Tribe GENTLEMAN
On the second death anniversary of renowned Kashmiri journalist, Izhar Wani, journalist fraternity of Kashmir remembered its fearless member. He passed away on April 4, 2012 at the age of 43.
The death of Izhar was a great loss not for his family only but for the journalist fraternity of the state, particularly Kashmir because it lost one of its members known for his humility, courage and professional attitude.
Known for his reporting in turbulent times, Izhar was a guest faculty to several institutions teaching journalism across the state.
Izhar started his career as a journalist in 1990. He later worked with many local dailies before joining AFP.
While performing his professional obligations, Izhar would never compromise on professional ethics. Some of his stories on Kashmir conflict have won him international acclamation and he was hailed for his detailed reportage.
“We miss you because you were just good to all,” Yusuf Jameel, ace journalist of the valley, wrote on social media. “We miss you also because we needed you to join us in our fight against the unscrupulous and ‘politician’ types who have plagued our profession.”
Wani, described as the ‘Gentleman of the Tribe’ died fighting colon cancer in April. His death shocked not just the journalist fraternity but also the people outside it. His colleague at AFP, Eric Wishart said that Izhar’s untimely death has ‘robbed India and AFP of a great correspondent’. Izhar is survived by wife and two daughters.
“You’re going to Kashmir? You have to meet IzharWani!” Giles Hewitt, another AFP colleague Izhar noted. “At AFP, we covetously thought of him as our own, but the truth is that he was an enormous influence on so many others outside the agency who he helped, advised and befriended.”
Hewitt remembered Izhar as a passionate and prolific journalist who was one of those “rare reporters whose reputation extended far beyond the publications he wrote for”.
He was, quite simply, irreplaceable, Hewitt noted.
“You were sincere, faithful and dependable. Why do the good die young?” Yusuf Jameel wrote about Izhar.
Charged KHAN
Police this week filed charge-sheet against former minister and congress leader Shabir Ahmad Khan, in a molestation complaint lodged by a female doctor against him.
The court accepted the charge sheet and issued notices to DIG Jammu and DIG Rajouri-Poonch ranges. The charge sheet has been filed under section 509 (showing any gesture, word, or action in order to outrage modesty of a woman) and 354 (using criminal force to outrage the modesty of woman) of RPC.
Pertinently, on February 8, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Srinagar had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Khan, former minister of state for health after being accused of molesting a lady doctor.
Police station Shaheed Gunj had registered FIR against Khan bearing number 9 of 2014 under sections 354/509 RPC in the matter.
A day after the High Court granted relief to him, on February 13, Khan had appeared before police station Shaheed Ganj. The Court had asked the police to release Khan on a personal surety bond once he presents himself before the police.
Pertinently, Khan had resigned from the ministerial post after a molestation complaint was filed against him.
Judicial CAPTURE
The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) has directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir to get the arrest warrants executed against two accused police personnel allegedly involved in Wamiq Farooq killing case.
The court has also taken strong exception to the report filed by SSP in the matter terming it ‘nothing but repetition of earlier report’: “The report, on perusal, reflects nothing but delay tactics adopted by police to execute warrants against accused.”
The court has said that ‘no plausible and satisfactory explanation has been tendered for non execution of warrants against accused, rather it appears that police intends to provide escape route to the accused persons from court appearance’.
“This court is not satisfied with the report filed and so in order to procure attendance of accused persons coercive means are imperatively required to be followed,” reads the court order.
The court has directed: “In this backdrop, non-bailable warrants of arrest are issued against accused persons and same be sent to IGP Kashmir Zone for getting executed on accuse persons without any delay.” The court is scheduled to hear the matter on April 16.
Long SIMMERING
The list of disputes underway that involve territory is long and ever-changing. According to the study, when it comes to territorial disputes across the globe, there are now more than 150; mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific region, but also in Europe and the Americas.
As reported by National Geographic, Jammu and Kashmir figures among the five of the World’s Most Worrisome Disputed Territories. Among the rest, Jammu and Kashmir is considered to be long-simmering.
Jammu and Kashmir figure at the number three spot, while others include disputes of Crimea, East China Sea, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, and West Bank and Western Sahara
The National Geographic reports that “Jammu and Kashmir, former princely state of India and Pakistan (once part of the British Empire, now part of India, Pakistan, and China) has been disputed since the British relinquished control of the subcontinent in the 1940s.”
It adds that, “a heavily militarized, 450-mile-long (724-kilometer-long) Line of Control has long pitted Indian and Pakistani forces against each other in this contested Himalayan region. The stakes were raised in 1998 when Pakistan started to catch up with India technologically and both countries publicly tested their nuclear weapons. In some ways that escalation, however, may be part of what is containing the crisis.”
Commenting on the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, Richard Haass, an American diplomat and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, points to the specifics of the crisis, saying, “In many cases, these disputes simply linger. It becomes politically too difficult to compromise and militarily too dangerous to press your case.”
Benji Sun, political observer says that Jammu and Kashmir is “stupid mess left by the Brits in Kashmir”
