NEW YORK

Zehru Nissa, the health reporter for Greater Kashmir bagged ICFJ’s Global Health Reporting Award 2017 for one of her reports that detailed the lack of gynecologists in Kashmir periphery. She is one of the six reporters selected from 130. The Johnson & Johnson sponsored program envisages a $1000 prize, and 12-day study tour to Washington, Atlanta and New York.

ISLAMABAD

Individuals caught in conflict, sometimes becomes examples to explain resultant humanitarian crisis. That is the feeling one sees in the letter that JKLF leader Yasin Malik’s wife Mushaal Mullick has written to the UN Secretary-General, this past international peace day. “My small five-year-old daughter Raziyah Sultana and I have not seen my husband Yasin Malik for over three years because India is not issuing us a visa,” the representation that mother-daughter personally handed over to UN head Neil Buhne and Humanitarian Coordinator chief in Islamabad reads. “My husband is living in J&K and has been continuously denied a passport by Indian state authorities for the past four and a half years. We desperately want this long-forced separation between our family to end.” Married for more than 7 years, the family hardly spent 60 days together.

ZALOORA

Gloom descended on this Sopore village when the oldest Kashmir Pandit resident Rupa Devi breathed her last. She was 80 plus and had not migrated when her entire family left for Jammu. She stayed with her elder son, who expired recently. She was the only Pandit home in a small Batpora village. The residents had taken care of her for all these years. In fact, they had recorded a small video with the beautiful old lady only July. It was her decision to stay back that her younger son Romesh Kumar returned home along with her family.

BUDGAM

By now Major Gagoi has been celebrated as the new icon by a media that has everything excepting journalism. But the law of the land felt so weak that it did not record the statement of the poor artisan who was caught soon after he voted on April 9, and converted into a human shield by the Major. It was only after a newspaper reported the historic delay that Farooq Dar was summoned to Magam for recording his statement!

TRAL

When the killing of Burhan Wani set Kashmir afire, the only oasis of calm was Tral. So when the town reported violence, it created news, especially when PWD minister Naeem Akhter was, apparently, at the core of the attack. Two persons died in the attack: Master Gulam Nabi Trag, whose son Farooq is missing since 1992, and a BEd student Pinky Kour. Scores survived injured, a few with serious deformity. Interestingly, however, Hizb and Lashkar both denounced the attack and even separatist condemned the attack. Akhter broke down in his presser saying he will be haunted by the killings, whole of his life.

ZAINA KADAL

In the mysterious suicide of engineer Mudasir Aziz, a special investigating team (SIT), has found that she had caught her husband red handed with his cousin sister in her bedroom hours before killing herself. On basis of the investigation report, police have booked three persons, though they are out on bail, right now. Mudasir’s body was fished out of Jhelum after more than a month.

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