REVEALED: Kashmir’s major newspaper Greater Kashmir revealed a senior minister has grabbed 40.7 kanals of land in ecologically fragile Sedow village of Shopian. The ‘property rights’, have been fraudulently managed by manipulating revenue records. After denuding the forests, he has converted it into apple orchard and constructed a hut. Without revealing his identity the paper said he has earlier grabbed around 400 kanals of land in the river Tawi basin in under the ‘infamous’ Roshni Act.
FILED: After the CJM shifted the trial against BSF commandant R K Birdhi and his guard Lakhvinder Kumar involved in the murder of teenager Zahid Farooq to the General Security Forces Court, the state government filed a revision petition seeking the trial in the civilian court. High Court has stayed any proceedings in GSFC and asked for records of the case. Farooq was killed on February 5 by 68 Battalion commandant in Nishat.
VISITED: Lok Janshakti Party leader and MP Ram Villas Paswan led an 11-member delegation to Srinagar for three days. Barring the chief minister they met almost everybody who matters in Kashmir. They had a prolonged dinner meeting with most of the moderate separatists as well. The initiative is leading towards setting up a non-BJP, non-Congress ‘Kashmir Caucus’ in the Parliament.
ARRESTED: Police arrested a teacher of Gandhi Memorial College, Noor Muhammad Bhat, for allegedly setting up a controversial question paper for graduate level examinations. The English paper carried a paragraph in Urdu meant for translation, which talked about the bloodshed of young people in Kashmir at the hands of state forces.
APPOINTED: Lt Gen S A Hasnain took over as the commander of the Srinagar based 15 Corps replacing Lt Gen Naresh Chandra Marwah. He is the second Muslim officer to command the corps after Lt Gen Zaki in 1989-1991. Hasnain was posted in Kashmir in 2005 and 2008.
HONOURED: Jammu resident Dhruv Lakra, a 29-year old MBA from Oxford, got a national award for empowering persons with disabilities. With 300 pounds in his pocket, he set up Mumbai based Mirakle Couriers, a courier service company with a single physically challenged as an employee in 2008 and now he has 80 disabled – mostly deaf – managing the company.
DESIRED: National Conference president and central minister has expressed his ‘desire to listen to mujra and chew pan at Lahore’s oldest bazaar’. But, he says, it is not possible because leaders like Geelani won’t let peace to prevail. Unlike son Omar, Dr Farooq has not been to Pakistan since his controversial visit in 1970’s.
RESTORED: Authorities have restored 20930 kanals of land from the encroachers in Kashmir. It includes 2515 in Islamabad, 2300 in Pulwama, 1147 in Ganderbal, 5444 in Bandipora, 3663 in Budgam, 4242 in Kupwara and 1619 kannals in Kulgam.
CONTRADICTED: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said his government has set free more than 1200 youths who were arrested for stone pelting. It has contradicted his police chief’s statement that the police had rounded up 3040 for stone pelting this summer of whom only 165 are being held by the police.
TAKEN OFF: IAF started the courier service for Kargil with 21 passengers last week. The AN-32 Kargil Courier plane will be operating thrice a week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday between Srinagar and Kargil. Closure of Zoji la forces authorities to opt for alternatives and flying courier services is the only viable option.
ASKED: Ahmed Patel has been asked by Congress high command to look after the Kashmir affairs. The position felt vacant after the in-charge secretary general Parathviraj Chouhan was sent to become the Maharashtra chief minister.
SOUGHT: Supreme Court has sought J&K’s response on the Rs 1618 crore special package offered by the Centre for migrant Kashmiri Pandits. It has given the state a four-week time.
DENIED: Kotbalwal Jail officials have prevented Muhammad Maqbool Bhat a final year under-graduate student of Government Degree College, Pulwama from sitting in the annual examination, which commenced from December 4. This goes against the high court directions.
ESTABLISHED: A judicial enquiry has established that teenager Wamiq Farooq died as a police fired shell hit him. Sub-Judge Passenger Tax, Masrat Shaheen who conducted the enquiry submitted it to CJM. Wamiq was 13 and was killed in January. The enquiry was the outcome of his father’s application to get a case registered against the police.
