Our auspicious days
July 24, Sunday, Kamla Ekadashi, Kamalnag yatra, Traal.
August 2, Tuesday, Nagapanchami, Kaunsarnag yatra, Naagadandi Mahayag, Achhabal.
August 9, Tuesday, Shrawan Dwadashi, Kapalamochan, Shupian yatra
August 12, Friday, Amareshwar yatra, Thejwara, Dyaneshwar, Rakhsha Bandhan.
August 16, Tuesday, Chandan Shashti Vrat.
August 18, Thursday, Zanma Satam
Issuance of Domicile Certificates
Registration of displaced persons for the purpose of issuance of Domicile Certificate in terms of the Government Order No. 52-JK(DMRRR) of 2020 from 02-07-2022 onwards.
As per last years 2021 practice, Shri Sumeer Chrungoo, President, Kashmiri Samiti Delhi (Regd.) requested the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) Jammu Shri A.K. Pantida for issuance of Domicile Certificates in the current year 2022 for the persons living in NCT of Delhi and NCR accordingly. The Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) Jammu deputed Shri Devender Singh Bhan, Deputy Commissioner Relief and Rehabilitation (Migrants) Jammu and Smt. Namrata Dhar, Tehsildar to Delhi alongwith some Officials to discharge the duties with regard to preparation of Domicile Certificates at the base camps at Kashmir Bhawan, Lajpat Nagar-4, New Delhi and JK House, 5-Prithvi Raj Road, New Delhi.
It may not be out of place to mention here that as per the guidelines issued by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) Jammu, the concerned staff members have started checking up of Registration/Domicile Forms of the people from NCT of Delhi and NCR at both base camps from 02-07-2022 onwards.
S/Shri T.N. Gurtoo, Manoj Bindroo, Ashok Trisal and Ashok Handoo of Kashmiri Samiti Delhi have been directed by Shri Sumeer Chrungoo, President, Kashmiri Samiti Delhi to part and parcel of the ongoing issuance of Domicile Certificate.
Inputs from: T.N. Gurtoo, Secretary, KSD
Banned Jamaat diverted charity money for J&K terror
Says National Investigation Agency
Saleem Pandit
SRINAGAR: Joint teams of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), J&K Police and CRPF searched properties belonging to members of the banned Jamaat-e-Islamiat various locations in the Valley on June 16y and seized digital storage devices and sheaves of documents purportedly showing funds collected in the name of charity being funnelled into secessionist activities.
NIA started probing Jamaat’s alleged charade of charity funding after a prod from the ministry of home affairs, which declared the outfit a banned organisation on February 28, 2019.
“Members of the organisation have been collecting funds domestically and abroad through donations, particularly in the form of zakat, mowda and bait-ul-mal, which are purportedly meant for charity and other welfare activities. But these funds are instead being used for secessionist activities, including violence,” NIA said.
Raised by Jamaat are also being passed on to Pakistan-backed terror outfits such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and others. Jamaat members have also been radicalising and recruiting local youth for “disruptive secessionist activities”, an NIA official said.
The premises raided on June 16 include the residence of Farooq Ahmad Bhat alias Khaki, a resident of Chinar Bagh Pahroo on the outskirts of Srinagar and a senior functionary of Jamaat’s Budgam unit. A mobile phone and a bank passbook were seized from the house.
Houses belonging to Jamaat members Khursheed Sanai and Bilal Ahmad Mir were also searched. In north Kashmir, NIA, police and CRPF teams raided the homes of Hafizullah Ganie and Shoaib Mohammad Choor.
Courtesy: Times of India, June 18, 2022
Govt. shuts 300 educational institutions
Run by Jamaat offshoot FAT in J&K
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, In a major decision, the administration on June 14: stopped operations of nearly 300 educational institutions run by Falah-e-Aam Trust (FAT), an offshoot of banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and directed the Chief Education Officers (CEOs) to seal them within 15 days in consultation with district administration.
The action followed investigation in the cases against JeI being conducted by the State Investigation Agency (SIA) amid reports of foreign funding through a number of bank accounts, official sources told the Excelsior.
“Also, there were reports that jihadi literature was also taught in some of the schools run by the FAT. The SIA had gathered credible evidence about circulation of “undesirable literature to pollute mind of students” following which the School Education Department (SED) of Jammu and Kashmir Government, on June 14, came out with the order directing sealing of the institutions and cessation of their operations,” official sources told the Excelsior.
