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Photos/ Ubaid Mukhtar Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, is an emotional affair in Kashmir as it constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam. Hajj 2023 begun in Kashmir on Wednesday as 630 pilgrims from nooks and corners of the valley reached the Hajj house in Srinagar where the pilgrims will gather to be taken to Srinagar and then Jeddah. The Muslim pilgrims accompanied by their relatives and friends gathered near the Hajj house where they were welcomed by the officials of the Jammu Kashmir administration. Naat and Duroods were recited as a part of centuries old tradition to bid farewell to the Hajis. In villages and small towns, neighbours of the Hajj pilgrim gather in large numbers reciting Durood and Naat and walk along with the pilgrim till they reach t...

Suhail Dar A resident of Jammu displayed exemplary humanity by bringing a Kashmiri driver who suffered a heart attack from Jammu to Anantnag district in south Kashmir. Several years ago, Gopal Krishan started a small tea stall in the Jammu city nearly two decades back when Yousuf, a driver from Kashmir introduced drivers from Anantnag to his tea stall. With time, all the drivers developed good connection with Gopal which helped his business flourish. Yousuf used to visit Gopal habitually on all his travels to Jammu and with time, the two developed a great relation. On Saturday, during one such visit to Gopal's eatery Yousuf suffered a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat family of Mohammed Yousuf Dar, who was a resident of Kanzgund in Ba...

Research by The Reporters’ Collective (TRC) has showed the Modi government rushed with its plan to supply fortified rice to more than 80 crore people in the country, despite internal and external expert warnings on the adverse effects of feeding people, particularly children, fortified rice. Massive protests have been staged across Jammu Kashmir to protest against the decision to supply fortified rice, locally called plastic rice, however, less or unabundant research pushed the Government narrative. The officials said that the rice was rich in multi nutrients. The Food Department of Indian Government omitted a review by Cochrane, a UK-based scientific nonprofit whose evaluations are considered a gold standard on efficacy of fortified rice in scientific literature. The Cochrane rev...

In view of the ongoing preparations for the G20 event in Srinagar, as walls are being repainted and security is beefed up across Kashmir's summer capital, an image is being circulated on social media with the false claim that the image is from Srinagar. Jammu Kashmir administration is actively involved in propagating the development on social media including on Twitter. On May 18, J-K admin tweeted a photo from its DIPR Budgam handle, however, social media users were too quick to respond and retorted the claim as false. DIPR Budgam has tweeted a photo claiming that the photo was taken at Srinagar's Boulevard amid the ongoing preparations for G20. The photo showed a solitary road adorned with street lights and colorful tiles, and the caption read: “Boulevard Road, leading to the venue...

Bhat Yasir While Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have announced not to participate in the assembly elections before the restoration of the statehood or Article 370, the vice-president of the Jammu Kashmir People's Conference, Basharat Bukhari, has said the party will do the opposite. The JKPC will participate in assembly elections even if the statehood is not restored before the elections, said party's vice president Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari in an interview with The Kashmiriyat while demanding the restoration of statehood. He said that it should be back now in any case, “We want it restored today, now." Notably, the party chief Sajad Lone in an interview with News18 had also said two years back that the party will participate in assembly elections under union territory. In a l...

As the season of paddy seedlings is on in the Kashmir region, people in various areas of north Kashmir's Kupwara and Bandipora are perturbed as seedlings go missing overnight. All this is happening for a month, say locals of Dard Harie village of Kupwara. The situation is worsening day by day as rice cultivation sustains our livelihood, say aggrieved farmers of village Harie of Kupwara. "We have set up guards at our fields who watch the fields day and night but these wild animals are not even sparing the seeds. The boars come in flock and lick all the seeds leaving nothing behind," Mushtaq Ahmad a local resident told The Kashmiriyat. The local residents are surprised at the unusual presence of the wild boars in the villages. "I am around 75 and I have never seen this happening before...

Shah Basit Local residents of Halmathpora in Kupwara district of north Kashmir have been worried for more than a week now as the area has been sinking, residents said. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat, a local Abdul Rashid said that the land sinking has created scare among the locals as several walnut trees have also got uprooted due to the land sinking. He said that initially the locals witnessed cracks developing in the nearby Tingshore hill at Halmathpora. "The cracks caused damaged to several tin sheds. The cracks were followed by land sinking and damage to our property," the local resident said. Several families living close to the hill have shifted to alternate locations fearing that the whole hill might collapse. Abdul Rashid who is 72 said that he has never seen such a ph...

Former Governor of Jammu Kashmir has sent shockwaves across the country with his latest interview with Wire's Karan Thapar. In the interview of over one hour, Satyapal Malik has made shocking revelations on Pulwama attack, abrogation of Article 370 and on PM Modi. Satyapal Malik said that being the Governor of Jammu Kashmir back then he admits that Pulwama attack of February 14, 2019 was a major security lapse. "The CRPF had sought planes to travel to and fro Kashmir valley as we had prior inputs on a major attack, however, the Union Home Ministry had rejected providing planes for CRPF. Had the planes been provided, fourty precious lives could have been saved," Satyapal Malik told Karan Thapar. Detailing further he said that Pulwama attack, he said that the attacker was driving aroun...

Suhail Dar The Kashmir valley has seen a whooping entry of 27,305 animals from outside states during the first twenty days of the holy month of Ramadhan, officials said. Speaking to The Kashmiriyat Javed Ahmed, a supervisor of Animal Husbandry said that over 18,963 sheep and 8,342 goats have entered the Kashmir valley for consumption from other states of Jammu Kashmir. He said that the import is expected to go up during the last ten days of Ramadhan. A mutton dealer from Srinagar, however, said that the import does not give the exact figures of consumption. “There needs to be thorough work to check the actual amount of mutton consumed during a period of time. There are mutton sellers who have had existing stock for several months. There are others who will stock the current sup...

Transporters in Jammu Kashmir have unanimously decided to observe 'Chakka-Jam' on April 17 across the region to press for their long pending demands. The transporters are demanding the reopening of fitness certificates and renewal of route permits for all passenger vehicles that have been halted due to passenger tax from 01-04-2023. They also demand release of arrears on account of 37 % hike vide JKRTC/GML/Sgr/1003 dated 10-11-2021 under SRO 157 in freight charges for goods carriers engaged by the JKRTC. The transporters have also opposed the rapid increase in fitness fee for all commercial vehicles. They said the order for the collection of Passenger Tax on quarterly basis of all passenger commercial vehicles is still pending. The Association has sought intervention of Lt Governo...