of last year’s despicable targeted killings in the Valley. Sharing the pain and grief of the bereaved family,” he said in a statement.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: A partial shutdown was observed in Kashmir valley on Wednesday against the ongoing demolition drive being carried out by the authorities to retrieve state land in the region. 

Shops and commercial establishments were shut in old parts of Srinagar and the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and in several parts and towns across the valley as a mark of protest against the drive that many have called a means to disempower the residents. 

Some of the shopkeepers later opened their respective shops during the day, however, a majority of them continued to observe the strike. Many of them alleged that they received calls from the authorities to open their shops but could not be verified independently. The locals said that they were observing the strike after Hurriyat Conference called for the Hartal to be observed today. There was, however, no Hurriyat communication that could be verified independently. 

“It is not a big matter like Article 370 or statehood. This concerns our own livelihood, home and families so we observed the strike even if they (authorities) threaten us against it,” a shopkeeper from Srinagar’s old city area told NewsClick. 

Today’s strike is the first major reaction from locals against the drive which began in January. The political parties, civil society members and trade leaders have vehemently opposed the “anti-encroachment” exercise that they saw as “arbitrary” and “divisive”. 

Even as the administration maintains that it will not affect the poor and marginalised but is going after “big sharks” and “land mafia”, many in the region have claimed that the former is also facing evictions. 

Speaking against the drive, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti urged people to resist the authorities arguing that the land belongs to the residents. 

“I am asking people to take control of their own land irrespective of whether the land is designated State Land, Custodian, Kahcharai (Grazing land) or Shamlat (Common Land). They would call us ‘anti-nationals’ before and now they are calling people ‘encroachers’,” Mufti said at the party headquarters in Srinagar. 

The former chief minister also expressed resentment over the Income Tax raids at the BBC office in New Delhi claiming that it is a result of ‘deliberate hooliganism’ throughout the country. 

“What happened to BBC is the continuation of something that has been happening to the journalists in Jammu and Kashmir for the last three years. Unfortunately, when it was happening to journalists here, the national and international media remained silent and now they (the government) are repeating it,” she said. 

The political parties including the National Conference, the People’s Democratic Party, the Apni Party and the Democratic Azad Party have held protests against the drive across the union territory. There has been an unverified threat issued by a militant outfit against the drive which has escalated the situation in the region. 

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Image for representational purpose. Credit: Scroll.in

Srinagar: The proposed move to introduce the Hindi language in schools from Class I to X has been flagged in Jammu and Kashmir with many calling the “imposition” unnecessary as it might add to the existing hostilities in the region.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (JKSCERT) has reportedly constituted an eight-member committee to seek suggestions on introducing the Hindi language in the curriculum.

The proposal of SCERT, which proposes educational strategies and curriculum, triggered a row between political parties of the region. Hindi has been taught as an optional subject so far which meant that the students could opt between Hindi or Urdu apart from English – which is mandatory – in the regional curriculum.

The spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) Imran Nabi Dar told NewsClick that the decision should remain with the students. Dar said that the students should be allowed to choose and pursue any language for studying and not just Hindi.

“If they want to make it compulsory, then the students will obviously be overwhelmed and overburdened. Also, there was always a choice with students to either take Hindi or Urdu,” Dar said.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M Y Tarigami called it an imposition of Hindi language on the people of the region; something, he said, would deepen the divide.

The senior politician said that such recommendations negate the “legacy of the freedom struggle” and the constitutional promises of nourishing unity and diversity.

“Favouring Hindi at the cost of other languages amounts to an attack on national integration. The educational system and administrative institutions have accepted Urdu, which is a modern Indian language, as a link language since Maharaj Hari Singh declared it as the official link language in 1920,” Tarigami said. 

Altaf Thakur, the Jammu and Kashmir spokesperson for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), however, termed the opposition to the Hindi language as “ironic and myopic”.

Thakur said that the union territory is witnessing a new era in which such decisions should be welcomed.

“The mindset that believes that Urdu is the language of Muslims and not Hindi needs to change and religion shouldn’t be mixed with languages. Faith and religion aren’t dependent on the language you speak,” Thakur said whilst refuting the concerns raised by those objecting to the move.

Tarigami, however, argued that the Urdu language, without being the regional language, is intelligible to 100% of the population and that the imposition of Hindi is an “arbitrary” decision of the BJP-led government.

