RULED OUT: Ruling out any solution from “outside” to the issue of the J&K, Barack Obama, U.S president underlined that disputes between India and Pakistan can be resolved by the two countries themselves. He welcomed and encouraged Indo-Pak’s dialogue processes. Obama said this in a recent conference on private investment in Afghanistan. Incidentally India has shown a readiness to champion the nation’s economic development.
SEIZED: Authorities detained a helicopter belonging to a private operator for allegedly making unauthorized sorties between Srinagar and Baltal, the base camp of the Amarnath yatra, in Ganderbal district of Kashmir. It was seized on 15 July at 7.30 am when it landed at Baltal with five passengers.
REPORTED: Pakistan government has decided not to file a lawsuit in the Permanent Court of Arbitration-International Court of Arbitration (PCA-ICA) in Hague regarding its concerns and grievances over the controversial 45MW Nimoo Bazgo hydroelectric power project on River Indus. The development became mature after the recent secretary-level talks held in Delhi where Indian authorities took a strong position to defend their stance on certain hydropower projects, however, sources say that Pakistani authorities couldn’t clearly present their point.
ARRESTED: Imtiyaz Ahmed Bhat, 30, from Shopian district has been arrested for allegedly raping a 13 year old mentally challenged girl. An FIR has been registered in Keller police station against Bhat and the family of the victim has demanded that the accused should be sentenced for life to ensure that such heinous crimes against children and women are prevented.
INITIATED: Supreme Court of India has taken a suo moto notice of a large number of deaths of the pilgrims during Amarnath pilgrimage this year and has issued notices to the state government and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) asking them to explain reasons for the deaths and steps taken to check them. They have been asked to explain the reasons till July 20. Before issuing the notice Justice Swatantar, one of the members of division bench, had visited the cave and had feedback from the pilgrims.
DESTROYED: Police have detained three persons “for questioning” in connection with the gutting of the shrine of Baba Haneefudin (RA) at Rathsun Beeru. Complete shutdown was observed for a day in the area against the act. Police said no formal FIR has been registered against them, and no relic was present in the shrine.
PROTESTED: Residents of Nunwan protested when Mohammed Ayoub Shah, a shop owner in Nunwan, one of the base camps of yatra was allegedly beaten by a CRPF man. Eyewitnesses say that Shah was beaten after he had a heated argument with the CRPF jawan. The argument started when Shah was not allowed to enter the base camp even after showing the permission documents to the CRPF personnel.
ARRESTED: Polce arrested Ishfaq Ahmad and Mohammad Altaf, accused of kidnapping and raping a 16 years old girl. The girl belonged to Mamoosa village in Pattan tehsil. Police says she was picked up by a group of youth when she was returning home after appearing in the secondary school bi-annual examination on July 7. The girl’s family complained that state police in Pattan did not cooperate so they had to rush to Kunzar to lodge their complaint.
KILLED: Umer Gul, 13, from Poonch was killed in an incident of accidental firing by his 8 year old brother when he was fiddling with his father’s gun. The bullet had hit Gul’s leg who was later rushed to District hospital, Poonch but he died of excessive bleeding on the way. Police has seized the gun and are investigating the case.
REVEALED: The annual report released by SHRC revealed that the prisoners of J&K suffer slow trials and get little medical facilities with no legal aid. The inmates are confined to cells and are served inadequate or under cooked food, besides, being handled by untrained prison staff, the report further reads. The report has cited examples of jails like in Kathua.
STAYED: State high court has stayed the proceedings of National Human Rights Commission regarding the case of killing of a youth in Boniyar area of Uri by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in January this year. The court ordered that NHRC has no jurisdiction to entertain any complaint on the subjects falling in List-II of the Constitution of India in view of the provisions of proviso appended to section 1(2) of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. Altaf Ahmad Sood, 22, was shot dead by CISF men when people were protesting against shortage of electricity in Boniyar area.
PROTESTED: Khalida, 21, died a day after she underwent a caesarean and delivered a baby boy, she had complained of chest pain and severe headache. Her family accuse doctors of negligence. The death triggered protests and clashes in Kupwara, a local news agency reported.
