Latest news with #Kashmir-based
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
Kashmiri OGW held with arms, ammunition in Jammu
JAMMU: A Kashmir-based overground worker was arrested with arms and ammunition in Jammu's Nagota late Tuesday. Nagrota Police registered an FIR against him under the Arms Act and launched an investigation to trace the origin and intended use of the weapons. The suspect, Azan Hameed Gazi from Hilalabad, Qamarwari, in Srinagar, was travelling from Jammu towards Srinagar in an SUV when police intercepted him at a traffic control check-post on Nagrota Byepass, police said Wednesday. A search of the vehicle yielded three pistols, empty magazines, eight live cartridges, and two empty cartridges from a bag concealed under the front passenger seat, police said. 'The suspect failed to produce any valid documents or licenses for the arms and ammunition,' said a cop. Meanwhile, a joint team of security forces launched a search operation in Kathua district's Chabba Chak, Rampur and adjoining areas in Rajbagh sector Wednesday to trace two terror suspects allegedly spotted the previous night. The fresh searches coincided with another combing operation — aimed to hunt down three terror suspects spotted by a villager in Rajbagh area two nights ago — already underway in the district since Tuesday. That operation entered its second day on Wednesday. Though no suspects have been sighted yet, officials said 'surveillance has been heightened in the area and along national highway, besides border links roads', since Samba-Kathua districts fall on cross-border infiltration routes.
The Wire
14-07-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
J&K CM Omar Abdullah Accuses Police of ‘Grappling' While Entering Martyrs Graveyard, Releases Video
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah had to scuffle with police personnel to gain entry into Mazaar-e-Shuhada (Martyrs Graveyard) in Srinagar on Monday (July 14) where he and other National Conference (NC) leaders offered prayers at the graves of Kashmiri civilians killed by the Dogra army in 1931. An image on social media showed Abdullah accompanied by his father and the National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah, J&K's deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary and other NC leaders gathered around the graves of 22 civilians who were shot dead by the Dogra monarch Maharaja Hari Singh's army on July 13, 1931. A senior NC leader told The Wire that in order to evade police scrutiny, senior Abdullah boarded an auto-rickshaw from Khanyar locality of Srinagar to reach the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi located in downtown Srinagar which is home to the Martyrs Graveyard. 'The plan was kept under tight wraps which took many of us by surprise,' the NC leader said, wishing to remain anonymous. Another party leader and J&K minister Sakina Itoo availed a bike ride to reach the venue on Monday where the fatiha prayers were offered for the deceased. The development took place a day after the lieutenant governor administration barred the NC and other Kashmir-based political parties from visiting the graveyard on Sunday to commemorate Martyrs Day, with J&K police warning of legal action against offenders. However, on Monday, chief minister Abdullah, who was on an official visit to West Bengal, was seen on the road outside the main complex of the shrine, which was turned into a security fortress by the administration ahead of the planned commemorations. A 59-second video shared by the party with the media showed the chief minister, surrounded by security personnel and three party legislators, pacing towards the shrine while some pedestrians look on and a few commuters halt their vehicles to see the action. Another video shared on social media showed Abdullah and at least three of his personal security officers clambering over the wall of the shrine complex with no visible resistance from the security personnel deployed there. Deputy chief minister Choudhary can also be seen watching the action in the video while some central paramilitary troopers, who were deployed at the shrine along with police personnel since Saturday to prevent such intrusions, look on in confusion. A five-second video posted by Abdullah on X, showed two J&K policemen in action in the shrine compound preventing him from moving towards the graveyard which is located behind the main shrine by grabbing his arms. The video shows one of Abdullah's personal security officers purportedly managing to loosen the grip of one of the cops, allowing the chief minister to release his arm while the second cop comes around to stop him from moving ahead. 'This is the physical grappling I was subjected to but I am made of sterner stuff & was not to be stopped. I was doing nothing unlawful or illegal. In fact these 'protectors of the law' need to explain under what law they were trying to stop us from offering Fatiha,' Abdullah said in the post. After Abdullah managed to make his way towards the graveyard along with three party legislators - Tanvir Sadiq, Ahsan Pardesi and Mushtaq Guroo, sources said senior Abdullah also reached the shrine complex and walked in to join the fateha prayers. The Union territory administration, which is directly run by the Bhartiya Janta Party-led Union government, foiled the plans of NC and other Kashmir-based political parties to commemorate the Martyrs Day. Authorities had sealed the historic shrine on Saturday while the applications of political parties to commemorate the day by paying tributes at the graveyard on Sunday were turned down. The BJP had opposed the July 13 commemoration. Senior leader and leader of opposition in J&K, assembly, Sunil Sharma triggered outrage across Kashmir last year after terming those killed by the Dogra army in 1931 as 'traitors'. The ruling party has also come under fire from the opposition over its alleged failure to restore July 13 as a public holiday after Abdullah was sworn into office last year. Restoring the July 13 holiday was part of the NC's election manifesto for the 2024 assembly election. The NC has reportedly written to lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha to reinstate July 13 and December 5, the birth anniversary of the party founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, as public holidays, as it was.