As per rough estimates, about 50,000 students are enrolled in FAT-run educational institutions while over 5,000 teachers are engaged. In 1990 also, when the then Governor’s administration banned Jamat-e-Islami, it had banned FAT also. FAT teachers were then absorbed in Government services. However, the court had overturned ban on FAT
A four-page order to this effect was issued today by Principal Secretary to Government, School Education Department, BK Singh.
It directed cessation of academic activities in FAT-affiliated schools and also asked Chief Education Officers of various districts to seal the institutions within 15 days in consultation with the district administration.
“All students studying in these banned institutions shall admit themselves to nearby Government schools for the current session,” the Government order said.
The order directed the Chief Education Officers, Principals and Zonal Education Officers to facilitate the admission of these students.
“No new admissions shall be taken in these banned FAT institutions,” the order said.
It asked the CEO/ZEOs concerned to make wide publicity in all dailies/newspapers that these institutions are not recognized.
FAT was set up by Jamat-e-Islami and registered by the Government on July 31, 1972. However, on February 28, 2019, the then Union Home Ministry headed by Rajnath Singh banned Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir on grounds of being in close touch with militants. Police and Magistrates had then sealed several Jamat-e-Islami offices across Jammu and Kashmir and also issued notices to schools run by FAT asking them to close down.
However, later, the Government had come out with a clarification that these schools will not be closed down.
Sources said the State Investigation Agency during investigation of cases against SIA has come across series of evidence linking FAT-run schools with foreign funding, circulation of jihadi literature and polluting minds of teenagers prompting the Government to shut down the educational institutions.
While the SIA and police had arrested number of Jamat-e-Islami activists when the organization was banned, several others are still on the run.
The SIA has also came across alleged gross illegalities, outright frauds and mass scale encroachment of Government lands by FAT.
FAT, according to the officials, is an affiliate of radical outfit Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) which is proscribed by Ministry of Home Affairs under the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The officials alleged that JeI mostly draws its sustenance from the vast network of FAT schools, seminaries, orphanages, pulpits of mosques and other charities and added that such institutions played a destructive role in large-scale unrests of 2008, 2010 and 2016 bringing huge miseries to common people and forcing them for shutdowns by threat, intimidation and street violence.
Interestingly, almost all FAT schools numbering over 300 have been found to be existing on illegally acquired Government and community lands wherein lands were occupied by coercion, at gunpoint as well as colluding with revenue officials who made wrong entities in revenue documents by committing fraud and forgery, the officials said.
The SIA has already registered FIR in such matter and the agency is expanding the ambit of these investigations to unearth all such frauds, unauthorised entities and forgeries that have been committed in last 30 years at the behest of terrorists and for other considerations which include monetary gratifications, the officials added.
Courtesy: Daily Excelsior, Jammu, June 16, 2022
EC sets August 31 deadline for J&K draft voter rolls
NEW DELHI: Rolling out the exercise of revision of electoral rolls and rationalisation of polling stations in J&K based on its post-delimitation constituency map, the Election Commissionhas set timelines for the various processes involved, requiring the final list of polling stations to be notified by July 25 and the draft rolls to be prepared by August 31, reports Bharti Jain.
Usually, it takes a month after the draft rolls are out to process claims and objections. So, provided all the timelines are met, the final J&K electoral roll based on the redrawn constituencies, is expected to be published in the first week of October. This will pave the way for EC to schedule assembly polls in J&K. However, EC is expected to take a call on polling timing only after consultations with the Union home ministry, J&K administration and chief electoral officer (CEO), the health ministry and other stakeholders on factors like the security situation; requirement of Central paramilitary forces; weather conditions; agricultural calendar, particularly the apple crop season; and the Covid situation.
The block level officers must be appointed by EROs, followed by proper training, by July 5, 2022. Pegging the number of electors per polling station at 1,250, EC has asked verification and rationalisation of polling stations to be completed and their final list notified by July 25.
Courtesy: Times of India, June 16, 2022
In TAFT crosshairs, Pak ‘arrests’ LeT’s 26/11 plotter Mir
After calling him dead
NEW DELHI: At first, he didn’t exist. Then he was declared dead. But 14 years after he and his team plotted the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, Pakistan seems to have “arrested” global terrorist and LeT commander Sajid Mir, who is probably in his late 40s and carries an FBI bounty of $5 million on his head.
The development is seen as a desperate attempt by Pakistan to get out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force. Mir is wanted by the US government and the next possible course of action seems his extradition and trial on American soil. At least six US citizens were killed in the 26/11 attacks.
