Month: August 2019

A Rajasthan court on Wednesday acquitted all six men accused of lynching Pehlu Khan to death in 2017 on the benefit of the doubt. The counsel for the Pehlu Khan are likely to approach higher court for justice.

“All six persons have been acquitted by the court, this is a historic decision which will serve as a slap to the persons who wanted to divide the Hindus and Muslims and tried to build a narrative using this in the Parliament. This is an unbiased decision by the Court,” Hukam Chand Sharma, advocate of the accused, told reporters in Alwar.

On April 1 in 2017, Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana’s Nuh, was beaten up by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on the Delhi-Alwar highway

He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital two days later.

An amateur video that went viral showed Khan being beaten up by a mob, thrown to the ground and kicked.

Two FIRs were filed in the case- one against the attackers and the other accusing Khan and his sons with allegedly transporting cattle without requisite permissions.

Three, of the nine people accused of his murder, were underage.

“The three juveniles are still under trial in this case, they are being tried separately in the juvenile court. Their case has nothing to do with this,” Sharma added.

Yogendra Singh, the counsel for the Pehlu Khan’s side, said that they were waiting for the copy of the order and will have to see it before challenging it in the higher court.

“The decision of the Court will have to be respected. The Court has released them on the basis of lack of evidence. We will wait for the copy of the order and after going through it we will challenge it in a higher court,” Singh said. (ANI)

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National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held a law and order review meeting to review the overall security arrangements in Kashmir. The high-level meeting was held on August 13 in Srinagar.

The meeting was attended by Advisor to the Governor, K Vijay Kumar, army commander northern command Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, chief secretary B Subramaniam, chinar corps commander Lt Gen KJS Dhillon, Director General of Police Jammu and Kashmir Dilbagh Singh, Home secretary Shaleen Kebra and Divisional Commissioner Bashir Khan, amongst others.

The meeting was held in the valley to streamline and to improve coordinate action between the civil administration and security agencies.

Doval arrived in the Kashmir valley on August 9 and since then has interacted with the locals, Governor Satyapal Malik and the troops who are on duty.

Yesterday, Doval carried out a recce of Srinagar to assess the situation on the ground on the day of Eid al-Adha.

He visited the most sensitive areas in downtown Srinagar such as Soura, Pampore, Lal chowk, Hazratbal and found out that Eid celebrations were going on peacefully in all areas, the official said.

Doval interacted with the security forces personnel and appreciated them for putting in long working hours to ensure law and order are maintained in the region.

He also visited Budgam, Pulwama and Awantipora districts to assess the situation on the ground.

Earlier today in Srinagar, a large number of devout had gathered at mosques to offer prayers, amid tight security.

Security was beefed up as the Centre withdrew special status to the state and passed the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganization) Act 2019, reorganizing the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without it.

(ANI)

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Restrictions in Kashmir are being eased in a phased manner even as the situation in Jammu division is back to normal, the government said on Tuesday, adding that medical facilities are being provided to people across the Valley.

The restrictions are being eased in a phased manner on the basis of assessment by authorities in various areas of the Kashmir division, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal told reporters in Srinagar.

“As many as 13,500 people have been given treatment at OPDs, 1,400 new admissions have also been done, besides performing of 600 medical procedures,” he said, adding, “Availability of all drugs including the life-saving ones have been ensured in every hospital across the Valley.”

According to a government release, traffic on national highways passing through the state is plying normally. Similarly, flights to and from the Valley are operating normally, it said.

The release said preparations for the smooth conduct of Independence Day celebrations are in place in every district of the Valley.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed following the scrapping of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

On Monday, people in Srinagar and other regions of J-K visited mosques to offer prayers on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.

(ANI)

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Election Commission on Tuesday held “internal discussion” on various to aspects of delimitation of Jammu & Kashmir Assembly and the process will roll out after a formal communication from Home Ministry, sources said in New Delhi.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisaiton Act 2019 provides that the number of seats in the legislative assembly of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be increased from 107 to 114, and delimitation of the constituencies will be determined by the Election Commission.

Sources said that internal discussions were held on the issue. They said a delimitation commission is set up to fix limits or boundaries of constituencies and the process regarding delimitation will start after receiving formal communication from the Ministry.

The Act, which was notified by the government on August 9, provides for the creation of two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature and Ladakh, without it.

The Act provides that the poll panel will determine the number of seats to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly having regard to the relevant provisions of the Constitution.

It says that constituencies in which seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall, as far as practicable, be located in areas where the proportion of their population to the total population is the largest.

The Act provides that the poll panel will publish its proposals for the delimitation of constituencies together with the dissenting proposals, if any, in the Official Gazette together with a notice inviting objections and suggestions in relation to the proposals and specifying a date by which the proposals will be further considered by it.

It will consider all objections and suggestions and determine the delimitation of constituencies. Upon published in the Official Gazette, the orders shall have the full force of law and shall not be called in question in any court. The orders relating to assembly constituencies shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

In India, Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002. (ANI)

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has asked Pakistanis to not live in a “fool’s paradise” by expecting UN Security Council to “wait with garlands” to support Islamabad’s contentions regarding India’s decision to abrogate Kashmir’s special status.

“Giving vent to emotions is easy and raising objections is much easier. However it is difficult to understand the issue and move forward. They are not waiting for you with garlands in their hands. Any members out of the P-5 nations can be a hurdle… Do not live in the fool paradise,” said Qureshi during a press conference aired on PTV on Sunday.

Qureshi’s comment came a day after Russia becomes the first P-5 member to support India over the abrogation of Article 370. It said all action taken by India was under the constitutional framework.

The United States and kept its response neutral and not taken sides.

However, China has expressed its concerns over the current developments in Jammu and Kashmir.

After his trip to China, last week, Qureshi said that Beijing will lend its support to Islamabad in UNSC over Kashmir.

India, on the other hand, has made it is clear that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the issue is completely internal.

A rattled Pakistan has initiated a series of decisions, including downgrading bilateral relations with India and suspending bilateral trade, halting of Samjhauta and Thar Express trains from its side and banning of Indian movies from Pakistani cinemas. (ANI)

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