Shabir Shah arrested at Hazratbal

Srinagar: Senior Hurriyat Conference (M) leader and Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chairman, Shabir Ahmad Shah was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police while he was coming out of the Hazratbal Shrine after participating in the Friday congregation.

Sources said, two people were also injured while police were arresting Shah as there was a commotion near the main gate of the Shrine.

However in a statement issued here, the police said, "Two persons suffered minor injuries at Hazratbal today when after the conclusion of Friday prayers, an iron gate they were passing through broke down. The injured were identified as Ghulam Ahmad Kambay resident of Wanihama, Alasteng and Ali Mohammad Sheikh resident of Saloora, Ganderbal."

Both the injured have been shifted to Bone and joint hospital, here.

According to a DFP insider, Shah was arrested by police outside the Hazratbal when he along with aides tried to address people, who had gathered at the Shrine on occasion of following Friday.

Indo-Pak armies exchange fire

Indian and Pakistani troops posted along line-of-control (LoC) Kashmir fired on each others positions, sources said on Friday.
The ceasefire violation took place Thursday evening along the LoC in Krishna Ghati area of the Poonch sector, around 255 km northwest of Jammu city
"Pakistani troops from a forward post fired several rockets and resorted to heavy machine gun firing on our posts in the Krishnaghati area. The firing started Thursday evening at 7:30 pm, and continued for several minutes. Our troops also fired in retaliation," said a senior army official.
However, he said there was no loss to life reported in the firing.

Clashes breakout in Baramulla.....

Clashes between youth and protesters broke out in this north Kashmir town on Friday, witnesses said.
They said scores of youth assembled at main Chowk Baramulla this afternoon and tried staging a pro-freedom demonstration. However, policemen swung into action and resorted to teargas shelling to disperse the protesters, who retaliated with stones, triggering clashes that were continuing when this report was filed.

Islamabad avalanche: Bad weather hits rescue operations

Fresh snowfall in Chattergul area of south Kashmir’s Islamabad district on Thursday forced the rescue team  to suspend the operation to recover the body of the third person who was buried under a snow avalanche last week.

Official sources told this correspondent that fresh snowfall forced the rescue team of Army’s 19 RR and police to suspend the operation on the tenth day to recover the body of Javed Ahmed Koka, son of Abdul Gani Koka, who was buried alive along with two other people, when a snow avalanche struck Thimran forest area on Tuesday last week. The operation, they said will be resumed with the improvement in the weather conditions.

“The rescue operation was suspended today due to bad weather. If weather conditions improve, the operation will be resumed tomorrow,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Islamabad, Ramesh Kumar Jalla said.

The rescue team, he said recovered the bodies of Ghulam Qadir Wani and Abdul Ahad Wani, sons of Abdul Salam Wani of Chattergul on Friday last week.

Pertinently, the trio had gone to Thimran forest area on Tuesday last week  to collect the firewood when an avalanche struck the area.

Soon after the incident, the locals and police launched a rescue operation in the area to retrieve the bodies. Later, Army joined the operations

Geelani rebuffs Singh, says all is not well in Kashmir

Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani Thursday termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that situation in Jammu and Kashmir is under control as a ‘white lie’, saying 'graveyard silence' enforced by government forces doesn’t mean Kashmiris have reconciled themselves to Indian rule.

“ Indian forces might have succeeded in enforcing the silence of a graveyard after killing 150 people and arresting, maiming thousands last year, but that doesn’t mean that everything is alright and the Kashmiri people have come to terms with the Indian occupation,” Geelani said, according to  a statement issued  by the amalgam.

Geelani also rebuffed Singh’s contention that an Egypt-style uprising was impossible in Kashmir because “India is a functioning democracy.”

“The statement is surprising because such uprisings have taken place for the last three consecutive years, as millions of Kashmiris came onto the streets and showed that they were not in favour of India. It’s another matter that India through its ten-lakh- strong military managed to temporarily muzzle the voice of Kashmiris,” Geelani said.

However, Geelani said India shouldn’t “be happy about the temporary lull in Kashmir because it’s only military force and oppression which has silenced Kashmiris temporarily.”

“The day India allows real democracy in Kashmir the whole world would see how Kashmiris would bring a revolution which would eclipse the Egyptian and other revolutions.”

Meanwhile, according to the statement, a delegation of the amalgam, comprising Zamrooda Habeeb, Altaf Shah, Ghulam Mohammad Khan Sopori and Imtiyaz Ahmad, visited Maloora area, where three siblings were killed recently in a shell explosion.

The delegation while expressing condolences with the bereaved family reiterated its demand to UNICEF and Human Rights Watch to take notice of the incident and bring to book the culprits.

Traffic to ply from Srinagar to Jammu tomorrow

The Senior Superintendent of Police Traffic—Rural, G M Wadoo, on Thursday said the Srinagar-Jammu highway would remain open for one-way traffic on Friday.
“If weather remains fair, vehicles will be allowed to ply from Srinagar to Jammu on Friday” the SSP said.

Shakeel Bakshi arrested

Srinagar: Police on Thursday arrested the chairman of Islamic Students’ League Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi from the party office at Ziyarat Chowk, Batamaloo, here, a spokesman of the League said in a statement.
He said Bakshi was taken to an unknown destination