Kanthapuram faction not to back stir against additional school hours
A.K. Abdul Hameed, secretary of the Sunni Educational Board of the Kanthapuram faction, told the media on Saturday that the issue could be sorted out through talks with the government. He said that the group had expressed its concerns over the additional hours impacting madrasa studies to the government. Mr. Hameed said that Mr. Musliyar had contacted both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and General Education Minister V. Sivankutty. 'We will offer our suggestions during the proposed talks with Mr. Sivankutty,' he added.
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The Wire
6 hours ago
- The Wire
Modi Govt Posting ‘Outsiders', ‘Jettisoning of Local Officers' Led to Pahalgam Intel Failure: J&K Human Rights Forum
The forum notes in its report that post-Pahalgam attack, the situation has worsened in J&K, despite the fact that Kashmiri people condemned the Pahalgam attack and repudiated the terrorists goals to foment Hindu-Muslim polarisation and instability. New Delhi: The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir (FHRJK) – an informal group of concerned citizens that includes the likes of former Union home secretary Gopal Pillai, former Supreme Court judges Madan Lokur and Ruma Pal, former chief justice of Delhi and Madras high court A.P. Shah, and former member of group of interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir Radha Kumar – in its recently released report has placed the blame entirely on the Narendra Modi government for the 'return of cross-border militancy' in Kashmir. 'The Union Home Ministry's policy of placing non-State officers ('outsiders') to helm civilian security and governance' and 'jettisoning of experienced local officers' that followed as a result of the Narendra Modi government's unilateral decision to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir as a union territory and concentrate power in its own hands 'entailed a paucity of intelligence from the ground and contributed to the security lapses that allowed cross-border militancy to return to the Pir Panjal and Chenab valley areas of Jammu from 2020-2021 on, and then allowed it to spread to Kashmir…,' the report states. 'It contributed, too, to the failure to prevent the Pahalgam terrorist attack,' it adds. The 2025 report is the sixth annual report released by the FHRJK, which was formed after the Union government diluted Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir. Compiled on the basis of government sources, media accounts, NGO fact-finding reports, interviews and information gathered through legal petitions, the report notes that in spite of the assembly elections in September-October 2024, the people of the union territory continue to feel disempowered. It says that the Transaction of Business Rules issued by the Union home ministry on July 12, 2024, months ahead of the assembly elections, ensured that the Union government retained most of the administrative powers in J&K through the Lieutenant-Governor and held control over 'civil servants, the police, the Attorney-General, and prosecutorial services'. The report states that the extent of the Union government's control could be gauged from the fact that soon after the Omar Abdullah government came to power with a comprehensive majority, the L-G returned his proposal for 'allocation of portfolios to Ministers and establishment of a mechanism to resolve difference of opinion between the elected and centrally appointed administrations, with queries as to whether it was in accordance with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019.' It further notes that post-Pahalgam attack, the situation has worsened in J&K, as despite the fact that Kashmiri people condemned the Pahalgam attack and repudiated the terrorists goals to foment Hindu-Muslim polarisation and instability, the police investigators hastily announced the involvement of two Kashmiris in the attack, only to retract later. However, in the meantime, the evidence-less declaration resulted in a pan-India backlash against Kashmiris, the report says. 'Allegedly, over 2,800 people have been detained or summoned for questioning and over 100 have been arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). There are daily cordon and search operations as well as raids; continuing purges of local officers; intimidation of the media, and other scantily verified or unjustified harassments detailed in this report's section on civilian security,' the report says, adding that 'the post-Pahalgam environment, which was widely conducive to the re-establishment of peace building initiatives, is thus already being vitiated.' The report goes on to recommend that such 'vitiation of civil and political rights, including oversight institutions' can be contained only by granting the promised statehood to the union territory. Yet, there are still no signs by the Modi government of 'fulfilling its promise', even after several MPs demanding restoration of statehood in J&K in the run-up to the monsoon session of the parliament. The forum has demanded a rollback of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, and an immediate discussion between Ladakhi representatives and the Union government on demands of Ladakh's statehood and its incorporation in the Sixth Schedule, too. Pahalgam security lapse The report found that there was 'a major security lapse by the Lieutenant-Governor's administration and the Union Home Ministry' in the case of Pahalgam terror attack. The report confirmed that intelligence warning of an attack was 'received in actionable time' but the security reviews were both 'feeble and incompetent'. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) picket close to the Baisaran meadow, where the attack took place, was removed in January, 2025, the report notes, and was not reinstated even after intelligence inputs about a possible attack. Further, the FHRJK found that 'the responsibility of Union home minister Amit Shah remains to be acknowledged' as he 'personally supervised repeated security reviews following the intelligence that an attack was being planned'. The report also holds the Union gvoernment accountable for not preventing a backlash against Kashmiris in various parts of India and allowing hate speech and hateful actions against them in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack. The FHRJK expressed concern about Pakistani military response to 'Operation Sindoor' that it thought 'revealed a new level of China-Pakistan defence cooperation' that included not only supply of arms but also 'onsite guidance by Chinese military-strategic personnel'. This, the report says, deviates from China's earlier stance of non-involvement in the India-Pakistan conflict, and can add to India's challenges in