In a fresh crackdown against separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir the National Investigation Agency is conducting searches at 12 locations in Srinagar and north Kashmir in connection with terror funding.Officials in the central probe agency said the searches are being carried out at 12 locations in Srinagar Baramulla and Handwara districts. They said those being raided Wednesday have alleged links to persons being investigated in this case.Representational image. AFPAccording to India Today TV the locations being raided include properties of relatives of Zahoor Watali a prominent businessman in the Valley and a known Hurriyat supporter.The NIA is also raiding the houses and office of Shafi Rishi a prominent lawyer in Kashmir and Peerzada Nabi a prominent businessman.Official sources said that evidences have been found against Watali Rishi and Nabi about their involvement in the terror funding.The current crackdown is a part of NIA investigation against allegations that separatists leaders were receiving funds from Pakistan and were using the money to fuel unrest in the Valley.Watali s residence in Gurugram Delhi and Srinagar were raided on 4 June as part of the ongoing investigation.The NIA had also questioned the sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on 8 August over his alleged links with Hafiz Saeed.Saeed leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba is reportedly said to be a prominent source of funding for the pro-Pakistan separatist factions in the Valley and the money is subsequently being channeled to fund protesters and militants in the Valley sources told PTI. The NIA had also questioned Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Faheem Ali who handles separatist leader Mirwaiz http://www.mmaplayground.com/profile/gdntqtgen Umer Farooq s security in connection with the case. Ali was the first police officer from the state to be interrogated by the NIA.The NIA had arrested seven persons Altaf Ahmed Shah Nayeem Khan Peer Saifullah Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam and Ayaz Akbar Khandey and Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate on 24 July.They were arrested on the charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India.Altaf Ahmad Shah is the son-in-law of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who advocates Jammu and Kashmir s merger with Pakistan.Islam is a close aide of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Ayaz Akbar is the spokesperson for the Geelani-led Hurriyat.A case was registered on 30 May accusing separatist and secessionist leaders of working in collusion with terrorist groups. It also included charges of causing disruption in the Valley by pelting security forces with stones burning schools damaging public property and waging war against India.The probe agency had conducted searches in several places in the state besides Haryana and the national capital. Electronic devices and valuables worth crores of rupees were impounded.It was the first time since the rise of militancy in the early 1990s that a central probe agency conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups.With inputs from agencies
Does the Constitution of India perpetuate gender discrimination? Does it do so despite containing a provision on the promise of equality and equal protection under law for all citizens? The answer might be yes but we are waiting on a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court to demystify the interpretation of Article 35A of the Constitution of India that allegedly denies Kashmiri women and their descendants their property rights and bars them from applying for local jobs if they marry outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir.A Kashmiri woman Charu Wali Khanna has challenged the constitutional validity of Article 35A stating that it violated her right to equality under Article 14 enshrined in the Constitution. Khanna stated: Article 14 of Constitution gives a fundamental right to equality before law. But 35A is heavily loaded in favour of males because even after marriage to women from outside (Kashmir) they will not lose the right of being permanent residents. A woman from outside the state shall became a permanent resident on marrying a male permanent resident of the state but a daughter who is born (to a) state subject will loss the right on marrying an outsider. Because Khanna married out of her caste and settled outside of Jammu and Kashmir she has been deemed a non-resident citizen and because of such unreasonable classification between males and females is why she decided to invoke the Supreme Court.Representational image. PTIThe notorious Article 35A permits the legislature of Jammu and Kashmir to define a list of permanent residents of the state who are eligible to vote work for the state government own land and property within the state as well as secure public employments and college admissions. All non-permanent residents are not permitted to do these since by law they don t have such right. The provision was added to the Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954 and was in fact an extension of Article 370 a temporary transitional and special provision that grants special autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. However it should be noted that such provision was not ratified by the Parliament. There was an option with the Centre to ratify the provision by sending it to Parliament.But the question here is less about the special status of Kashmir and more about an inherent gender inequality within the state that is brought about by this provision. A similar matter has been dealt with by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2002. The case State of Jammu and Kashmir versus Dr. Sushila Sawhney and Ors (2002) stated that the daughter of a permanent resident marrying a person outside the state would not lose the status of permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir. However after the Sushila Sawhney case neither did the Parliament make an effort to explicitly change the language of the provision nor did any organ of the government issue a clarification on the same. Moreover the Sushila Sawhney judgment talks about women s permanent status in the state but leaves out the fate of her children and the present case seeks to do just that.A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and AM Khanwilkar tagged Khanna s petition with a pending petition from 2014 where a Delhi-based NGO named We are Citizens had brought up a similar concern. The questions in these petitions shall be dealt by a constitutional bench of five judges.In the present matter the gender question is all-encompassing Article 35A is interpreted differently for men and women and that is where the issues begins. For instance allied legal provisions such as Section 6 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution dissuades women from marrying a man of their choice by restricting the basic right of a woman and her children to hold property rights if she marries a man not holding the Permanent Resident Certificate. Section 6 however does not apply to men who marry non-resident citizens. The tacit interpretation of such a provision would simply be that women are considered chattel and property of the men who own them and hence if their geographical location changes the status of their rights would too.Secondly Valley-based politics have now taken over the issue and there is a possibility that it becomes a territorial-political issue in the near future and the gender aspect of it might completely be stripped off. For example former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that BJP is using Article 