1993 Bijbehara massacre: when playground was turned into a graveyard by BSF

Srinagar: Way back 22 years ago on this day the Children’s park, in New Colony area of south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town, was turned into a graveyard when bullet-riddled bodies of as many as 32 people, including 25 teenage students had to be buried there.

The slain, all civilians, were killed in the infamous Bijbehara Massacre of 1993, when Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from 74 Battalion opened fire on unarmed demonstrators protesting against the siege of Dargah in Hazratbal, Srinagar.

The number of dead remains disputed with different national and International agencies putting the number between 35 and 52. More than 200 others were injured during the firing, leaving many of them handicapped for the rest of their life.

Shopian: fighters laid to rest, amid pro-freedom slogans

Shopian: Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of two militants killed in an encounter with police and army in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. Witnesses said that the bodies of militants - Irshad Ahmad Sheikh of Maldeera Shopian and Adil Khanday of Barbugh Imam-sahib – were carried in a huge procession amid pro-freedom and anti-India slogans to the graveyard today. Mourners from different villages of the district had started assembling in the village from early morning, they said. Elsewhere in the district, a complete shutdown is being observed to pay

Thousands attend funeral of 2 youth in Shopian

Pulwama: Thousands of people in Shopian today participated in the funeral prayers of two fighters, who were killed in a fierce gun-battle with Indian forces on Thursday. Witnesses told that hundreds of people from different villages of Shopian converged outside the houses of Hizb militants Irshad Ahmad Sheikh and Adil Khanday at Maldaira and Barbugh to attend their funeral prayers.
http://kashmirglobal.com/2015/10/23/thousands-attend-funeral-of-2-youth-in-shopian.html

One fighter die; 3 Army personnel injured in Kunzar Encounter

Srinagar: Three Indian army personnel were injured while a militant lost his life in an encounter in North Kashmir’s Kunzar area on early Wednesday. Kunzar lies on way to Gulmarg after Magam from Srinagar.

JKPFL holds protest in Srinagar against Udhampur incident; Ramzan Khan others arrested

Srinagar, October 12, 2015: Jammu and Kashmir People’s Freedom League[JKPFL], here held a protest demonstration today in Lal Chowk, Srinagar against torching of a Kashmir-bound truck at Udhampore in which three Kashmiri truckers sustained serious burn injuries who are now battling for life in Delhi hospital, to draw the attention of the world towards stepped up Hindu terrorism in Jammu.
The demonstration was led by JKPFL, General Secretary Muhammad Ramzan Khan and others. Protesters raised slogans against India and demanded protection of Kashmiri traders in Jammu and Delhi. In the meantime Indian police came in and arrested JKPFL General Secretary Muhammad Ramzan Khan, Imtiyaz Ahmed Shah, Arshad Aziz, Showkat Ahmed Bhat, and others and lodged them in Kothi Bagh Police Station in Srinagar and didn’t allow to carry forward the demonstration.

Pak PM Nawaz Sharif invites Geelani to Pakistan

Srinagar: Hurriyat Conference (G) said on Saturday that Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has invited its chairman Syed Ali Geelani to Pakistan.
A Hurriyat (G) spokesman said Pakistan high commissioner in India Abdul Basit handed the invitation letter to Geelani at a dinner at his residence at Tilak Marg in New Delhi last night.
In the letter, the spokesman said, Sharif has said that Kashmir is not a border dispute but concerns right to self determination of two crore people, while stating that unless Kashmir is resolved, there can be no progress on bilateral ties with India.
Sharif, the spokesman added, termed the Kashmir issue as an unfinished agenda of the Partition, adding without resolution of the dispute, friendly relations between New Delhi and Islamabad would only be “self deception”.
The Pakistan PM also blamed India’s “unwillingness to talk” as the reason behind the aborted talks between the National Security Advisors of the two countries.
“We want good relations with all our neighbours including India but New Delhi’s unrealistic approach has been a big impediment,” the Hurriyat spokesman said, quoting Sharif’s letter.
Pakistan, India should live like ‘good neighbours’
Pakistan and India should live like “good neighbours” and resolve all issues including Kashmir through dialogue, Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday.
“I raised the issue of Kashmir in the UN with courage and spoke out my heart (over the issue). I also gave a proposal to India to improve ties with Pakistan.
“We (Indian and Pakistan) should live like good neighbours and find out a solution to the Kashmir issue,” Sharif said while talking to reporters at the Governor’s House in Lahore.
The prime minister said he told the United Nations that it was its resolution on Kashmir and not that of Pakistan therefore it was the body’s duty to implement it.
“I spoke the truth while looking into their eyes. The UN should realise itself and implement its resolution on Kashmir,” he said.
In his address last week at the United Nations General Assembly, Sharif had proposed a four-point formula to improve ties with India.
He proposed demilitarisation of Kashmir, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Indian troops from Siachen, resumption of composite dialogue and formalisation of border ceasefire.Jammu man who attempted to unfurl flag a government employee

Udhampur incident: Truck driver recounts horrific incident

 Srinagar (by Neyaz Elahi): While narrating the horrific incident which he witnessed in Udhampur Jammu, Rameez Ahmed Bhat the truck driver from Batingo Islamabad in South Kashmir said that the incident will always send chills down his spine as long as he survives on this planet.

Rameez Bhat, who managed to escape unhurt after goons set his truck on fire told CNS he still doesn’t believe he is alive. “The goons wanted to see us dead on spot but fortunately we are still alive. “After unloading our apple laden truck (JK03D-1142) in New Delhi, we loaded truck with coal and left for our home. Besides Showkat Dar from our neighbouring Wuranhal hamlet, my conductor, Zahid Rasool Bhat (16) who is also my neighbour was accompanying me. It was around 12 of the night when we reached Udhampur. We decided to halt for a night near a place probably called Shivpur. As we went to sleep, a group of people vigorously started knocking the right and left windows of our truck. When we didn’t open up the windows, they started pelting stones on the truck. Suddenly they smashed the front windshield and lobbed a petrol bomb inside the truck. The truck caught fire and in a bid to save our lives, we jumped from the truck. The goons who were standing at a distance chased Showkat and Zahid while taking advantage of darkness, I hid myself under the truck,” he said.