Three civilians killed in troops firing in Sopore, Pattan

Srinagar, July 31, 2010: Indian paramilitary forces opened fire to quell protesters, leaving at least three persons dead and 50 others injured. Several on them received bullet and tear-gas shelling injuries.

Police say paramilitary soldiers have fired on thousands of demonstrators in Kashmir, killing three men and injuring at least 50 others, as protests against Indian rule spread across the region.

Authorities imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to protest against the killing of youths in firing by police and paramilitary forces since June 11 this year in Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Islamabad areas.

Two people were killed when opened fire on a mob at Aramgarh village of Sopore, in Baramulla district this afternoon.  Shoukat Ahmad Chopan and Mohammad Ahsan Ganai were killed and a dozen others injured when Indian CRPF paramilitary forces opened fire on a mob in Sopore. Chopan and Ganai succumbed to injuries on way to hospital.

Doctors at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital in Srinagar said two youth, Ahsem Ganai and Showkat Chopan, were brought dead. Out of 50 injured in clashes, 10 suffered bullet injuries and were undergoing treatment in different hospitals. The condition of two of them is stated to be "critical", officials said.

India paramilitary forces used brute force and stopped people who took to streets shortly after Friday prayers and were heading towards Sopore town.  However, the protesters denied IIndian armed personnel in uniform opened fire, resulting in injuries to seven persons who were rushed to hospital. 

A police officer, on condition of anonymity, said troops fired on protesters chanting pro-freedom slogans in Pattan, Kreeri iand Sopore towns. Two people were killed in Sopore and one died in Pattan, the officer and a local doctor said.

According to reports, two youth were killed and a dozen persons received bullet injuries when paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Railway Protection Force Personnel (RPF) opened fire on a group of demonstrators at Amargarh in Sopore after Friday prayers.

Witnesses said the two men were shot when forces opened fire on a demonstration in Sopore town, both died on the way to hospital. "Both men had bullet wounds and were dead by the time they reached us," a doctor in Srinagar's main hospital told Writer-South Asia. 

Six people including a teenager identified as Iqbal Ahmad Khan was critically injured in Chanapora area of Srinagar city, when CRPF troopers opened fire on mob there on Friday morning.  The 22-year-old Iqbal Ahmad Khan son of Abdul Majid Khan who, among several others, was injured in firing by paramilitary forces in Chanapora Friday morning continues to be in a critical condition.  Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Soura Institute of Medical Sciences Dr Amin Taabish told media men that Iqbal's condition was still "unstable and critical". He did not elaborate further on his condition.

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: ‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: ‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

Pampore , July 31: In disputed state of Kashmir, braving restrictions, people mostly youth staged protests against India and killing of civilians by paramilitary forces firing and clashed with police and CRPF personnel across the Valley. At least three dozens persons were injured in paramilitary forces’ actions who used teargas shells and brute force to disperse protestors.

Defying restrictions, youth staged pro-freedom demonstrations at Pampore, Sambora, Khrewa, Awantipora, Lethpora,Chanpora, and other areas of Shaheed-e-Azemat Sheikh Abdul Aziz's town. The protestors clashed with Indian army, STF, and Indian Central Reserve Police Force, who used tear smoke shells to disperse the protesting youth.The protestors clashed with policemen, who lobbed tear smoke shells to disperse the agitating youth. At least 7 people including some women were injured in the police actions.

The locals said the police and CRPF men beat up pedestrians smashed windowpanes of several houses and parked vehicles at Pampore, Sambora and Awantipora localities of South Kashmir..

The residents of South Kashmir areas including , Nambalbal, Shaheed-e-Azemat Road, Drangbal and Sambora on Friday accused the troops of going berserk by ransacking houses and beating inmates.

Pampore  residents said huge contingents of police in presence of senior officials started pelting stones on the houses breaking the windowpanes.  “Thereafter the cops barged into the houses and beat the inmates including women and children,” the locals said.

Besides they said the cops ransacked the household items including electronics and furniture. “They kicked the TV sets and other electronic goods,” the locals alleged.

Residents of  Pampore said the windowpanes of houses close to the main road were damaged. “Almost all the houses near the main road bore the brunt of the vandalism as cops went berserk,” said the residents of Pampore while showing the broken windows of the houses.  

According to police, a mob of slogan-shouting protesters attacked the Naidkhai camp of the state armed police in Bandipora district Saturday afternoon.

'The policemen posted inside fired warning shots in the air which failed to quell the mob prompting police to open fire. Two people were critically wounded. One of them, identified as Mudasir Ahmad Lone, 23, later succumbed to injuries,' a police official here said.