35A to rile up passions in Jammu and Kashmir again and for its own benefit - The BJP is trying to engineer a regional divide in Jammu and Kashmir over Article 35A of the Constitution Deccan Chronicles reported. Meanwhile the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has touted Omar Abdullah as anti-women anti-Dalit anti-Hindu and progressing to become anti-national according to Mail Today.It is true that in the election manifesto of the BJP it promised to at least dilute the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 35A and believes that this would undo all political conflicts in the area. In the Valley however the potential threat to the special status by Article 35A has led to a convergence between all major political parties including the People s Democratic Party (PDP) the National Conference and the Hurriyat. Mehbooba Mufti the present chief minister of the state has also spoken up against the proposed abrogation of the constitutional provision.However like every war-torn transitional area women s issues https://www.sparkfun.com/users/1075192 may well be put in the backburner as political parties continue to vie for power and stronghold in the Valley. According to the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) that works in post-conflict scenarios and believes that women s rights are central to peacebuilding - Transitional justice responses to gender-based violations during conflict and authoritarian rule are essential for ensuring justice for victims combating women s marginalization and preventing future violations against women and other communities targeted for their gender. Of equal importance is ensuring that transitional justice measures meaningfully address the causes and consequences of all abuses against women even those that are not inherently gender-based. There is every possibility that Charu Wali Khanna s petition for equality under the law becomes a war-cry for the abrogation of Article 35A and the two issues though intertwined are separate problems to be dealt with through different mechanisms. As of now it is imperative to ensure that Khanna s petition remain about the element of gender inequality in property laws as state subjects in Kashmir and does not become about the political fate of the Valley.
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said today that she has faith in institutions of the country and hoped that the Supreme Court will dismiss a petition that challenges Article 35A of the Constitution in relation to Jammu and Kashmir.Ms Mufti made it clear that power battles or political ideologies will not be a hindrance if there is a threat to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and said that she had followed rival National Conference s leader Farooq Abdullah s fatherly advice on the issue. We have faith in every institution of the country. We have seen many attempts by some people who want to take us back to 1947. They rush to the Supreme Court over one issue or the other. But we have confidence in our Supreme Court which has dismissed petitions challenging the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in the past. I am sure the Supreme Court will dismiss the present petition before it Ms Mufti said in her address at the Independence Day function held at the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar.Article 35A which was added to the Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954 empowers the state legislature to define permanent citizens and grant them special privileges.A plea in the Supreme Court has challenged some of these provisions following which the Supreme Court has said that a constitution bench may examine whether Article 35A is gender-biased and violative of the basic structure.Speaking in Srinagar Ms Mufti said the people of Jammu and Kashmir supported Shiekh Abdullah and decided to accede to India as they found similarities in the pluralism that existed both in the state as well as the country. The parliament at that time felt that Jammu and Kashmir is different from other states it has a distinct identity. It was decided that Jammu and Kashmir will be given a special position in the Constitution of the country she said.The chief minister said that there were mistakes committed from New Delhi as well as Srinagar. I don t know what happened after that...There were some mistakes committed in Delhi and some mistakes here as well. The result has been that we are caught in violence for the past 30 years she added.Ms Mufti said that many people across the country believe that Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India. There is no doubt about it and it should remain like that she said.Ms Mufti who is running a BJP-PDP coalition government in the state said that power battles or political ideologies will not be a hindrance if there is a threat to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. I assure my fellow citizens that whenever it comes to the identity of Jammu and Kashmir we are all united. The battle for power and political battles are a separate issue. I am thankful to Farooq Abdullah for meeting me. I sought his guidance on the issue of the challenge to the special status of the state. He gave me a fatherly advice and I acted upon it she said.Ms Mufti said that as her state is faced with many problems she will again seek Mr Abdullah s counsel whenever required. I am hopeful that he will always give me the same fatherly advice she added.The chief minister expressed hope that Pakistan will stop fuelling violence in the state which will pave the way for resumption of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad. Shelling has resumed on borders. Many lives have been lost. The schools are closed many people have been forced to migrate from their villages. How long will this continue? she asked.Pakistan must keep its promise made to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that they will not allow Pakistani soil to be used against India she said.Ms Mufti expressed hope that the Centre will find ways to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir through dialogue as has been done with other issues over the past seventy years. Kashmir is a humanitarian issue. Vajpayee had said that Jammu and Kashmir issue will be resolved within the ambit of humanity. I hope that centre will give an opportunity to people of Jammu and http://noisefestival.com/blog/good-night Kashmir to come out of the morass as dialogue is the only way for resolution. This is also part of our agenda of alliance (between PDP and BJP) she said.On the development front Ms Mufti said the people of the state will have to think where they are headed. Why are guns in the hands of our youth when they should be holding a pen and a book? she asked.She appealed to parents to keep their children away from subversive activities and give them proper education. People of the state have to think what they have achieved in the past 70 years. Every state of India has progressed since Independence. However Jammu and Kashmir despite having vast natural resources is caught in problems she said.She also rued that pluralism was vanishing from Kashmir while it was vibrant in Jammu.There was a time when there would be azaan call from the mosque at Makhdoom Sahib shrine while nearby at a temple bells would ring and there also would be Gurbani in the day.We cannot see that today the chief minister said.Look at Jammu early morning azaan is followed by bells ringing in temples and then Gurbani (in gurudwaras) during the day she said.She said the people of Ladakh are now known so much for their hospitality that tourists who visits once keep coming back. Now even Kashmiris go to Ladakh during their vacations she added.
SRINAGAR: Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi s outreach to Kashmiris from the iconic Red Fort Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti made the state s complex relationship with the central government the crux of her Independence Day speech underlining that there can t be any compromise on the special status of the state.Article 35-A bars outsiders from owning property in Jammu and Kashmir. A petition in the Supreme Court says the provision discriminates against women of the state who lose their right to own property in the state if they marry a non-resident . The provision is considered fundamental to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.Referring to the controversy surrounding Article 35A she expressed confidence that the court would dismiss the petition again. Whenever anybody has pointed a finger at the identity of Jammu and Kashmir or approached the Supreme Court Supreme Court dismissed them I am sure that the issue before Supreme Court will also be dismissed by the court like it has dismissed in the last 70 years the chief minister said.This was one point she said on which all political parties in the state were united irrespective of whether they were in power or now. The fight for the chair and political fight is different but when it comes to the question of our identity we are all one we are united and nobody can separate us she said. The Chief Minister had last week met PM Modi and got an assurance that the Centre did not intend to fiddle with it.In his Independence Day address there was more. Prime Minister Modi stressed that bullets can t resolve Kashmir problem but embracing Kashmiris will. He underscored that only a handful of separatists are resorting to tactics to disrupt the atmosphere of the state and government is committed to making Kashmir a paradise again. Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by bullets or abuses. It can be resolved by embracing Kashmiris PM Modi said. We look forward to being embraced in the warm grip of understanding acceptance and respect tweeted former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah welcoming PM Modi s words for Kashmir. But he cautioned that everyone here is weary of yet more talk and no concrete action .
SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi s remarks that bullets and abuses won t help resolve Kashmir issue has evoked a positive but cautious response from political leaders across the spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir. Welcoming the PM s statement chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said dialogue and peaceful means only can help in resolving issues as the futility of violence has been established all around. Mufti said the slogan Bandook se na goli se Baat banegi boli se coined by PDP some 15 years ago is as relevant today as it was then. Earlier while addressing August 15 function in Srinagar Mufti said all political parties were on the same page about the need to defend special status of the state and that nobody would compromise when it comes to identity of the state. Political fight or fight for the chair is different she said. We are like a fist and we cannot be divided or separated when it comes to our identity. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq who is under house arrest welcomed the prime minister s Independence Day speech remark that resolution of Kashmir issue is possible if humanity and justice replace bullets and abuses . Primarily New Delhi has to shun military approach and look at Kashmir as a political problem Mirwaiz said. Youth can t be lured into so called mainstream. They want justice not jobs he told ET. Ex-CM Omar Abdullah tweeted that the words of Modi have been very well received by people and expressed hope that it is backed by action as everyone is weary of yet more talk and no concrete action . The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We look forward to being embraced in the warm grip of understanding acceptance and respect the National Conference leader tweeted. That respect must include respect for the unique status J&K enjoys within the Constitution of India that sets it apart from all other states.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi s remarks that separatism in Jammu and Kashmir will be defeated by embracing Kashmiris and not by violence.(Representative Image: IE) Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi s remarks that separatism in Jammu and Kashmir will be defeated by embracing Kashmiris and not by violence. In his Independence Day address PM Modi reached out to strife-hit Kashmiris asserting that Kashmir problem cannot be http://gdntqtgen.qsite.dk/ resolved by either bullets or by abuses and that a solution can be found by embracing them. In a statement issued here Chief Minister Mufti said she has all along believed that only dialogue and peaceful means can help in resolving issues as the futility of violence has been established all around. The slogan Bandook se na goli se Baat banegi boli se (neither guns nor bullets only dialogue can resolve the issue) coined by the PDP (her party) some 15 years ago is as relevant today as it was then she said.
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