SRINAGAR
Mushtaq ul Islam, the leader of Hizbullah was slated to address a news conference last week. The sets were ready and the cameras ready to roll. He had been out of jail for five days only after completing his latest two year jail term.
But as he reached the spot of the press conference, awaiting cops caught and gagged him in such a fashion that he could not complete the first word of his slogan that he was so keen to shout. Mushtaq has been in jail for 14 years.
CALIFORNIA
For Jammu, Kailash Mehra heads music department of MAM College but for Kashmir, she is one of the respected singers. During her three week visit to US and Canada on the invitation of Sharika Foundation Canada and Kashmiri Hindu Foundation California, she returned with lot many awards including one that California Senate presented to her. Interestingly she got an award in Fresno, the same city where Avtar Singh murdered his family. She was the star attraction at fifth KP cultural meet in Oakhurst, California.
MUMBAI
Constitutional lawyer and Kashmir expert A G Noorani has remained a bitter critic of the ruling coalition especially the chief minister Omar Abdullah. After a recent visit to Kashmir, Noorani wrote an article in Pakistani newspaper Dawn in which he termed Omar “feckless” and “unfit for the office”. For the first time Omar reacted. “Noorani has never liked me and wears his dislike on his sleeve so it is really no big deal what he thinks actually,” Omar said on twitter. To Noorani’s suggestion the situation calls for united resistance to repression, Omar reacted saying, “fortunately that’s a decision for the voters to make, so Noorani’s opinion does not bother me one bit…”
POONCH
Within a day after a Pakistani soldier was arrested on this side of the LoC, the two armies had a flag meeting and he was sent home. A Quetta resident, the 25 Frontier Force soldier, Arif Ali crossed to this side of LoC near Kerni and was caught. Apparently on leave, he had some Rs 13300 in possession along with two SIM cards. He was interrogated and a number of stories were in circulation including the one that he was in love with a Kerni girl. Ali was returned to Pakitani army the next afternoon as a flash flag meeting was organized near Chakan da Bagh. Ali was given some gifts at the time of repatriation.
LONDON
Heritage Lottery Fund has approved a grant of ?35,000 to a Kashmiri organisation in Luton for an arts project documenting the history of Kashmiri communities living in the east of England region. The project entitled ‘Kashmiri Voices’ conceived by the group, the Kashmir Bhawan Centre will tell stories of three generations of Kashmiris, from the migration tales of community elders to the experiences of their grandchildren.
DELHI
DD Deputy Director General Dr Rafeeq Masoodi was placed under suspension for approving in-house programmes to the tune of Rs 52 crore in three months in 2011 and projection of fake cases of engagement of casual labours as head of DD Srinagar. Reports suggest that programmes worth Rs 27 crore were allotted in June 2011 alone. CBI has already registered two FIRs against Dr Masoodi who earlier served as secretary cultural academy and was projected to be a close confidant of former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