A large procession of locals carried the body of the youth from Sumbal police station to Naidkhai village where more mourners joined them targeting security men with stones and rocks.


A teenager identified as Javaid Ahmad Teli sustained a serious gunshot injury when protesters in north Kashmir's Baramulla town attacked security forces deployed in the area. Teli, who suffered a critical head injury, was taken to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura in Srinagar but later succumbed to his injury while undergoing treatment.


Earlier, three people including two women and a boy suffered gunshot injuries in north Kashmir's Kreeri village where a mob attacked a camp of the local police.

The injured have since been admitted to hospitals in Srinagar city. A large mob of protesters attacked vehicles plying on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Pampore town,  14 km from here in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The mob also burnt two vehicles of the Indian Air Force passing through the town during the protests.


All the occupants of the two vehicles, however, escaped unhurt. They took shelter in a local bank building before being rescued by the security forces. The mob had surrounded the local police station in Pampore and the security forces are trying to disperse them using batons and tear smoke shells.


In Sopore town, mobs torched a building at the local railway station and also a fire tender that had reached there to douse the flames.


In south Kashmir's Kakpora town, mobs hurled a petrol bomb at the vehicle of the local deputy superintendent of police. 'The officer and his guards escaped unhurt, but the vehicle was destroyed in the fire triggered by the petrol bomb,' police said. According to police, the number of protesters and security men injured in Saturday's clashes across the Valley is 12. Two protesters were killed in Amargarh area of Sopore town Friday when mobs damaged the rail track there and two more were killed in the adjacent Pattan town where mobs attacked and torched the local police station.


Chief Minister Omar Abdullah convened a meeting of his ministers and senior party leaders in Srinagar, which was also attended by his father and union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah. At the end of the meeting, a spokesman of the ruling party said the law and order situation in the Valley was reviewed. 'It was also decided to release all the arrested political leaders and youth very soon. The central government would be urged to start a dialogue with the local separatist leaders without wasting any further time. 'The MLAs (legislators) of the ruling party have been advised to remain stationed in their constituencies and monitor the situation there,' the spokesman said. (Writer-South-Asia)

Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat than Taliban, AL-Qaeda

By: Johan Simith

 Islamabad, 30 Jully: Though terror groups continue to strike in their country, a majority of Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat, view America as an enemy and are far less concerned about the Taliban and the Al Qaeda.

While Pakistanis express serious concerns about the United States, they are more worried about neighbour and longtime rival India than extremist groups within Pakistan, according to the prestigious Pew Research Centre opinion poll carried out inside Pakistan.

"When asked which is the greatest threat to their country -- India, the Taliban or Al Qaeda -- slightly more than half of Pakistanis (53 per cent) choose India, compared with 23 per cent for the Taliban and just 3 per cent for the Al Qaeda," it said.

However, despite the deep-seated tensions between India and Pakistan, most Pakistanis want better ties with India.

Roughly 72 per cent said it is important for relations with India to improve and about 75 per cent support increased trade with India and further talks between the two rivals.

In spite of pumping in billions of dollars in economic and military aid, the United States' image in Pakistan was at its lowest ever among the 22 nations included in the poll. Fifty-nine per cent of the respondents described America as an enemy and only eight per cent trusted President Barack Obama.

Pakistanis perceived little threat from the Taliban and the Al Qaeda and only 25 per cent of the people said it would be bad for Islamabad if Taliban takes over Afghanistan again.

While 18 per cent said it would be good for Pakistan, 57 per cent were not concerned.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley conceded that there is a huge trust deficit between the US and Pakistan.

"We understand that there's a deficit in trust in our relationship. There are those in Pakistan who recall and sense that they were abandoned by the US and the international community, going back 20 years or more," he said.

Crowley said the US has worked hard in recent months to try to turn this relationship around.

"I think we recognise that this was not going to occur overnight. We have tried to communicate forcefully to not only the government, but also to the people directly, that the US is committed to the future of Pakistan," he said.