the context of 'China's encroachments in Ladakh'. Despite the Union government increasing expenditure on security in J&K, amounting to Rs 1347.79 crores, the FHRJK believes that merely enhancing security measures could be ineffective as the Pahalgam incident showed. '...the immediate and past lessons of counterinsurgency are being ignored. As our own experience has repeatedly shown, armed attacks dwindle only when the local people and their elected representatives are involved in peace building on the ground, and when security forces are seen to adhere to the human rights guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 1997, which were included in the Indian Army's 'List of Dos and Don'ts' under the Armed Forces (Special Protection) Act,' the report says. Apart from pressing for restoration of statehood for J&K and Ladakh, the FHRJK recommended opening a dialogue between parliamentarians and members of legislative assembly on the special status of J&K and reinstating J&K's oversight commissions like the Human Rights Commission, the Women's Commission, the Accountability Commission and the Information Commission which were shut down after Article 370 was hollowed out. The FHRJK is chaired by former Union home secretary Gopal Pillai and former member of group of interlocutors Radha Kumar, and its members are: Justice Ruma Pal, former judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice Madan Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice AP Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts Justice Bilal Nazki, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Justice Hasnain Masoodi, former judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge of the Patna High Court Probir Sen, former Secretary-General, National Human Rights Commission Amitabha Pande, former Secretary, Inter-State Council, Government of India Moosa Raza, former Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir Shantha Sinha, former chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Major-General Ashok Mehta (retd) Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd) Lieutenant-General H S Panag (retd) Colonel Yoginder Kandhari (retd) Enakshi Ganguly, Co-founder and former Co-director, HAQ Centre for Child Rights Ramachandra Guha, writer and historian Anand Sahay, columnist Shivani Sanghvi, lawyer Abhishek Babbar, lawyer The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
6 hours ago
- The Wire
Modi Govt Responsible for 'Return of Cross-Border Militancy': J&K Human Rights Forum
The forum notes in its report that post-Pahalgam attack, the situation has worsened in J&K, despite the fact that Kashmiri people condemned the Pahalgam attack and repudiated the terrorists goals to foment Hindu-Muslim polarisation and instability. New Delhi: The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir (FHRJK) – an informal group of concerned citizens that includes the likes of former Union home secretary Gopal Pillai, former Supreme Court judges Madan Lokur and Ruma Pal, former chief justice of Delhi and Madras high court A.P. Shah, and former member of group of interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir Radha Kumar – in its recently released report has placed the blame entirely on the Narendra Modi government for the 'return of cross-border militancy' in Kashmir. 'The Union Home Ministry's policy of placing non-State officers ('outsiders') to helm civilian security and governance' and 'jettisoning of experienced local officers' that followed as a result of the Narendra Modi government's unilateral decision to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir as a union territory and concentrate power in its own hands 'entailed a paucity of intelligence from the ground and contributed to the security lapses that allowed cross-border militancy to return to the Pir Panjal and Chenab valley areas of Jammu from 2020-2021 on, and then allowed it to spread to Kashmir…,' the report states. 'It contributed, too, to the failure to prevent the Pahalgam terrorist attack,' it adds. The 2025 report is the sixth annual report released by the FHRJK, which was formed after the Union government diluted Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir. Compiled on the basis of government sources, media accounts, NGO fact-finding reports, interviews and information gathered through legal petitions, the report notes that in spite of the assembly elections in September-October 2024, the people of the union territory continue to feel disempowered. It says that the Transaction of Business Rules issued by the Union home ministry on July 12, 2024, months ahead of the assembly elections, ensured that the Union government retained most of the administrative powers in J&K through the Lieutenant-Governor and held control over 'civil servants, the police, the Attorney-General, and prosecutorial services'. The report states that the extent of the Union government's control could be gauged from the fact that soon after the Omar Abdullah government came to power with a comprehensive majority, the L-G returned his proposal for 'allocation of portfolios to Ministers and establishment of a mechanism to resolve difference of opinion between the elected and centrally appointed administrations, with queries as to whether it was in accordance with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019.' It further notes that post-Pahalgam attack, the situation has worsened in J&K, as despite the fact that Kashmiri people condemned the Pahalgam attack and repudiated the terrorists goals to foment Hindu-Muslim polarisation and instability, the police investigators hastily announced the involvement of two Kashmiris in the attack, only to retract later. However, in the meantime, the evidence-less declaration resulted in a pan-India backlash against Kashmiris, the report says. 'Allegedly, over 2,800 people have been detained or summoned for questioning and over 100 have been arrested under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). There are daily cordon and search operations as well as raids; continuing purges of local officers; intimidation of the media, and other scantily verified or unjustified harassments detailed in this report's section on civilian security,' the report says, adding that 'the post-Pahalgam environment, which was widely conducive to the re-establishment of peace building initiatives, is thus already being vitiated.' The report goes on to recommend that such 'vitiation of civil and political rights, including oversight institutions' can be contained only by granting the promised statehood to the union territory. Yet, there are still no signs by the Modi government of 'fulfilling its promise', even after several MPs demanding restoration of statehood in J&K in the run-up to the monsoon session of the parliament. The forum has demanded a rollback of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, and an immediate discussion between Ladakhi representatives and the Union government on demands of Ladakh's statehood and its incorporation in the Sixth Schedule, too. Pahalgam security lapse The report found that there was 'a major security lapse by the Lieutenant-Governor's administration and the Union Home Ministry' in the case of Pahalgam terror attack. The report confirmed that intelligence warning of an attack was 'received in actionable time' but the security reviews were both 'feeble and incompetent'. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) picket close to the Baisaran meadow, where the attack took place, was removed in January, 2025, the report notes, and was not reinstated even after intelligence inputs about a possible attack. Further, the FHRJK found that 'the responsibility of Union home minister Amit Shah remains to be acknowledged' as he 'personally supervised repeated security reviews following the intelligence that an attack was being planned'. The report also holds the Union gvoernment accountable for not preventing a backlash against Kashmiris in various parts of India and allowing hate speech and hateful actions against them in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack. The FHRJK expressed concern about Pakistani military response to 'Operation Sindoor' that it thought 'revealed a new level of China-Pakistan defence cooperation' that included not only supply of arms but also 'onsite guidance by Chinese military-strategic personnel'. This, the report says, deviates from China's earlier stance of non-involvement in the India-Pakistan conflict, and can add to India's challenges in the context of 'China's encroachments in Ladakh'. Despite the Union government increasing expenditure on security in J&K, amounting to Rs 1347.79 crores, the FHRJK believes that merely enhancing security measures could be ineffective as the Pahalgam incident showed. '...the immediate and past lessons of counterinsurgency are being ignored. As our own experience has repeatedly shown, armed attacks dwindle only when the local people and their elected representatives are involved in peace building on the ground, and when security forces are seen to adhere to the human rights guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 1997, which were included in the Indian Army's 'List of Dos and Don'ts' under the Armed Forces (Special Protection) Act,' the report says. Apart from pressing for restoration of statehood for J&K and Ladakh, the FHRJK recommended opening a dialogue between parliamentarians and members of legislative assembly on the special status of J&K and reinstating J&K's oversight commissions like the Human Rights Commission, the Women's Commission, the Accountability Commission and the Information Commission which were shut down after Article 370 was hollowed out. The FHRJK is chaired by former Union home secretary Gopal Pillai and former member of group of interlocutors Radha Kumar, and its members are: Justice Ruma Pal, former judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice Madan Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice AP Shah, former Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts Justice Bilal Nazki, former Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Justice Hasnain Masoodi, former judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge of the Patna High Court Probir Sen, former Secretary-General, National Human Rights Commission Amitabha Pande, former Secretary, Inter-State Council, Government of India Moosa Raza, former Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir Shantha Sinha, former chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights Major-General Ashok Mehta (retd) Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd) Lieutenant-General H S Panag (retd) Colonel Yoginder Kandhari (retd) Enakshi Ganguly, Co-founder and former Co-director, HAQ Centre for Child Rights Ramachandra Guha, writer and historian Anand Sahay, columnist Shivani Sanghvi, lawyer Abhishek Babbar, lawyer The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Govt pushes ahead with its agenda in Parliament as Opposition's protest continues
New Delhi, The government on Tuesday pressed on with its agenda amid continued disruptions in Parliament due to the Opposition's demand for a discussion on the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, as Lok Sabha passed a bill and Rajya Sabha approved a couple of resolutions despite the din. Govt pushes ahead with its agenda in Parliament as Opposition's protest continues Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had said on Monday that the government will be compelled to push for Parliament's approval for its legislative agenda if the Opposition continued to obstruct its smooth functioning with its protests. Lok Sabha passed 'The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025' with a voice vote, the first draft legislation approved by the House in Parliament's Monsoon session which began on July 21. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved for its consideration and passage amid the din in the House due to the Opposition's protest. The bill, which seeks to grant STs reservation in the state assembly, was introduced in the House on this day in 2024 and had been pending since. After the passage of the bill, Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day as protests by opposition MPs continued unabated. Rajya Sabha saw its first adjournment around 11.45 am, when it was adjourned till 2 pm. When Rajya Sabha met at 2 pm, Opposition MPs were on their feet demanding a discussion on the special intensive revision. Amid ruckus, Harivansh, who was in the Chair, took up two statutory resolutions, including one for extending the President's rule in Manipur for another six months. He said it was a constitutional obligation, and told the members that the House has passed only one Bill in the session so far. The Chair also disallowed any remarks made by opposition leaders on issues other than the resolution that was being taken. Opposition MPs continued to raise slogans on the electoral roll revision issue, as a couple of members also tried to participate in the discussion on the resolution for extending President's Rule in Manipur beyond August 13. The resolution to extend the President's rule in Manipur, and the other one of the Finance Ministry to amend the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, were passed by voice vote. The Chair then adjourned the House for the day as protests continued. Barring discussions on Operation Sindoor in both Houses, Parliament has seen little transaction of its normal business since the Monsoon session began on July 21. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
