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The Print September 29, 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday returned home to a rousing welcome from BJP party workers and supporters despite not having secured the much-touted trade deal with the US. Also, the issue of Kashmir became further complicated between him and US President Donald Trump despite a massive spectacle of bonhomie between the two leaders at ‘Howdy, Modi!’. Prime Minister Modi scored clear nil in the most contentious issue of trade during his weeklong trip to America. Trade has undoubtedly become an unavoidable stumbling block in the relationship, even as both sides continue to fiercely fight out trade disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO). While it is true that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal continues to brainstorm along with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington DC, a so-called ‘limited’ trade deal remains as elusive as it was before Modi’s visit. When the Modi government came back to power for the ...

Foreign Affairs Pratap Bhanu Mehta September 20, 2019 In a sweeping and controversial move on August 5, India transformed its relationship to the disputed territory of Kashmir. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to eliminate Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which for seven decades had granted Kashmir a special status within India. The decision effectively quashed any lingering Kashmiri hopes for self-determination and bound Kashmir more closely to India, reducing it from a state to a “union territory” administered directly from New Delhi. Anticipating outrage and protest, the Indian government placed the Kashmir Valley—where most of the state’s Muslim-majority population lives—under lockdown, arresting local politicians, cutting off communications, limiting movement, and flooding Kashmir with troops.  Though it took many by surprise, the decision to abrogate Article 370 didn’t come out of nowhere. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had...

The Hindu July 15, 2019 PTI There were only 40 incidents of stone pelting till June Stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have come down significantly from a high of over 2,600 in 2016 to barely a few dozen in the first half of 2019, officials said on Sunday. The arrests of miscreants involved in stone pelting incidents also have come down from over 10,500 to just about a hundred. According to the Home Ministry statistics, there were 2,653 incidents of stone pelting in 2016 for which 10,571 miscreants were arrested by police. However, among the arrested just 276 were sent to jail and others were let off with warnings. The killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in 2016 saw a long spell of turmoil in the Kashmir Valley, a Home Ministry official said. There were 1,412 incidents of stone pelting in 2017 in which 2,838 trouble-makers were arrested and 63 of them were sent to jail. In 2018, there were 1,458 incidents of stone pelting in which 3,79...

The Hindu July 10,2019 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached the Srinagar house of Kashmiri separatist leader Asiya Andrabi as “proceeds of crime.” In an order pasted outside the house, the NIA said it had reason to believe that the “property represents proceeds of terrorism and has been used in furtherance of terrorist activities of proscribed organisation , [DeM].” An NIA official said the attachment was done as per provisions of law. In a charge sheet filed against Ms. Andrabi and two others — Sofi Fehmeeda and Nahida Nasreen last year, the NIA said the DeM was collecting gold jewellery through donations and raised funds by selling them. The accused were arrested on July 5 last year and are presently in Tihar jail. A photograph of Ms. Andrabi could not be attached as she was pardanasheen (behind veil), the NIA said. Reference:  https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nia-attaches-property-of-kashmiri-separatist-leader-asiya-andrabi/art...

The Dawn Anwarullah Khan September 23, 2018 Security forces on Saturday claimed to have foiled a terrorism bid in Bajaur tribal district by killing two terrorists, including one would-be suicide bomber, during an intelligence-based operation in Mamond tehsil. Security sources said that both terrorists, including a deputy operational ‘commander’ of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Bajaur chapter, were killed during a special operation conducted in the hilly Gat Agra area The sources stated that the operation was conducted following the information that the terrorists were attempting to carry out terrorism activities in the region. Soon after receiving the information, a contingent of security forces was dispatched to the area which killed the terrorists before they carried out their activities. They claimed that the deceased deputy operational commander of the TTP Bajaur, who was wearing a suicide jacket, was among the most wanted militants in the district. He said the militant ...