"We are, in fact, a partner. I think we're not surprised that people want to see fruits of this partnership; that's exactly what we're trying to do. It goes back to what the (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) announced in Islamabad last week -- concrete projects that -- on energy, on health, on education -- that will create tangible results so the people of Pakistan can see it. And when they see it, then we would expect to see those poll numbers prospectively improve," he said. (Writer-South Asia)

The Killing of Shiekh Abdul Aziz and First Kashmir-Wide Curfew in 19 Years

Saheed-e-Azemat Sheikh Abdul Aziz and relatives of missing and imprisoned people participate in a protest against Human Rights violations in Srinagar, summer capital of  Kashmir . The people fear that their missing relatives might have been killed and buried in hundreds of recently discovered unmarked graves in Northern Kashmir. Amnesty International too has urged India to launch an urgent inquiry into nearly 1,000 unmarked graves found during the past two years by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies. / Javed Dar

Srinagar, Jully 29: The Killing of Shiekh Abdul Aziz and First Kashmir-Wide Curfew in 19 Years

On August 11, 2008, about 300,000 people from across  Kashmir, along with trucks loaded with fruit, began marching toward several points on the 778-kilometer Line of Control to cross over into the Pakistani side of Kashmir, in their bid to reach Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir. Indian security forces opened fire at the marchers at several places to break up their protests, killing 10, including senior Pro-pakistani Kashmiri leader (commonly known as Baba-e-Jehad-i-Kashmir) Sheikh Abdul Aziz who was also a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and was also a member of the co-ordination committee of ethnic and religious nationalities struggling for right to self-determination under the chairmanship of Justice Ajit Singh Bains formed in Delhi on March 23, 2008.  “Sheikh Aziz was a friend of Sikhs and supporter of Sikh cause for independence,” Over 1,000 people were arrested, and hundreds of wounded were hospitalized at different hospitals across the Kashmir valley. As the protests continued, over 3000 truckloads of fruit were destroyed, allegedly by Indian security forces.

Protests calling for freedom from India continued through August and September in different parts of  Kashmir, with dozens killed and hundreds injured. However, a government-brokered agreement with the Hindu protesters of the Jammu region was reached, under which the land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which had been cancelled due to protests by Kashmiri Muslims, was revived in a different form.

The Jammu and Kashmir government, with the understanding of some Muslim and Hindu leaders, leased the land to the SASB for the limited pilgrimage season, giving them no proprietary or title rights. The Hindu leaders called off their stir after signing the lease agreement. The agreement said: "The Shrine Board  may use the land for erecting temporary prefabricated accommodation and toilet facilities and for shopkeepers to set up shops."  This second reversal by the government in its decision to allocate the land to the Hindu shrine has been rejected by the Kashmiri leaders, fuelling a continuation of anti-India protests. The demonstrations are the biggest since 11th august, 2008 when violent anti-India protests killed about 72 Kashmiri  muslims. (Writer-South Asia)

UN expresses concern over situation in Kashmi

UNITED NATIONS, July 29: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the “prevailing security situation in Indian-administered Kashmir over the past month” and asked India and Pakistan to make renewed efforts to address outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, his spokes-person said the secretary- general “calls on all concerned to exercise utmost restraint and address problems peacefully” and he “encouraged both sides to rekindle the spirit of composite dialogue which was initiated in 2004”.

The statement said: “The Secretary-General welcomes the recent resumption of foreign minister-level talks between India and Pakistan.

“He encourages both sides to rekindle the spirit of the composite dialogue, which was initiated in 2004 and had made encouraging progress on some important confidence-building measures, and to make renewed efforts to address outstanding issues, including on Jammu and Kashmir.

Ruling out one again withdrawal of its observer mission in India, Pakistan, United Nation’s Secretary General  said the two countries should continue the composite dialogue process to maintain peace in the subcontinent. "India and Pakistan are two important countries in the subcontinent and they should continue to improve their relations through dialogue and cooperation," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters here. (Writer-South Asia)

Human rights excesses in disputed Kashmir highlighted in London

London, July 28: Dr Angana Chatterji, co-convenor of the International Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Jammu and Kashmir narrated human rights excesses in Occupied Kashmir and called for improving the monitoring of humanitarian situation in the valley.

Dr Angana Chatterji, while addressing a composite gathering at Kashmir Centre London, said that the disturbing concept of zero tolerance for non-violent dissent evolved round fear, surveillance of the ordinary Kashmiri irrespective of age or gender, discipline and punishment. 

This has proved to be a sustained and widespread offensive with mass and extra judicial killings in Kashmir by the military and paramilitary institutions as brought out in evidence in the report ‘Buried Evidence’ by the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian administered Kashmir, she added.

Dr Chatterji reported that the disproportionate number of special forces in the occupied territory gave the impression that the armed forces were more powerful than the occupation authorities and that the reality in Kashmir was one of militarised controls and that Kashmir was not a dispute but a conflict zone.

She stressed the importance of cultivating alliances with credible institutions and organisations, adding these needed to be formed and developed as there was at present no monitoring was going on in Jammu and Kashmir, therefore, no sustained visibility.