India Today
13-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Martyrs' Day tensions in Srinagar as graveyard sealed, leaders under house arrest
Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir imposed a partial lockdown in Srinagar on Sunday, preventing political leaders and the public from assembling at the Martyrs' Graveyard on the anniversary of the 1931 killings that are commemorated as Martyrs' Day in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), sealed off access to Khawaja Bazar, home to the Mazaar-e-Shuhada, where 22 Kashmiris were buried after being gunned down by Maharaja Hari Singh's forces in to reports, the area was heavily barricaded, with checkpoints and restrictions in place throughout Srinagar to thwart any attempts at gathering. The move came amid renewed calls by political parties for the official restoration of July 13 as Kashmir Martyrs' Day, which was discontinued as a public holiday after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was revoked in from major Kashmir-based political parties, including the ruling National Conference (NC), opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and J&K Apni Party (JKAP), were placed under house arrest ahead of planned visits to the graveyard to pay in the district administration said that no permissions were granted for visits to the cemetery, citing concerns over law and order.'Since last night, I, like many of my colleagues including the party leadership at Gupkar... have been locked inside my home,' said NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq on X. 'Such actions are not only unnecessary, they are unjustified, deeply insensitive, and reveal a troubling disregard for history.'Since last night, I like many of my colleagues, including the party leadership at Gupkar, the Advisor to the Chief Minister, and a majority of sitting MLAs have been locked inside my is not just unfortunate; it is a deliberate attempt to suppress remembrance and deny Tanvir Sadiq (@tanvirsadiq) July 13, 2025PDP president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday posted photos of her locked gate on social media, accusing the administration of attempting to erase collective Sunday, Mufti tweeted, 'When you lay siege to the Martyrs' Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazaar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes. The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours... the 'dil ki doori' (distance of hearts) will truly end.' Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha-led administration's actions, calling them 'blatantly undemocratic.''Homes have been locked from the outside, police and central forces deployed as jailers, and major bridges in Srinagar blocked,' Abdullah wrote on X. 'All to stop people from visiting a historically important graveyard... I will never understand what the Law & Order government is so afraid of.' In another hard-hitting post, the NC leader said, "What a shame that true heroes who fought against British rule in all its forms are today projected as villains only because they were Muslims. We may be denied the opportunity to visit their graves today but we will not forget their sacrifices."Security forces were deployed in strength across Srinagar, with several roads sealed and surveillance intensified as part of the sweeping observance of Kashmir Martyrs' Day, once an official state holiday, has grown increasingly politically sensitive. While many mainstream parties in the Valley regard the 1931 martyrs as symbols of resistance and democratic aspiration, the BJP-led government has distanced itself from the legacy.- EndsMust Watch
The Wire
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
J&K Authorities Seal Mazhar-e-Shuhada After Parties Seek Permission to Commemorate Martyr's Day
Witnesses said that security forces were deployed in greater numbers around the shrine on Saturday while the worshippers were turned away from offering prayers at a mosque inside the complex. Srinagar: Authorities foiled the plans of Kashmir-based political parties to commemorate Martyrs' Day by sealing the historic Sufi shrine of Khwaja Bahauddin Naqshbandi in Srinagar on Saturday (12 July). The site houses the graves of Kashmiri protesters who were killed by the Dogra army in 1931. In an advisory posted on X, Jammu and Kashmir police, without citing any reason, said that the applications from the political parties who had sought permission to commemorate the Martyrs' Day on Sunday (13 July) have been turned down by the authorities. A CRPF truck parked on the road outside the Sufi shrine in downtown Srinagar. The shrine has multiple entrances. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar Earlier this week, the ruling National Conference, the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), and other political outfits had sought permission to visit the Martyrs' Graveyard or Mazhar-e-Shuhada located in downtown Srinagar's Khawaja Bazar where the 22 victims are buried. Moderate Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continued to remain under house arrest for the second consecutive day on Saturday, had planned to lead a procession from Jamia Masjid to the graveyard on Sunday. However, the police advisory on Saturday evening warned: 'The General Public is hereby advised to strictly comply with these instructions and refrain from violating the orders issued by District Administration. Any violation of these orders shall invite strict legal action under relevant provisions of law'. Security forces set up checkpoints at the roads leading to the Martyrs Graveyard on Saturday to foil any commemorations by Kashmir-based political parties. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar The advisory was issued less than an hour after Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, posted a 35-second video on X showing her sprinkling red flowers at the graves. The undated video is likely to have left the security agencies red-faced given the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) contempt for the Martyrs' Day commemorations in Jammu and Kashmir. 