“The BJP has a singular purpose, that is to deepen the divide in a multilingual, multi-ethnic society of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Both NC and CPI(M) leaders said that they are not hostile to the Hindi language but argued against its imposition without taking into account the social and historical realities of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pertinently, the widely spoken Kashmiri language in the valley was introduced less than a decade ago into the curriculum as Urdu and English remained the medium of teaching in the last century. Urdu replaced Persian as the official language during the tyrannical Dogra rule (1842-1947) but owing to vast literature gained similar prominence against Kashmiri which lacked similar grandeur.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: In Mehjoor Nagar locality, a suburb in Srinagar city, Fayaz Ahmad stands in the middle of a scrap yard days after it was bulldozed during an eviction drive. It has been thirty years since Ahmad – now 52 – has worked here.

Fayaz is one of the six scrap yard owners where more than 200 labourers, including 150 non-locals from Bihar, gather scrap daily throughout the city. On Saturday, a bulldozer demolished the makeshift boundary wall, and the workers were asked to evacuate the premises.

Since then, the workers have been apprehensive about losing their livelihood amidst the ongoing drive by the authorities. The move has been widely condemned across Jammu and Kashmir, including by all the regional political parties.

“We earned livelihood for decades here. We have grown older working on collecting and selling scrap. There is no employment or future for us except in this junkyard,” Ahmad told NewsClick.

He points towards a huge pile of scrap that has been collected recently. Heaps of junk metal, plastic and cardboard have been overturned inside the yard. Over a dozen carts lie around, and workers try to salvage tin sheets removed during the demolition. This is the only place in the locality where the fresh demolition drive was conducted.

Like Ahmad, many of the labourers from Bihar have been earning their livelihood here for nearly three decades. Many of them work and also live in those makeshift sheds to save more money.

The authorities claimed that the land was under “illegal encroachment” but Sameer Dar, another scrap dealer, said that they had rented the space and did not receive any prior notice before the demolition was carried out.

“We are not big businessmen who have grabbed hundreds of kanals. There are more than 200 families dependent on this piece of land, which is not even more than 2 kanals. If they snatch it from us, there will be no option left for us,” Dar said.

The drive began in January after the UT administration issued an order dated January 9 directing all local administrative officials to remove “encroachment” on State Land, including Roshni and Kahcharai (Grazing) land. Since then, the administration, led by the Revenue Department, and Tehsil-level officers are assisted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police to carry out such drives.

The directive triggered a row, with many terming it a draconian move that would render lakhs of people homeless and affect the livelihood of even more. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha assured that the order was to recover land from the possession of big sharks and land mafia and would exclude those who are poor and marginalised. However, on the ground, it was not followed while carrying out the demolitions.

“The eviction drive has created fear and anger among people. With authorities running earthmovers everywhere, the claims of the administration about not touching ordinary people have proven to be a farce. There is a complete disconnect between what administration says and what it does,” senior politician M Y Tarigami said.

All the political parties, including the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC), Apni Party, and Democratic Azad Party (DAP), have led protests against the move and urged the authorities to halt the exercise.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s local leadership have also said that the poor and marginalised should be spared from the drive. But the officials carrying out these demolitions have claimed that they have not received any order in this regard.

On Tuesday, many, like Altaf Bukhari of Apni Party – often seen as a BJP ally – condemned the showcasing of bulldozers as a “symbol of power” in J&K during a party rally in Udhampur district.

“The land, which is being snatched from the people, actually belongs to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. We will not allow outsiders to grab the land,” he said.

Since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 A on August 5, 2019, the BJP-led government has made momentous changes in the land laws in the region, triggering fears of alleged “demographic change” by settling outsiders in the only Muslim-majority state of the country. Militant outfits also used this to launch a fresh wave of targeted attacks in which many non-locals were killed. The government has vehemently opposed these claims and said that all the changes were made to benefit the locals.

Earlier this week, an unverified statement from The Resistance Front – an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) — appeared on social media networks threatening the officials and workers of the revenue department and those involved in the drive with dire consequences. The target put by the militant outfit has furthered the fear in the residents.

Protests have also been reported from the Jammu division, where at least eight persons, including a District Development Council (DDC) official, were arrested by police for allegedly participating in stone-pelting against the demolition squad in Malik market.

On Wednesday, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti was detained by the police after she held a protest at Vijay Chowk, outside the Parliament in New Delhi, against the ongoing drive that she said was “turning Jammu and Kashmir into Afghanistan”. Mufti has earlier urged all national Opposition leaders to raise the issue of state-led demolitions across J&K against its own people in the garb for ‘reclaiming state land’ from ‘encroachers’.