Dr Chatterji emphasised that there needed to be a sustained outcry from the international media and that the international community needed to play a proactive role in establishing alliances with organisations, which were seen to be acceptable.

Representatives from Amnesty International, the Economist, Conciliation Resources, Asian Affairs and community activists also spoke on the occasion.

At the end, the Executive Director of Kashmir Centre London, Professor Nazir Ahmad Shawl presented his book ‘Speaking Silence’ to her.(Writer-South Asia)

Indian troops seize relief material, detain, release 60 persons

Srinagar, July 28: In disputed state of Kashmir, police seized huge quantity of relief material raised by the people of Shopian for the residents of Srinagar, who were under curfew and restrictions for last one month, near Sonawar and detained nearly 60 youth.

Policemen seized 40 relief-laden vehicles and detained people in Sonawar and Pantha Chowk areas on Tuesday. The vehicles were carrying rice, vegetables, cooking oil and other essential commodities from Shopian area to Maisuma. “We had pooled essential commodities and dispatched to Srinagar where people are facing shortage of essentials stuff due to curfew and restrictions. But it is unfortunate that police didn’t allow us to distribute the relief among the needy,” said an elderly man from Shopian who was accompanying the relief-laden trucks. “The vehicles were carrying items worth Rs 10 to 12 lakh,” he added.

As soon as the caravan of vehicles entered the city near Pantha Chowk, police raided the vehicles at several places up to Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station.

“We were travelling smoothly,” said Shabir Ahmad Butt, a relief worker of Shopian town. “As we reached near Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station, police stopped us and forced us to enter police station along with vehicles.”

President of Majlis-e-Mashwarat Committee, Shopian, Abdur Rashid Dalal said 40 Tata mobile vehicles were carrying relief. “Twenty-eight vehicles carrying aid were from Shopian town while the rest joined the cavalcade from peripheral villages while travelling toward the city,” said Dalal, who is detained at Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station.

“The relief was organised and transported by people of Shopian. The MMC had no role in the relief sending,” Dalal said. However, after forceful protests in Shopian and Pulwama and the tense mood in Maisuma, police was frced to release the vehicles and all aid workers in shifts after keeping them in police stations for several hours. (Writer-South Asia)

Writer-South Asia (News every one hour): Saw-palmetto berries (serenoa repens) Seeds for Sale in Kashmir & India

Writer-South Asia (News every one hour): Saw-palmetto berries (serenoa repens) Seeds for Sale in Kashmir & India

Saw-palmetto berries (serenoa repens) Seeds for Sale in Kashmir & India

Srinagar, July 27: Saw palmetto is a small hardy fan palm whose stem usually remains below ground or runs just along the surface. In some cases, it develops an erect or arching trunk that may lift the whorl of leaves 2'-8' above ground. The palmate leaves are 2'-3' across and green or bluish green. The cluster of leaves gets about 4'-6' high with a similar spread. In the wild, saw palmetto often grows in clumps 20 or more feet in diameter. The petioles (leaf stems) are about 2' long and sharply saw-toothed. The fruits are round, black and about an inch in diameter. An especially attractive form with silvery-white leaves occurs along the Atlantic coast in Florida.

Saw palmetto occurs naturally on the coastal plain from South Carolina to southeastern Louisiana. It grows in a wide range of habitats from seaside sand dunes and dry scrub to moist forests, pine flatwoods and even wetlands. Saw palmetto can be the dominant ground cover in certain southeastern pine forests, sometimes covering hundreds of acres. Culture: Once established, saw palmetto is virtually maintenance-free.

Light: Prefers full sun, but can tolerate partial sun.
Moisture: Tolerates drought but can also tolerate moderately moist soils.
Hardiness: Fully hardy to zone 7, this palm has been seen growing in zone 6, but does suffer foliage damage at 10 degrees F. and complete foliage loss at 3-5 degrees F.

Saw palmetto is a beautiful little palm and richly deserves a place in the ornamental landscape. The silver form is especially attractive. Plant saw palmettos in front of clumps of larger palms, or even underneath large palms. They look good massed in clumps in mixed borders, or as framing hedges. Use as accents to trees or in foundation plantings.

Features: The berries of saw palmetto are used as a treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or enlarged prostate gland. They are also used as a diuretic to tone the bladder, improve urinary flow, and decrease urinary frequency. They may help prevent prostate cancer.

