'Appeal to India to Ease Current Lockdowns': UN Human Rights Chief Raises Kashmir Issue
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet raised the Kashmir issue at the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday saying that she’s “deeply concerned about the impact of recent actions by the government of India on the human rights of Kashmiris, restrictions on internet communications and peaceful assembly, detention of local political leaders and activists.”
"While I continue to urge the governments of India and Pakistan to ensure that human rights are respected and protected, I have appealed particularly to India to ease the current lockdowns or curfews,” she reportedly said.
Ailing CPI(M) MLA from J&K Yusuf Tarigami Shifted to AIIMS
Ailing CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami, who has been under house arrest for over a month in Srinagar, was shifted to AIIMS on Monday morning, officials said.
Accompanied by a doctor, a relative and a police officer, Tarigami arrived here and was immediately taken to AIIMS, the officials said.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday said that Tarigami should be shifted "at the earliest" to "the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, from Srinagar, where he is under house arrest." He had been put under house arrested in the early hours of August 5 when the Centre abrogated special status to Jammu and Kashmir under the Constitution.
Pakistani Handlers Told Terrorists in Kashmir They Will Get Bangles If They Don't Cause Unrest: NSA
Pakistan has readied about 230 terrorists for infiltration into Kashmir, and some have already crossed over with orders to cause unrest, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said on Saturday, citing the case of two terrorists who were told by their handlers that they would receive bangles if they didn't do their jobs properly.
Doval told a select group of journalists that there are Pakistani communications towers along a 20-km stretch of the border from where they are sending messages to terrorists.
"We heard intercepts in which they told their men 'how come so many apple trucks are moving. Can't you stop them? Should we send you bangles instead of guns'," Doval said, referring to the fact that some 750 trucks carrying apples leave the valley every day for trade in other parts of the country.
Abrogation of J&K's Special Status 'Aggression on State': NC
Equating the Centre's decision to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 with the 1947 invasion of the state by tribal warriors, the National Conference (NC) on Saturday dubbed the move an "aggression".
The party also termed 5 August, the day when Jammu and Kashmir's special status was revoked, a black day in the state's history.
"The act of unilaterally back tracking on the constitutional assurances is no less than an aggression on the state," NC Lok Sabha members Muhammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi said in a joint statement.
With the scrapping of Article 370 and Article 35A, the Centre has permanently branded itself as "undependable and deceitful", the MPs said.
The statement said the decision had played with the honour of the state's people.
Normal Life Remains Affected in Kashmir
Normal life remained affected in Kashmir on Saturday though authorities lifted the restrictions re-imposed a day earlier in some parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure.
Most markets and other business establishments remained closed on Saturday while public transport was off the roads across the Valley, officials said. Some private vehicles could be seen plying in parts of the city.
Government offices were open but attendance in many was thin due to lack of public transport, they said, adding offices at district headquarters registered normal attendance.