FBI describes Mir as someone who once wore a beard and hair down to his shoulders. He, it says, may have altered his appearance and holds him responsible for directing preparations and reconnaissance and being one of the Pakistan-based controllers during the 26/11 attacks.
He was the banned LeT’s foreign recruiter and the main handler for American terrorist David Coleman Headley alias Dawood Gilani.
A US justice department document mentions how the 26/11 attackers were in real-time telephonic contact with Mir and his associates Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal during the attack. “During the course of the attacks, terrorists were advised to, among other actions, kill hostages, set fires, and throw grenades,” the document says.
On Mir’s advice, Headley, then based in Pennsylvania, changed his name from “Dawood Gilani” to “David Coleman Headley” in order to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by enabling him to present himself in India as an American, who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. Mir also advised Headley to open an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities and was given $25,000 for the setup.
In September 2006, Mir and ISI’s Major Iqbal instructed Headley to get settled in India, and take photographs of various locations of public significance in India, including the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai.
Courtesy: Times of India, June 225, 2022
Paper crisis hits Pakistan
No books from August
Millions of students in Pakistan may not have books for the new academic session starting August 2022 as the paper industry association has warned of an impending acute shortage of paper.
The current crisis stems from the rising prices of locally manufactured paper. The association has blamed the government for failing to control the domestic prices paper, reports local media.
During a joint press conference in the capital Islamabad city, All Pakistan Paper Merchant Association, Pakistan Association of Printing Graphic Art Industry (PAPGAI), and other organizations associated with the paper industry, along with the country’s leading economist Dr Qaiser Bengali, warned that booksellers across the country would not be able to provide textbooks to millions of students this year if the price of paper was not stabilised.
At present, the price of local paper had increased by over 200 per cent and its quality was also inferior to the foreign-manufactured paper, they said, reports The News International newspaper.
They said that the pricing formula was yet to be decided between the government and private publishers and no steps had been taken to provide paper at a fixed price to the publishers.
“Since January, an increase of Rs100 per one kilogramme of local paper has been observed,” Publishers and Booksellers Association of Pakistan Chairman Aziz Khalid was quoted as saying.
Courtesy: Times of India, June 26, 2022
‘Kashmir Files’ reinforced my belief in strength of honest storytelling:
Says Vivek Agnihotri
The stirring masterpiece, ‘The Kashmir Files’, struck a strong connection with audiences and critics alike. Donning the role of Pushkar Nath Pandit, Anupam Kher has given one of the most defining performances of his career.
Speaking of defining performances, we see gripping performances from Pallavi Joshi, Mithun Chakraborty and Darshan Kumar in significant roles that left the audience in absolute awe.
A directorial marvel by the award-winning filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, ‘The Kashmir Files’, uncoil the saga of Kashmir’s history in the voice of the Kashmiris. Recounting the tragic event of exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 in its honest form, left the world spellbound.
Director Vivek Agnihotri said in a statement, This film is about humanity, it’s about oneness, and with the response received, I believe the audience of the country, as well as outside, have resonated with it. The emotions that this movie has evoked in people, have left a lasting impression on their mind.
I am a person with integrity. I want to work with talented people. My aim is to do creative work and showcase Indian films as a soft power to the world. ‘The Kashmir Files’ has helped reinforce my belief in the strength of honest storytelling, said the filmmaker.
Sharing his experience, Anupam said in a statement, Being someone who has Kashmiri roots, this film was also instrumental in bringing back a lot - memories of cherries coming into my house through a window back in Baramulla, the pleasantness of Kheer Bhawani, Nishat Garden, and Dal Lake that I keep thinking of even after having travelled the world.
The Kashmir Files is an impeccable example of how a mid-budget film with an impactive story can reach such great heights. For the audience, watching it was an emotional experience. It was instrumental in bringing out a story that deserved to be told, striking a special and lasting connection with the viewers, and to any actor that means more success than anything, said the senior actor.
Vivek and I spent four years on the film, and three years on the research. We went down to victims’ houses, interviewed them, sat with them, and ate with them.
Apart from my experience of being a producer for the film, my role was also really different from what I’ve done in the past, so this came as a welcome change for me. This is a story that needed to be told in all dimensions, with great fidelity, and a super-strong portrayal of every character, added Pallavi Joshi. (UNI)
Courtesy: Daily Excelsior, Jammu, June 22, 2022