HAJIN
In first of its kind, a minor boy of twelve years Atif Mir was allegedly held hostage by militants in an encounter in Hajin area that ended with the killing of two LeT foreign militants and the minor boy. It was a video clip of Atif’s mother Shareefa Bano that went viral on social networking sites who was pleading the militants through a loudspeaker to leave her lone son after which the eye witness says the militants showed her Atif from a window but they did not leave him. Atif, a class 6th student, is now buried just 200 meters away from his school. He is survived by his father, Muhammad Shafi Mir, mother and two sisters who are studying in 1st year and class 11th. The former chief minister of J&K and NC vice president Omar Abdullah also visited the family to condole the demise of the minor.
RAFIABAD
After a 12-month baby was burnt alive when his house caught fire in Uri, the grief visited north Kashmir again when two minor siblings, Mohammad Ashraf Najar, 12, and his sister Seerat Jan, 8, children of Mohammad Iqbal Najar, drowned in a stream at Rafiabad. Reportedly, Ashraf died while trying to save his sister after she slipped into the Nallah at upper reaches of Shalkote area of Rafiabad.
MUMBAI
A Kulgam resident, Rasikh Salam Dar (17) has become the second cricketer from the state to play for Indian Premier League (IPL). He played his maiden innings this week while playing as a fast bowler for Mumbai Indians team for the league. Earlier, it was Parvaz Rasool who becomes the first cricketer from J&K to play for IPL. Dar is the youngest to debut for Mumbai Indians at 17 years. He came on the domestic cricket scene through district-level tournaments and then was spotted by Irfan Pathan, who is now a player mentor for the Jammu and Kashmir Ranji Trophy team.
BENGALURU
The aftershocks of Lethpora suicide car attack are still felt by the Kashmiri students studying across mainland India. This week, another student Absar Zahoor Dhar, 24, a civil engineering student, was assaulted by a group of four youths in AECS Layout near HAL in southeast Bengaluru. The victim, who does modelling to fund his studies, suffered grievous injuries to his hand, head and face. Based on his complaint, reportedly the local police has arrested all the accused in the incident.
SHOPIAN
In a surprising click by the wildlife department in Shopian forests, an Eurasian Lynx was clicked in Dobjan forests. This picture has triggered speculations in J&K, and if true, then it would be the third smaller cat species reported from the valley. The picture has been sent for ID by the concerned officer. The other two more familiar ones are the Jungle Cat and the Leopard Cat. The department has constituted a survey team to confirm the presence of this cat in Hirpora. If confirmed, it will be the first sighting of this animal from the valley. Its present range in the subcontinent is Ladakh and some parts of Pakistan-administered-Kashmir.The US-based company explained that “Kashmir was the subject of some of the content shared by this network, but it should not have been included in that list.”
USA
After suspending hundreds of accounts on social networking site Facebook supporting the Kashmir issue, this week Facebook considered Kashmir as a separate country in a blog post that listed countries targeted by an Iranian network and then apologised for its remarks. The social media platform, on Tuesday, had said that it removed 513 pages, groups and accounts for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic” behaviour as part of multiple networks tied to Iran. It had added that they operated in many countries, including Egypt, India and Indonesia. The list included Kashmir.
The US-based company explained that “Kashmir was the subject of some of the content shared by this network, but it should not have been included in that list.”
CHANDIGARH
After becoming the main thread for the prime time debate on New Delhi based TV channels, an Indian author Bhaavna Arora has written a book on the chronicles of ‘Undaunted: Lt. Ummer Fayaz of Kashmir’ who was killed by unknown gunmen on May 09, 2017. The 232-page book took the author two years during which she visited Ummer’s family and met a large number of people who knew him.
