Izhar Wani, chief of bureau, Kashmir for the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on the separatist conflict in the region for more than two decades. He died of cancer on April 4 last year.
Sheikh Mushtaq
SRINAGAR: Izhar and I watched helplessly for the second successive morning as jets took off over the skies for attacks on "armed infiltrators" in Drass and Kargil near the Pakistan border.
We desperately wanted to reach Kargil to report one of...
Posted 76 days ago.
Faheem Aslam
SRINAGAR: Death, like a news story, follows a deadline. And Izhar Wani, whom a friend aptly referred to as ‘Antony Shadid of Kashmir’, met it last year, exactly like he’d meet the story deadlines every now and then.
What essentially made ‘Izhar Bhai’s’ death as most shocking is his age, his little children he left behind, and of course his humility that earned him an acclaim on Facebook immediately after he passed away: “A gentleman of the tribe.” That is the...
Posted 76 days ago.
Izhar Wani
SRINAGAR: Syed Maqbool Shah, an aspiring teacher from Kashmir aged 17, was visiting his brother in New Delhi in June 1996 when police wrongly accused him of taking part in a bombing.
The car blast the month before had ripped through the bustling Lajpat Nagar area of shops and homes, killing 13 people and putting local law enforcement agencies under intense pressure to find the culprits.
Police swooped in a pre-dawn raid on Shah’s brother’s rented residence...
Posted 76 days ago.
Majid Maqbool
SRINAGAR: A year has come to pass without Izhar Wani among us. However, he continues to live in our memories. The presence of his absence is palpable. Somewhere, in an unforgettable corner of our mind, he is always around, smiling that infectious smile of his. For those who knew him closely, he will always be there, smiling down upon us from the heavens. His absence, felt in so many indescribable ways, is filled with the memories he left...
Posted 76 days ago.
SRINAGAR: Kashmiri students, pursuing studies in other parts of the country, undergoing mental or physical harassment at educational institutions or outdoor could now dial a toll-free number for help.
Government of Jammu and Kashmir has promised to solve the problems in days.
The government decision comes after a series of harassment complaints by Kashmiri youth studying in colleges outside Jammu and Kashmir.
The authorities have also appointed a liaison officer who they say will inform the government about any...
Posted 76 days ago.
SRINAGAR: Power-starved Jammu and Kashmir suffers the highest electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and thefts in the country, said a report of the Committee on Public Undertakings 2012-2013, submitted Wednesday.
The report was submitted to the legislative assembly in Jammu.
"The state has been sustaining loss of about Rs.600 crore due to T&D losses, power theft and infrastructural damage every year. These losses are highest in the country," the report said.
T&D losses are caused in the...
Posted 76 days ago.
SRINAGAR: Life remained crippled for the fourth day today due to spontaneous strike at Shopian in south Kashmir against the arrest of two youths last week.
Business and other activities remained shut and traffic was off the road in the town and adjoining areas though there was no strike call from any organisation.
Work in government offices, banks and educational institutions was affected due to the strike.
A young man, Zubair Ahmad besides another were arrested during the intervening night of March 29 and 30 from...
Posted 77 days ago.
Kainaat Mushtaq
WULLAR: "What the Nile is to Egypt, Wullar is to Kashmir."
That's how a famous Kashmiri poet once described the exquisite emerald green Wullar, a freshwater lake surrounded by giant pine and willow trees in north Kashmir.
Local officials, ignoring the more obvious claims of Siberia's Lake Baikal and other contenders, fondly refer to Wular as Asia's largest freshwater lake.
But decades of neglect and years a bloody insurgency that has converted the idyllic mountain state...
Posted 77 days ago.
SRINAGAR: Cold weather continued in the Kashmir valley after snowfall in upper reaches and heavy rains in plains, disrupting normal life.
However, 300-Km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway was through for traffic. Fresh snowfall was experienced on the slopes of world famous ski resorted of Gulmarg early this morning, a hotel manager said.
He said few inches of fresh snowfall was recorded early this morning on the slopes, ready to host Junior National ski...
Posted 77 days ago.
SRINAGAR: A leopard has killed more than 20 sheep at a farm in South Kashmir, police said.
They said late on Tuesday evening a leopard invaded cattle farm of Sadiq Batana at Rain Auther Rehwane, Kokernag and killed the animals
Residents said the leopards have been roaming the area at night for the last few days threatening their lives and livestock
"The leopards killed the animals and could have killed more had it not for our intervention," Mohammad Ahsan a resident of Kokernag said.
He said constant animal...
Posted 77 days ago.