Back in Srinagar, Ahmad and Dar are still trying to recover from the demolition carried out a few days back. “If the government does not support us, we will be forced to streets. We will sit on a dharna,” Dar said.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: The government’s recent order to remove all encroachments on state land, including under the annulled Roshni Act, has drawn criticism in Jammu and Kashmir with many calling for the rollback of order that they say will make people homeless.

Several political workers from Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the newly formed Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Democratic Azad Party (DAP) held separate protests in Jammu against the eviction drive that they termed was a “draconian” and “anti-people policy”.

The workers from DAP held a protest at Panama Chowk in Jammu where they raised slogans, such as  “Land Order Wapis Karo” (Take Back the Land Order) and later submitted a memorandum at the Divisional Commissioner’s office calling the order unfair.

The order has triggered a sense of fear and anxiety amongst many in the region who see the decision as a part of the ‘larger plan’ to disempower people from the Union territory.

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told NewsClick that the government order is aimed to make people “homeless”.

“This is not how a welfare state operates by threatening and harassing poor people who have constructed houses on their own. Across the country, the government is helping construct houses for the poor. But here the opposite is being done. The matter regarding Roshni scheme is sub judice, besides such decisions should be made by a popular government and not by this make shift arrangement,” he said.

The National Conference in a statement said that senior party leader and Member of Parliament Hasnain Masoodi called on Lt Governor to raised several issues including the land order. A party spokesperson said Masoodi demanded the revocation of the circular “as the Constitutional and possessory rights of the affected were likely to be infringed by the proposed action”.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has directed all the Deputy Commissioners to ensure complete removal of encroachments from State land including Roshni and Kahcharai by the end of January and sought a compliance report. The order was issued on January 9 following a virtual meeting held on December 15. This despite the fact that there are review petitions challenging the a judgment regarding Roshni Act pending before the High Court of J&K and Ladakh. Following the order, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud agreed to hear an urgent petition against the land retrieval order.

CPI (M) leader Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami also voiced “deep concern” over the government’s move of divesting the people of the land registered under various titles in revenue records across Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the administration is “blind” toward the destruction of the livelihood of the rural poor. The move, Tarigami added, was not only bound to render thousands of people roofless, but also divest many of cultivation rights.

“It is rather unfortunate that the government has mobilised all its machinery to dispossess the poor and excluded of the land registered as Kahchairi, Shamilat and so on. The people who are living off this land have found themselves in a bind after the government’s recent order,” he said.

Such orders, he claimed, have raised fear among the people about losing their land to the non-locals. He urged non-BJP political parties to come together and “fight” the move.

The Roshni Act, an unofficial name for the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership Rights to Occupants) Act, was enacted in 2001 under the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference government. The NC government had decided to regularise occupied or encroached land property in the region against compensation with which the government expected to raise funds for investments in power sector and financing hydel-power projects, and therefore, the scheme was called “Roshni”. It was finally termed “illegal” by a court order in 2020.

“Laws are created for the welfare of public, but in J&K they are weaponised to disempower, humiliate and punish. This latest diktat was issued because despite GOI misusing all the agencies at its disposal and unleashing draconian laws, aren’t getting the desired results,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Authorities at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Wednesday withdrew the circular that called for the profiling of students from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) enrolled at the varsity after the move drew flak from students and political parties in the region. 

An earlier order dated December 27, from the office of the controller of examination at the university, had sought the personal information of students including the name, parentage, address and mobile number.

The order directed all departments to gather the information on a priority basis that was meant to be further provided to the Superintendent of Police, Aligarh, according to the order.

The order was termed as discriminatory and prejudicial by student organisations and several political parties also called for the rollback of the order.

“AMU has issued an order asking various departments to furnish details about Kashmiri students. A discriminatory move which reeks of surveillance of the Kashmiri students. Urging @AMUofficialPRO to revoke the order forthwith and restore the lost sense of security among the students,” Kashmir’s Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami tweeted after the order was issued. 

Tarigami’s concern regarding the security of Kashmiri students at the university stemmed from the apprehensions of students from the university. The order had heightened their concerns regarding their safety after a recent row between students of the union territory and others.

Last month, at least three students were injured after they were allegedly beaten up inside the campus which the students protested against many said was a part of hostilities that they had been facing. Many including students organisation like J&K Students Association (JKSA) and regional political parties also expressed concerns regarding the safety of more than 1400 students enrolled at the varsity.