Most herbal hair loss remedies contain Saw Palmetto berries. They are said to be an effective treatment for baldness, as well as relieving the symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
Saw Palmetto berries/seeds
Package of  50 seeds: 750/-
Other Packages: 100,250,500 Seeds
More details: Chenab Industries Kashmir- CIK
POB: 667 GPO Srinagar SGR J&K 190001
Mob: 09858986794
Ph: 01933-223705
e-mail: iirc@rediffmail.com,cikashmir@gmail.com

Writer-South Asia (News every one hour): Shaheed-e-Azemat Sheikg Abdul Aziz vedio aired by KBC

Writer-South Asia (News every one hour): Shaheed-e-Azemat Sheikh Abdul Aziz vedio aired by KBC

Shaheed-e-Azemat Sheikg Abdul Aziz vedio aired by KBC

Srinagar: The core viewers or the niche market of KBC is estimated to over 30 million people of which nearly 5 millions are settled in UK, Europe and Middle East with higher buying power due to long and sustained migration tradition.

Potentially the whole of Asia, Africa, Middle East, UK and Europe is our market. However, its target audience and niche market include the entire population of Jammu Kashmir along with Pahari, Pothowari and Hindko speaking Pakistanis and Indians in South Asia and across the world. But the transmissions of KBC are not to be confined to these communities. It will also cater for the wider English speaking audience across the globe and Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi speaking population of South Asia.

KBC tends to broadcast in all major languages spoken in the state of Jammu Kashmir and in South Asia in general. While the languages spoken across Kashmir include Kashiri, Pahari, Doagari, Gojari, Kishtwari, Ladakhi, Sheena, Broshiski, and Punjabi, Kashmir was the first state in South Asia where Urdu was adopted as official language in 1905.

Since 1947 Hindi has also been emerged as one of the state languages as well as English that has become state language at the government level as well as at public level due to large scale migration to UK and USA and strong linkages between Kashmiri diaspora with Kashmir.

The closeness and similarities between Pahari and Pothowari and Hindku languages and communities make programmes in these languages an essential component of KBC programming and news coverage.

The core languages of KBC programming include English, Pahari, Pothowari, Hindku, Kashiri, Dogari, Punjabi and Urdu. However, there will be programmes in other languages of Kashmir and South Asia in general.

more deatils and latest vedios:  

http://kbcchannel.tv/index.php?option=com_hwdvideoshare&task=viewvideo&Itemid=125&video_id=94

Writer-South Asia (Srinagar | New Delhi | Islamabad | Muzaffarabad: Nothing less than freedom from India acceptable to Kashmiris: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani

Writer-South Asia (Srinagar | New Delhi | Islamabad | Muzaffarabad: Nothing less than freedom from India acceptable to Kashmiris: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani

Nothing less than freedom from India acceptable to Kashmiris: Muhammad Farooq Rehmani

Islamabad, July 25: The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League (JKPFL), Muhammad Farooq Rehmani has said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are determined to continue their struggle against Indian occupation till its logical conclusion.

Muhammad Farooq Rehmani in a statement in Islamabad said that the ongoing upsurge against the over stay of Indian troops and paramilitary forces, draconian laws and installation of stooges by fraud elections, was being handled by the 21st century youth, who had the stamina to continue the unarmed fight for the right of self determination, as they had burnt their boats and exhausted their patience before the monster of state terrorism.

He said that every other thing except the current experiment had become irrelevant in this situation. He hoped that the pro-India lobby in any garb would not be allowed to rule the roost. “Experience and wisdom coupled with the circumstances will dictate terms of the uprising,” he added.

Muhammad Farooq Rehmani out-rightly rejected the internal autonomy proposal of both senior and junior Abdullah and termed it obsolete. He regretted the cold shoulder attitude of the world community and said that only Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and some other western human rights groups seriously censored India for its unabated oppression and abuses in occupied Kashmir, while no country could voice their resentment against the inhuman situation created by the Indian authorities in the territory.

The JKPFL Chairman criticized America for its ''Hands off policy'' on Kashmir, warning that this policy would not bring peace and prosperity to South Asia. He deplored that the America, which had sponsored and endorsed the Security Council resolutions on Kashmir in the last century, now was giving an old international dispute a bilateral curl.

''The Kashmiris will never barter away their slogan nor withdraw on Indian terms. They will not accept bilateral bend or interpretation of the dispute or political and economic packages not reflecting the sentiments of the people, but will continue to stress upon the world leaders including America to fulfil their promises with the Kashmiris according to the Security Council’s resolutions, as they did in other cases of international character and dimension,'' he remarked.(Writer-South Asia)