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Srinagar, Aug 27: Curfew and restrictions continued for the 50th day across the Kashmir Valley on Saturday with no let up in separatist-called shutdown as the death toll rose to 71 after the body of a man, allegedly chased by security forces during a stone-pelting protest a day ago, was fished out from Jhelum river.

Residents said the body of Shahnawaz Khan, 24, was retrieved from the river near Sangam village in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara area – the home town of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Khan, of Dadoo Marhama also in Bijbehara, was one of three men who had jumped in the Jhelum to escape from being caught by police and security forces chasing protesters on Friday evening, the residents claimed.

The other two are believed to have swum across safely.

A CRPF spokesperson told the media here that the security forces were “supposed to chase (protesters) when there is a stone-pelting mob”.

He said nobody was pushed into the river. “They jumped on their own and it is for them to see whether they could swim or not.”

A large number of mourners on Saturday blocked the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway squatting on the road with Khan’s body, shouting anti-government and pro-freedom slogans.

Saturday marked the 50th day of curfew and shutdown that have crippled normal life across Kashmir.

All education institutes, shops, transport and other businesses have not opened in seven weeks. Some markets have been functioning in the interiors of Srinagar and other cities and towns for a few hours in the evenings.

The youth’s death in Bijbehra took the toll to 71 in the unending cycle of violence triggered by the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

Over 11,000 persons — including 7,000 civilians and 4,000 security personnel — have been injured in the deadliest unrest the Kashmir Valley has seen in six years.

Police said the curfew would continue on Saturday in parts of Srinagar and other areas of north and south Kashmir. Restriction on the assembly of four or more persons will remain in force in the rest of the valley, a police officer said.

Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were detained on Friday when they defied restrictions and came out to join a separatist-called march in the city which was foiled by the security forces.

While Geelani was released, official sources said the Mirwaiz has been arrested and lodged in a a jail.

The government blames separatist leaders for provoking youth to protest and attack security forces and their camps and pickets with stones.

Suspected militants killed a police constable, Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, in a south Kashmir village on Saturday morning when he was leaving for duty.

A police spokesman said the cop was leaving for District Police Lines in Pulwama when unidentfied gunmen shot him dead from close range.

(IANS)

Bengaluru: A Coorg court will conduct hearings on October 19 in the sedition case filed against Kannadiga actor-turned-politician Ramya by a lawyer in Karnataka for praising people in Pakistan.

Caught in a controversy over her remarks that “Pakistan is not hell, people there are just like us,” Ramya on Thursday stuck to her views and ruled out an apology.

Her remarks came as a veiled counter to comments of Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who while lashing out at Islamabad for promoting terror, had said last week, “going to Pakistan is same as going to hell.”

The former Mandya MP had visited Islamabad as part of a SAARC delegation of young lawmakers and made the remarks at a meeting in her constituency.

While the BJP staged protests terming her remarks ‘anti-national,’ the actress stood her ground. “I don’t think I am wrong. It’s freedom of speech, also our duty to speak on inclusiveness and peace.”

The Ramya controversy has cropped up afresh amid a raging row over sedition charge filed against Amnesty International India, after anti-national and anti-Army slogans were allegedly raised at an event on Kashmir organised by the organisation in Bengaluru recently.

Meanwhile, the  Congress sought to turn the tables on BJP over its attack on Ramya, contending that if wanting better ties with Pakistan was sedition, then the first case should be lodged against Prime Minister Narendra Modi “who made an impromptu stopover for festivities with the Pakistan premier.”

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Sharpening his attack against GSTN, the company set up to create IT backbone for GST rollout, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy today said he will write to party president Amit Shah and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states to oppose its structure.

“I am writing to Amit Shahji and all BJP chief ministers that while ratifying the constitutional amendments for GST Bill, they should oppose GSTN,” Swamy tweeted. So far, eight states have ratified the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill. These include 5 BJP-ruled states — Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) is the special purpose vehicle that was formed under the previous UPA regime to set up the information technology framework for rolling out the indirect tax regime that will replace a string of local levies.

According to Swamy, the equity structure of GSTN is “anti-national”. The government of India holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN while state governments, including NCT of Delhi and Puducherry, and the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, together hold another 24.5 per cent. The balance 51 per cent equity is with non-government financial institutions.

Earlier this month, Swamy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising strong objection to the majority stake for private entities in GSTN to manage and control accounting and collection of GST.

He had urged the Prime Minister to ensure it is replaced by a government-owned structure. Referring to ownership details of the GSTN company, he had said central and state governments will jointly have only 49 per cent stake in it and the rest with private entities like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and LIC Housing Finance that have foreign shareholding.

(PTI)

Mumbai: In a significant judgement, the Bombay High Court today lifted the ban imposed on women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah here, saying it contravenes the fundamental rights of a person.

The court has, however, stayed its order for six weeks following a plea by Haji Ali Dargah Trust, which wants to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

“The ban imposed on women from entering the Haji Ali dargah is contrary to Articles 14, 15, 19 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Women should be permitted to enter the dargah on par with men,” a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere said.

Under the said Articles, a person is guaranteed equality before law and has the fundamental right to practice any religion he or she wants. They prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion, gender and so on, and provide freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

The bench allowed a PIL filed by two women, Zakia Soman and Noorjehan Niaz, challenging the ban on women’s entry in the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah.

“The state government and the Haji Ali Dargah Trust will have to take proper steps to ensure safety and security of women entering the dargah,” the court said.

The high court had in June this year reserved its verdict on the petition.

The PIL states that gender justice is inherent in Quran and the decision contravenes the Hadith, which proves that there is no prohibition on women visiting graves.

The Maharashtra government had earlier told the court that women should be barred from entering the inner sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah only if it is so enshrined in the Quran.

The ban on women’s entry cannot be justified if it is on the basis of an expert’s interpretation of the Quran, the then Maharashtra Advocate General Shrihari Aney had argued.

The dargah trust had defended its stand saying that it is referred in Quran that allowing women close proximity to the dargah of a male saint is a grievous sin.

Divulging the details of the judgment, Raju More, the petitioner lawyer, said, “Today, the Bombay High Court has given its reserved judgment and set aside the ban which was imposed on the entry of women and they have restored the status quo ‘anti’, that means earlier position when women were allowed has been restored.”

Advocate Shoaib Memon, appearing for the trust had earlier said, “Women are not allowed inside mosques in Saudi Arabia. They are given a separate place to pray. We (trust) have not barred women. It is simply regulated for their safety. The trust not only administers the dargah but also manages the affairs of religion.

The lawyer further said that after the pronouncement of the judgment, the Haji Ali Trust said that they wish to go to the Supreme Court and want an eight-week stay.

“I opposed it. I said that since its a restoration of the earlier position, there is no need to grant stay. But the high court felt and rightly so that this is an important constitutional issue and, therefore, they have granted six weeks stay on the operation of the order,” he said.

Therefore, the women will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the dargah for the next six weeks.

The ban was imposed in 2012 by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust citing some religious traditions as the reason.

The trust had claimed that separate arrangements have been made for women to walk up to a certain point from where they can offer prayers, but are not permitted to touch the tomb of a male saint as it is a sin in Islam.

(IANS)