The fresh order regarding the “profiling” of students had only compounded these concerns.

“Kashmiris have been studying at the Aligarh Muslim University for decades and not ever had they been asked to furnish these personal details. If it was genuine then why is it that the students from J&K are being asked for these details and why not from other regions and states,” National Conference Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told NewsClick.

The students at the university had said that they will not provide these details as they considered it a “breach of their privacy.”

The J&K Students Association which called the order “unjustified” and demanded its rollback in a statement, issued after the withdrawal, urged the students to not feel worried now.

“After requesting authorities to withdraw the circular, since it has led to fear, and scepticism among J&K students in the Varsity, we have been assured and told that exercise will stop onwards now,” the student organisation said.

Zubair Altaf, a research scholar at the University who had also expressed concern over the order, said that the withdrawal has eased stress amongst the students to an extent.

“We appreciate that the University withdrew the order finally. I think there should be more interaction between the administration and the students that could iron out problems that many students have been facing,” Zubair told NewsClick.
 

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Widespread protests have been reported across Jammu, especially in the Pir Panjal area of Rajouri, after six civilians, including two minors, were killed in two attacks in Dangri village last night.

A minor boy was killed, and seven others were injured in an explosion near one of the three houses where armed assailants targeted the locals, killing at least four people, including a father and son. Another minor girl, who was critically injured in the blast, succumbed to her injuries, taking the toll to six and leaving 11 injured.

According to Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Jammu Zone, some of the injured are being treated in Rajouri hospital, and some have been shifted to Jammu hospital.

“It appears that the IED was kept under a gunny bag which exploded today. The area has been cordoned off, and a search operation is underway. There is information about the presence of two terrorists,” Singh told reporters.

The attack in Rajouri was widely condemned by social and political organisations, which led to protests across the Jammu division. The protests were led by several organisations, including Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, Dogra Manch and Bharatiya Janata Party, who termed the attack against the Hindu minority as “dastardly”. According to eye-witnesses, the demonstrations were reported in Pir Panjal areas of Rajouri and Poonch and Jammu areas of Rani Park, Bahu Moad, Trikuta Nagar and Chowki Choura. Many protests raised slogans against the police and administration accusing them of “failure” to protect the civilians.

Condemning the attack, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, visited the region and announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh and a government job to the victim’s next of kin.

“An ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh and a government job would be given to the next of kin of each of those civilians martyred in the dastardly attack. Seriously injured would be given Rs 1 lakh. Officials have been directed to ensure the best treatment to injured,” the Office of the LG announced on Twitter.

There has been an uptick in violence in the Jammu area, including in Poonch and Rajouri, since last year after years of a relative lull, which many security officials had already indicated. The fresh attack in the region was widely condemned by political parties, many of whom questioned the J&K administration and BJP for misrepresenting the situation in the Union territory.

“It is unfortunate that there is still terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. It has spread similarly to how hatred is spreading across the country; it is also an outcome of that. Hindus and Muslims are being divided… Look at what is happening in Nainital,” National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah told the media.

“Condemn this cowardly act and offer condolences to their families. Despite being under BJP rule and its bogus claims of ending militancy, violence continues unabated. Had J&K had its own elected government, the same media would have hauled them over the coals,” People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.

The attack was also condemned by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) led by incarcerated Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

“Hurriyat Conference strongly condemns the innocent killings of unarmed civilians in Rajouri. We express our condolences to the deceased and their families,” APHC said in a statement.

NC’s Omar Abdullah also tweeted against the attack whilst also questioning the role of security forces in handling the aftermath.

“This apparent carelessness on the part of the security forces needs to be probed and accountability fixed. Costly lessons learnt in the past taught us not to hand over the sites of encounters/attacks without thoroughly sanitising them. Why wasn’t this SOP followed in Rajouri?” he tweeted.

Congress leader Vikar Rasool and Communist Party of India (M) leader MY Tarigami also lashed out at the government for the security lapse.

“The incident is at odds with the government’s normalcy narrative. Unfortunately, the government has failed to contain violence despite making lofty claims about the improved security situation,” Tarigami said in a statement.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir and trade bodies have expressed serious concerns over the Union Territory (UT) administration’s new Land Grant Rules, 2022, following which all outgoing lessees will have to hand over possession of leased land to the authorities.

The administration has claimed that the changes in land laws will benefit common people and replace what they referred to as previous “regressive legislations”.