'Knowing that tomorrow we'd be prevented from moving out, managed to pay tributes to our martyrs who laid down their lives on July 13, 1931 for democracy. Their memory is being wilfully erased yet their voices echo in every Kashmiri's heart that refuses to bow & dares to hope,' the PDP chief's daughter posted on X. A J&K police mini-truck was also deployed on the main road outside the shrine which wore deserted looks. Security forces also set up checkpoints on the arterial roads leading to the shrine where some commuters were stopped and frisked before being allowed to proceed to prevent any violation of the police advisory. The Sufi shrine which is also home to Maryrs Graveyard wearing deserted looks on Saturday evening. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar Terming the restrictions 'on a day of profound historical and emotional significance' as 'deeply unfortunate', NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said that 'denying people the space to remember their martyrs is fundamentally unjust'. 'July 13 is not a routine date, it is a solemn reminder of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of dignity, justice and rights. We urge the administration to reflect on the gravity of this decision. No order can suppress memory. No restriction can erase (sic) truth. The people of Kashmir will continue to honour their martyrs peacefully, with dignity, and with unwavering resolve,' Sadiq said. In a statement, Mirwaiz's office said that he paid 'glowing tributes to the first martyrs of Kashmir of July 13, 1931, on their 94th martyrdom anniversary'. 'These martyrs laid down their precious lives in the noble cause and pursuit of the realisation of the basic rights of the people of Kashmir under autocratic and discriminatory rule. Their sacrifices are unforgettable and will always be remembered,' the statement added. 22 Kashmiri protesters who were killed by the Dogra army on July 13, 1931, are buried in the Martyrs Graveyard. Photo: Ubaid Mukhtar July 13 was observed as a public holiday when Jammu and Kashmir was a state. However, months after Article 370 was read down by the BJP-led Union government and the state bifurcated and demoted into a Union Territory, the local administration dropped July 13 and December 5 – the birth anniversary of the NC founder Sheikh Abdullah – as a public holiday from the official list. Both dates were excluded from the list of public holidays issued last year by the General Administration Department, which is under the direct control of J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, who holds the reins of the UT's top bureaucracy and the police. People's Conference and others have accused the ruling NC of betraying its own political manifesto by allegedly failing to restore July 13 as a public holiday. 'This is the last year they will be able to do this. From next year, we will mark 13th July with the solemnity and respect this day deserves," Omar Abdullah had written last year he, Mehbooba and others were prevented from visiting the Mazhar-e-Shuhada by the LG administration. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
News18
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Actor Zain Durrani Reacts To Marathi-Hindi Language Row: 'Many People From South…'
Last Updated: Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan actor Zain Durrani spoke to News18 Showsha about the ongoing Marathi-Hindi language controversy. Actor Zain Durrani, fresh off his performance in Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, continues to impress audiences not only with his nuanced acting but also with his thoughtful outlook on life and the film industry. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, the Kashmir-based actor spoke about the ongoing Marathi-language war, his perspective on cultural respect, his journey in Bollywood as an outsider, and what lies ahead in his career. When asked about the ongoing controversy around Marathi-Hindi language in Maharashtra, Zain Durrani was measured yet candid in his response. 'We really need to respect every culture," he said, adding, 'There are so many languages in this country. These days, when I sit with my team from Maharashtra, I try to pick up their language – not to appeal to anyone or to blend in, but just out of respect. There's so much to learn in this country, so many different cultures and languages. At the end of the day, it's about respecting where the other person comes from –whether you're from Kashmir, Punjab, or Maharashtra." He further noted how unfair it is when people ridicule others' language skills without making similar efforts themselves. 'So many people from the South can speak Hindi, right? But how many of us try to learn their languages? Yet I see people poke fun at them when they speak Hindi. That's very unfair," he stressed. 'What's most important is that we respect all our cultures and hold on to them because that's what will help these traditions survive for the next generation," he explained. Zain also spoke about his journey in the film industry and whether it's particularly difficult for someone without a film family to crack connections as an outsider. The Shikara actor said, 'Everybody needs to do a certain amount of self-analysis. If you believe you have what it takes to survive, and it's not just about talent – you also need support. You need people around you, whether it's parents or friends. It's not a lone fight. My parents have helped me a lot, and I will never deny the privilege I've been offered from them. I couldn't have survived in this city for so long if not for them. I told them: just think of it as investing in my education until I can stand on my own." At the same time, he pointed out that even those with a film family face their own pressures. 'Yes, you might have a head start if you belong to a film family, but you also carry a huge weight of expectations. Those of us starting at the back don't have those external expectations. At the end of the day, what really matters and maybe I'm telling myself this too is that it's your resilience, your hard work, and your talent that help you in the long run. Nothing else can." As for what's next, Zain teased several projects in the pipeline. 'There are plenty of things," he said with a smile. 'I'm not at liberty to name them yet, but there are web projects, and a couple of OTT projects that I've already shot for. We're just waiting for the release dates to be announced. I'm excited for people to see the kind of work I've done because all of the characters are so varied. I can't wait for audiences to see all those colours." Zain Durrani's latest film, Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, with Vikrant Massey and Shanaya Kapoor is currently in cinemas. First Published:
