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Javaid Mir to join hands with Shah Faesal
Srinagar, Mar 6: Former minister and PDP leader, Javaid Mustafa Mir is likely to join hands with bureaucrat-turned-politician, Shah Faesal as the latter intends to float his own political party ahead of the commencement of General and Lok Sabha elections in the state.
A top source told The Kashmir Monitor that Mir, who resigned from PDP, had a meeting with Faesal recently in which the prospects of forming a political party were discussed.
âBoth of them held a fairly detailed meeting,â the source said adding that the formal announcement regarding the party and its members are likely to be made in coming days.
âThe idea of forming a party by Faesal was positively responded by many politicians. Even many people donated in numbers to ensure that he had a strong financial and people support before going ahead with it,â the source said.
On January 5, Mir resigned from PDP and announced that he will fight the upcoming elections as an independent candidate.
He is a three-time MLA from central Kashmirâs Chadoora constituency and his exit from the party was seen a major setback to the PDP.
Faesal, the 2009 IAS topper, on the other hand resigned from his services on January 9 to jump into politics to âhighlight the political deadlock in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Srinagar, Oct 15: Fifty-year-old Fatima (name changed) feels jitters when she recalls the night she saw an SOS from her younger brother flashing on the television news channel.
âCall me immediately,â flashed the message on the scroll of a TV channel. The world blackened out for Fatima when she read the message from her younger brother.
It was after four weeks post abrogation of stateâs special status that she heard from her younger brother, who works in a private company in Middle East.
Crushed by apprehensions triggered by the sudden message on TV, Fatima developed frequent panic attacks, which landed her at the Government Psychiatric hospital, Rainawari.
âMy wife kept on saying that something bad has happened to him. Despite our reassurances, she was bogged down by negative thoughts which became the reason for the panic attacks,â lamented her husband.
Moreover, he was not able to contact his brother-in-law as there was no functional land-line in the neighborhood. âGoing to DC office was out of question given the severe restrictions from our side at that time,â he said
Similarly 45-year-old Tabassum (name changed) was hovered by the negative thoughts of her daughterâs bleak future which landed her in depression.
She hoped that her daughter will benefit from the 50 percent quota reserved for the female MBBS students.
After the abrogation of article 370, she apprehended that the Centre would do away with the quota, thus, crushing her daughterâs dreams of becoming a doctor.
âShe cried very easily. Her recurrent question would be: Will the government revoke the quota?â said her sister.
A senior consultant at the Psychiatric hospital termed the abrogation of Article 370 as âprecipitatingâ and âperpetuatingâ factor to the conflict that is already 30 decades old.
âSo many Kashmiris studying and working outside couldnât contact their family members. Those living in Kashmir couldnât contact their near and dear ones outside the valley, or for that matter inside the vale. This heightened the anxiety levels,â he said
The doctor noted that only 5-10 percent of patients reported at the hospital in August as the patient inflow was impeded by the lockdown.
âIn the beginning phase of the communication lockdown, we couldnât see many patients at the hospitals. They couldnât reach here due to restrictions. Our essential services were also impacted,â he said.
The doctor asserted that the long terms effects of the ongoing crisis will be worse. âThere will be more of depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, and acute stress disorders,â he said.
Srinagar, Oct 15: A day after the mobile services were resumed in the Kashmir valley, the first image of the National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah surfaced on social media.
Abdullah’s latest picture is doing rounds on Twitter and WhatsApp. The picture was reportedly taken when the NC delegation met him in Srinagar.
With a grey beard and short hair, Abdullah looks totally different than what he used to look prior to his detention.
The image is shared by various journalists.
Last month, reports surfaced that Omar had pronounced that he would not shave his beard till his release.
Reports also claimed that Abdullah spends time watching Hollywood movies and working out at the gym.
Along with Omar, his father Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were also put into house arrest after the Narendra Modi government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by diluting the Article 370.
The vice-president of the NC is detained at the government guesthouse at Hari Niwas Palace in Srinagar, while PDP chief Mufti is placed under detention at a JKTDC-owned hut at Chashma Shahi.
Initially, both the leaders were lodged at Hari Niwas Palace.
On Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration resumed postpaid mobile services in the Valley.
The mobile services were shut down after the Centre’s decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370. However, prepaid and internet services will remain suspended for now. The Valley has around 66 lakh mobile users out of which 40 lakh use postpaid facilities.
Srinagar, Oct 15: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) here reopened on Tuesday after being shut for two-and-a-half months.
The institution was closed in view of security concerns in the region post abrogation of Article 370 and the students who belonged to states other than Jammu and Kashmir were sent home.
“All the students were much tensed as the institution was closed for many days following the abrogation of the article 370. Now when it has finally re-opened we all are very excited and happy that we can continue our studies,” Praful, a student told ANI.
Mobile services were also restored in J&K on Monday after a span of over two months since the central government’s move to repeal Article 370 that accorded special status to the region.
The decision to restore mobile phone services came days after Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik announced the withdrawal of security advisory for tourists from October 10.
The administration had also said that tourists desirous of visiting the region will be provided with the necessary assistance and logistic support. (ANI)