The changes have, however, been widely condemned by the regional political leadership, who termed the plan as “arbitrary” and against the interests of people of the region.

According to the fresh changes, all outgoing lessees, except in the case of subsisting or expired leases for residential purposes, shall immediately handover the possession of land to the government or face eviction. The rules state that all leases – except subsisting or expired residential leases – shall not be renewed and shall stand determined.

The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). the key representative of businesses in the UT, on Thursday said they held a meeting with various trade associations, hoteliers, restaurant owners and other stakeholders on their request regarding the order issued by the government’s revenue department.

“The delegation expressed their anguish regarding the above order and spoke about its adverse impact on the livelihood and employability of people in J&K,” KCCI said in a statement.

Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad, president of KCCI, said the concerns of all business sectors will be taken up with the government, and urged senior administrative officials, including the Lt Governor, to look into the matter taking people’s livelihood into consideration.

“The government of the day have been asserting that they are working to end unemployment. They should review whether this decision might result in sudden unemployment of people,” Ashiq Ahmed told NewsClick.

‘Plan to Settle Outsiders’

Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference leader, termed the move as “unfortunate” adding that it seems like a “plan to settle outsiders.”

“What is the need of evicting people or snatching land from them. The leaseholders should have the first right to renew, or refuse lease. It seems that the order is clear that the government wants to snatch land from locals and hand it over to outsiders,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

The move was also criticised by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, who termed it a “sorry state of affairs”.

After the two former chief ministers criticised the decision, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Altaf Thakur hit out at them, stating that the land lease would benefit “genuine people” instead of “blue-eyed” people backed by the two parties.

The decision was also vehemently opposed by other political parties, including Apni Party, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Maharaja government’s J&K Alienation of the Land Act, 1938, due to which non-locals were barred from buying property and agricultural land could not be transferred, was continued by successive governments, reserving rights over land for locals. That is what BJP has undone.

The government in Jammu and Kashmir first introduced new land laws in October 2020, subsequent to the changes made through the J&K Re-organisation Act, 2019. The laws were, however, opposed and seen as a move to disempower locals and implement a “demographic change” something that they have been reiterating since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A on August 5, 2019.

Senior CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami has submitted a petition in the Supreme Court against the land laws. The former lawmaker said that the process of investment for industries, trade and other commercial activities hit a roadblock because of the Article 370 decision following which a propaganda was unleashed by BJP that no one could invest in Kashmir or take land on lease.

“It was happening earlier as well but was approved through a cabinet decision and the representatives of people would express their concerns in the Assembly. This time there is no cabinet or the legislative Assembly. Both the institutions are absent now and not even panchayat members or DDCs (District Development Councils) are involved,” Tarigami said.

Tarigami said that already a petition has been submitted in the Supreme court challenging the basis of these laws, which is likely to be considered soon. He also argued that the demand of UT first emerged from Ladakh, but people from both Leh and Kargil are now up in arms demanding Sixth Schedule.

“The new land policy is not at par with the rest of the country. It may well open a dark chapter of now blatantly ‘othering’ the Kashmiris. Lease rules across the world and in India are fairly simple and on similar lines. But these are different and not without motives,” JKPC president Sajad Lone tweeted. 

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari went on to call the new land laws “draconian” and “inhuman”. “We have never seen such laws anywhere in the world. People in whose possession the land was, are being evicted like this. This cannot stand the scrutiny of law,” Bukhari told media in Srinagar.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Most of the victims of pellet-gun injuries have lost vision in either one or both the eyes despite treatment, a recent study has found, with the vision amongst them limited to only counting fingers.

The study, published by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, to “examine the incidence, clinical findings and management of pellet gun–related ocular injuries” during this time has found that the final “best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after treatment was counting fingers or worse in 82.4% of the eyes.

The authors of the report, the main one being Dr S Natarajan, a prominent retina surgeon from Mumbai, have strongly advised against the use of pellet guns against civilians to avoid ophthalmic trauma.

“The poor visual outcomes, high costs of medical care, and long-term visual rehabilitation process in these young working-age patient impose a significant physical, emotional, and socio-economic burden to both individuals and the society,” it concluded.

The victims in the recent study were mostly young males with bilateral eye injuries. The study mentioned that a surgical intervention was often necessary and despite the expeditious treatment, “visual outcomes remained poor.”