The Dawn Agencies September 22, 2018 In India-held Kashmir, Indian troops launched a massive cordon and search operation in several villages of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday. According to the  Kashmir Media Service , the troops cordoned off Lassipora, Armula, Alaipora, Batnur, Garbug, Naupora Payeen, Hajdarpora and Acchan areas of the district and launched door-to-door searches. The operation comes following the   killing of three Indian police personnel  posted in India-held Kashmir reportedly by armed Kashmiris, who have been waging a struggle for the Kashmiris' right to self-determination. The three were taken hostage when Kashmiri fighters raided over a dozen homes of police officers in two southern Kashmir villages, Indian officials said, adding that bullet-riddled bodies of the kidnapped policemen were recovered on Friday. The killings came days after the region's largest group fighting for Kashmir's independence asked officers to quit...

August 01, 2018 Dawn A home-made bomb set off the armed struggle against Indian rule in held Kashmir 30 years ago, but “new age” fighters using social media assaults alongside guns are taking the battle to new heights of bitterness. The explosion at the Srinagar telegraph office doorway on July 31, 1988, caused no casualties but lit the fuse on a conflict that rights groups say has since left more than 70,000 dead. Public support for the act surprised the attackers as well as the Indian government. But while Kashmir remains one of the world’s most heavily militarized zones, the 500,000-plus Indian troops are now also fighting a social media war. Hundreds of young men post images of themselves with AK-47 guns on Facebook and other social media sites after joining underground groups, seeking to build large, sympathetic following and attract new recruits. When the Indian army surrounds militant hideouts, they are often impeded by crowds of civilians rallying to the Kashm...

Hindustan Times Ashiq Hussain July 09, 2018 The terror outfit claimed youth had joined them and released photos of 12 youths from south Kashmir’s Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and Pulwama, four from north Kashmir’s Kupwara, Handwara, and Baramulla, and one from central Kashmir’s Budgam. On the second death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani, the outfit Sunday flooded social media with pictures of over one and a half-dozen youth, who have allegedly joined the organisation in the past few months. The pictures include that of Shams ul Haq Mengnoo, who was pursuing bachelor’s degree in Unani medicine in Srinagar, and is the brother of an IPS officer posted in the North-East. Shams, in his 20s, had gone missing on May 22 and is seen holding a gun with ‘Burhan Sani (Burhan, the second)’ written across it. SP Shailendra Kumar Mishra, since transferred from Shopian, had on June 28 told HT about possibilities that Shams may have joined the militants. SP...

The Express Tribune By Syed Mohammed, July 06, 2018 India’s prominence in the world continues to grow due to its growing economy and its geostrategic ability to counterbalance China. Such realpolitik considerations have led the international community to brush aside concerns of growing religious intolerance, ultra-nationalism, inequitable growth and state-backed violence across India. It was thus surprising to see the UN’s Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) issue its first-ever report on the situation in Kashmir. Aiming to be impartial, the OHCHR report documents the human rights situation on both Indian-Administered and Pakistani-Administered Kashmir. The report highlights the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir under Indian control, especially the mass protests which erupted after the killing of Burhan Wani in 2016. It catalogues the brutal use of pellet-firing shotguns against protestors. It points to the impunity Indian security ...

The Hindu July 07, 2018 Peerzada Ashiq More than three weeks after the journalist was shot dead in Srinagar, the police are yet to nab the killers. Peerzada Ashiq reports on the investigation into the assassination On the evening of June 15, five police officers were engaged in an animated discussion in a heavily wood-panelled room on the second floor of the U-shaped District Police Line in Srinagar. The meeting, chaired by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), didn’t yield much. “It’s a blind case,” sighed one of the officers. Twenty-four hours had passed since Shujaat Bukhari, 50, editor-in-chief of  Rising Kashmir , a Srinagar-based newspaper,  was shot dead outside his office by unidentified gunmen . The assassins had wrong-footed the security network by choosing to carry out their execution in the busy Press Enclave of Lal Chowk, the city centre. The  Rising Kashmir  office is located inside a high-secu...