WRITE-UPS

Mubashir Naik Chenab Valley, a mountainous region of Jammu Kashmir, although separated from Kashmir by Geography the heart of Chenab valley will always beat for Kashmir. When in the early '90s, the wave of insurgency began in Kashmir, It affected Chenab valley equally. The flame of militancy engulfed Chenab valley the same as it did Kashmir. Like Kashmir, the twin District of Chenab Valley 'Doda' and 'Kishtwar' have seen massive causalities, pain, and suffering caused by the conflict between the insurgents and the state forces. There is a minute difference between the people of Chenab valley and Kashmir. People of both regions share the same culture, tradition, and an emotional connection between the people is obvious. In Kashmir, young artists for the last few years are trying t...

Malik Mumin From being an outstanding student to one of the youngest boys to pick up the gun from south Kashmir, Farhan Wani, a lad from Quimoh kulgam was the youngest member of his family survived by four other family members. Farhan studied in one of the finest schools in Islamabad (Anantnag). He was a brilliant student and outstanding at maths. He was fond of mildly hot Lipton chai with bakerkhani (Kashmiri bread). He was my classmate and my dearest enemy. we used to fight for reasons unknown. Farhan was the most honest and sincere student of our batch & had the most lavish lifestyle among us all. He had an unusual habit of tasting everyone's lunchbox not only during our lunch breaks but also even during classes. I wanted to punch his stomach (back then) but today I wish he...

Fizala Khan A thick blanket of snow covered Kashmir over the past week as most areas received heavy snowfall, Along with the heavy snow and avalanche warning came the news of four members of a family being hospitalized on Saturday morning after they lost consciousness in their sleep from asphyxiation at a village in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. Asphyxiation from gas heaters: As winter sets in Kashmir, people look for warmth. Some resort to either a traditional Hammam (Kashmiri Hammam is an improvisation of the Turkish bath) or alternatives like gas heaters. Gas heaters can cause asphyxiation, which is a condition of a deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from abnormal breathing. In an enclosed space, without any chimney or ventilation, these gas heaters can emit gas...

Irshad Hussain Here in Shopian, scores of people have gathered at the house of Ghulam Mohammed Lone. Lone family lives in Shopian's Turkwangam area. The Shopian district has seen hundreds of Militant and civilian killings in the new wave of Militancy in Kashmir, which erupted in 2016. Prominent commanders of the "New Age Militancy" hailed from this apple-rich district of South Kashmir. Dozens of neighbours of the Zubair Ahmed Lone have gathered at his house in absolute amazement of the news that struck the area like a volcano on the 30th day of December last year, that three "Militants" had been killed in the encounter in Lawaypora area of Srinagar, one of them was 23-year-old Zubair. ALSO READ: ‘Ours was in Srinagar to Deposit Fees, Our Son Went to Repair his Bike’- Families Plead the...

Aniqa  It has been a 27 year long wait for the 57 families that shouldered the coffins of their young and old, blossoming and care-taking kith and kin shot dead at the hands of the Indian Border Security Forces personnel in the picturesque, Apple town of North Kashmir- Sopore in North Kashmir on the 6th day of January in 1993. The Border Security Force's (BSF) 94 Battalion set ablaze five localities of Sopore in broad daylight, fired on all sides- 48 died of bullet injuries, 9 were burnt alive and hundreds were wounded leaving them as the eyewitnesses to the gruesome inhumane massacre. An eyewitness on the condition of anonymity told The Kashmiriyat, "I spotted the BSF Soldiers at a distance who stopped an SRTC Bus (JKY-1901) and pulled out the driver an went inside the bus, then ...

Irshad Hussain The families of two slain youth Athar from Pulwama and Zubair Lone from Shopian who were killed in an encounter in Srinagar last week along with few social activists  including Sikhs staged a protest at press colony Srinagar on Monday demanding that the dead bodies of slain be returned. The families also demanded a high level probe of the Srinagar encounter that broke out in Lawaypora area of the Central Kashmir, the last week. On Monday Srinagar's press enclave reverberated with wails of trio families of three slain youths, who have been demanding a speedy impartial probe into the recent "staged" encounter in which three South Kashmir residents were killed. "They were in cold blood, they do not even know who lives in their neighbourhood, i fail to understand how does th...

Mohsina Malik Yesterday, a joint team of Police, army’s 02 RR, and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) in Hokarsar, area of Srinagar. Soon after an encounter broke out in Lawaypora, HMT, Srinagar. Early on Wednesday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir Police along with CRPF and Army claimed to have killed three militants during the encounter in the Lawaypora area of Srinagar, however, two of the families of the three have claimed that their children are not militants and were killed without any provocation. ALSO READ: ‘Militants Killed in Srinagar were Planning a Big Strike on the Highway,’ Says Indian Army According to the family of Zubair Lone (one among the slain militants) of Turkawangam, Shopian while pleading his innocence said, the family is n a complete state of s...

Fizala Khan An Indian Army Officer and his two associates were charged for planting weapons on the bodies of three laborers killed in a fake encounter in Amshipura, Shopian on 18th of July named Abrar Ahmed (25), Imtiaz Ahmed (21), Ibrar Ahmed (17) after they left their residence from Dhar Sakri village in Kotranka of Rajouri district – Poonch. ALSO READ: Day 2- ‘Militants’ Killed in Shopian Encounter Remain Unidentified The Shopian encounter came under a cloud after three families from Rajouri district of Pir Panjal range claimed and stressed that the three killed were their kin, laborers by profession and had no connections with any activities they were accused of. The Kashmiriyat one day after the encounter reported that the Standard operating procedures, as now told by Police in i...

Irshad Hussain As the world was celebrating Christmas Day during the 1990s, Gund Hassi Bhat Srinagar residents were forced to catch the duck in the water pool and to kiss it as a punishment by security forces amid the harsh winter. The residents allege that when the forces could not track down the Militants in the area after the breakdown of the Amed insurgency in Kashmir, the forces used such harsh tactics as a form of collective punishment to the locals. It was the time when the security establishments had the challenges of Shia militant outfits across the valley (Hizbul Momineen) a Pakistani-based militant organization that was active during the 1990s. As the area remained a hotbed of militancy back in those days. Often residents of the Gund Hassi Bhat Srinagar fled away and...