The report, which was approved by Srinagar’s Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital’s Institutional Review Board was carried out in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki, a set of ethical principles published by the World Medical Association to guide the protection of human participants in medical research.

This study is based on records from 777 victims who were diagnosed with pellet gun–related ocular injuries between July and November 2016, a time when Kashmir witnessed a massive surge in violence in the aftermath of killing of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

“In terms of laterality, 94.3% and 5.7% of the patients sustained monocular and binocular injuries, respectively. In terms of the nature of injury, 76.3% of the eyes had open globe injury while 23.7% of the eyes had closed eye injury,” the study said.

The study further said that the emergency surgical exploration was performed in 67.7% of closed globe injuries while emergency primary repair was done in 91.1% of open globe injuries.

“The vast majority of patients (98.7%) who required surgery underwent surgical intervention on the day of admission or the next day,” it mentioned.

Pellet guns were introduced around 2010 as non-lethal means to quell protests in Kashmir against traditional ballistic-based weapons. Since then, thousands of mostly youth have been shot by the pellet guns and many have died, reportedly, after being shot from close range. The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have come under serious criticism, especially from international rights bodies for using pellets after hundreds lost their eyesight in at least one or both eyes. The victims included children as young as 18-months-old.

A pellet victim from South Kashmir, who has completely lost vision in one of the eyes, told NewsClick that the problems for victims like him have compounded since. There is compassion in the beginning but later the victims not only lose vision but their family, friends and relatives, too.

“Then there is harassment from the authorities which never ends despite being a victim of their violence – it is perpetuated relentlessly. Even if that stops, it would be a relief,” the victim said, wishing anonymity due to fear of reprisal from authorities.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and Jammu Kashmir Kisan Tehreek (JKKT) held a conference in Srinagar on Thursday and reiterated that they will continue to support the local farmers, towards whom the authorities have been apathetic.

Dr Ashok Dhawale, the president of AIKS, said that they will support the struggle of people in Jammu and Kashmir especially the farmers, in their struggle for their rights. He said their rights have been violated in the last few years.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, apple farmers, paddy and saffron farmers and even dairy farmers are facing problems and dealing with crises due to the fall in prices of produce. We will raise their issues and intensify our protest unless the issues are resolved,” Dhawale said.

Dhawale is visiting Kashmir as part of a nationwide program to mobilise support for the upcoming country-wide stir. The farmers’ body, which has as many as 1.36 crore members in 25 states, said they will be launching rallies around state Raj Bhavans on November 26, the day which also marks the beginning of the farmers’ agitation in 2020.

The farm leader said there are four main demands of farmers, including a legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP), something Dhawale said, has been recommended by the National Commission on Farmers.

“We also want a complete debt waiver to farmers and agriculture workers. The previous governments led by VP Singh and Manmohan Singh had made similar waive-offs. So, why can’t the current government led by (Prime Minister) Modi do it when they have waived off loans worth Rs 11 lakh crores for a few corporates?” Dhawale argued.

He also said that neither the state government nor the central government has been able to provide any relief under Fasal Beema Yojana to any of the farmers who have faced losses due to natural disasters that he said should be done and also called for the withdrawal of draft Electricity Bill.

The farm leader expressed serious concerns over the problems faced by farmers, especially in the wake of increasing debts including in Jammu and Kashmir. “In the last eight years, as many as 1 lakh farmers have committed suicide, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),” he added.

Thursday’s conference comes after AIKS, earlier in June, called for unity in the apple-growing regions of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to fight the large-scale exploitation of apple farmers.

Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that Kashmir’s struggling fruit Industry was a priority in the conference discussions as it has been facing a lot of problems due to official apathy. The former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Kulgam hoped that the AIKS will continue to support the farmers from J&K in their struggle and link their demands with the nationwide struggle of farmers.

“Our economy will suffer major losses if the government does not support the industry. We have seen fewer concessions and faced more excesses. There are so many hurdles and restrictions imposed here by the authorities,” Tarigami said.

Apple is considered vital in the region, which is believed to provide a livelihood to over more than 7 lakh families and contributes 8% of the GDP of Jammu and Kashmir, according to the economic review of 2017-18. The apple farmers, however, have been facing distress due to the lack of remunerative prices.

According to JKKT, around 30% of the production gets wasted or spoiled at different stages due to the non-availability of storage facilities with small and middle farmers. Recently, the arterial Srinagar-Jammu national highway remained closed for days due to which fruit-loaded trucks were halted for days leading to losses worth crores of rupees.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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