The Evening Wrap: Foreign militants outnumber locals in north Kashmir

Taking the security agencies by surprise, foreign militants outnumber local militants in north Kashmir — comprising three districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara — in a changing trend, according to official figures. The sudden spike in numbers has forced the police to restrict the movement of mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives because of fears of an increase in attacks on them, top police sources said. According to the latest data of the police, there are between 40 to 50 foreign militants active in north Kashmir compared to just 11 local militants. It is for the first time in a decade that north Kashmir is witnessing heightened militant activities compared to south Kashmir, which remained the hub of militants after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013. "The foreign militants' build-up was taking place for a long time and cannot be connected with the recent situation in Afghanistan. The changing trend was visible in the past two months," a police officer said. The presence of foreign militants in the ranks of the groups such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad, Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front (TRF) had dried up in the first quarter of 2021. In fact, the first foreign militant, Hamas alias Asrar alias Saria, who was active since March 2018, was killed on May 4 in north Kashmir's Sopore, according to the police. Against 32 foreign militants killed in 2020, only nine foreign militants have been killed this year so far, according to official figures. A total of 102 militants, "mostly commanders", were killed, 88 youth recruited, 30 arrested and 425 over ground workers held this year, according to the police data. "The biggest success against foreign militants in Kashmir this year was the killing of Saifullah alias Adnan alias Lamboo, an IED expert who played a role in the 2019 Pulwama attack on July 31," a police officer said. The rising numbers of militants in north Kashmir, which is already over 50 militants, has forced the security agencies to re-strategise their response. A senior official said most mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives have been asked to lie low and provided with dos and don'ts when they plan to move around. "I have been asked not to visit Sopore during the daytime, not to take the interior routes in Handwara and Rafiabad, and ensure that police personnel remain on alert after the sundown," a north Kashmir-based mainstream leader said. In fact, the police investigation into the grenade attack on a sarpanch, Narinder Kour, on August 22 in Baramulla's Shrakwara Kreeri area was traced to TRF's non-local recruit Ali Bhai. The police said the two suspected attackers held in the case were "in contact with LeT terrorist Hilal Sheikh and Usman, a foreign terrorist". Congress voices support for 'Kisan Mahapanchayat', Rahul Gandhi says 'unjust govt' will have to listen The Congress on Sunday voiced support for the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the call of truth is echoing and an "unjust government" will have to listen. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the "arrogance of power" cannot withstand the roar of the farmers. Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Sunday gathered in Muzaffarnagar for the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat', just months ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar in protest against the Centre's contentious farm laws. "The call of truth is echoing. You have to listen, unjust government!" Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Priyanka Gandhi also voiced support for the mahapanchayat, saying, "Farmers are the voice of this country. Farmers are the pride of the country. Arrogance of any power cannot withstand the roar of the farmers." The whole country is with the farmers in the fight to save agriculture and in demanding their dues in lieu of their hard work, the Congress general secretary said. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said those stealing the farms of farmers are traitors. Voicing support for the mahapanchayat, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed confidence that the mahapanchayat organised under the leadership of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will strengthen farmers' interests. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an amalgam of several farmer unions, has been spearheading the agitation against the farm laws since last year. Across parties, U.P. MLAs push to promote Hindu sites An analysis of a tourism development scheme launched in Uttar Pradesh has shown that most of the MLAs — especially those of Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — have chosen Hindu religious, spiritual and cultural sites for promotion. In the rare instances, where an MLA picked a shrine linked to Muslims or sufism, one of them belongs to the BJP, going against political expectations. Most of the Muslim MLAs of the main Opposition Samajwadi Party also preferred Hindu sites. There were only two dargahs in the list; one dedicated to a Sufi saint Latif Shah in Chandauli, which was nominated by a BJP MLA. To put it in context, while the BJP has aggressively pushed the narrative of Hindutva nationalism, in recent times even its opponents, charged with allegations of "Muslim appeasement" and alarmed by communal polarisation in the elections, have tried to keep pace with what some observers have described as "soft Hindutva" while trying to maintain distance from Muslim symbolism. While U.P. has 403 elected legislators, the State Tourism Department received proposals for development of sites in 373 constituencies. The proposals were sent as part of the Mukyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier this year to develop and promote local heritage and tourism sites, centres of spiritual, historical, cultural, natural and religious importance. A booklet published by the Tourism department shows that a majority of the MLAs have picked sites associated with Hindu faith, most of them temples, dhams, ashrams, pilgrimage sites and shrines and ghats considered holy. The legislators were asked to nominate the "most important site" in their constituency to be developed into a high-level tourism site, according to officials. A sum of ₹50 lakh was allotted to each constituency while the additional funds would come from the MLA funds and CSR funds. The government earmarked a budget of ₹180 crore for the scheme. Indian athletes soar high in best ever Paralympics Inspirational, incredible and indomitable. India's paralympians managed to be all these and much more in an epoch-making campaign at the Tokyo Games where an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, helped them sign off 24th in the overall tally — the highest position ever. The tally also included eight silver and six bronze medals but most importantly, it was a performance during which history was scripted almost everyday with the contingent living up to the 'Spirit in Motion' motto of the Games. Even on the last day of competitions, the medal rush did not stop and Krishna Nagar won a gold after Noida's District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj signed off his brilliant run with a silver to complete a remarkable badminton show. The duo's performance was like icing on the cake for the contingent, which found new heroes, celebrated some established ones, and brought para-sports firmly into the mainstream in India. In all, 54 came to Tokyo and 17 of them left with medals around their necks. It was an improved performance, no doubt, but calling it just improvement would be an understatement given that India's overall Games haul was a mere 12 before this edition. To put things in perspective, at the 2016 Rio Games, India had 19 athletes across five disciplines with four returning with medals in the end. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,29,39,534 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,40,593. Following the World Health Organization's (WHO) warning that it has identified counterfeit versions of the Covishield vaccine in Southeast Asia and Africa, the Union Health Ministry has written to all States and Union Territories to identify counterfeit/falsified Covishield vaccines in India. Monitoring teams for Covid-19 vaccination in States are being provided with details for due diligence. The Ministry said in its letter: "The States have been told to carefully authenticate vaccines before use. The Centre has provided details for identification of original labels of three vaccines being administered in India (Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V)." The Ministry has issued guidelines to ensure fake Covid-19 vaccines are not administered in India. The WHO noted that falsified Covishield (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus Vaccines-Recombinant) has been identified in the WHO's African Region and South-East Asia Region. "The falsified products were reported to WHO in July and August 2021. The genuine manufacturer of COVISHIELD (Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.) has confirmed that the products listed are falsified. These falsified products have been reported at the patient level in Uganda, India and Myanmar," the global health body said. The Union Health Ministry in its recent letter has indicated various features to ascertain genuine products. The anti-counterfeit features in the Covaxin label include an invisible helix (DNA-like structure) on the label that's only seen under UV light; micro text hidden in the label claim Dots, which is written as Covaxin; the green foil effect in the 'x' of Covaxin; and the holographic effect on Covaxin. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

The Evening Wrap 05 SEPTEMBER 2021

Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu.

Open in browser More newsletters

Foreign militants outnumber locals in north Kashmir, pose security challenge Taking the security agencies by surprise, foreign militants outnumber local militants in north Kashmir — comprising three districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara — in a changing trend, according to official figures. The sudden spike in numbers has forced the police to restrict the movement of mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives because of fears of an increase in attacks on them, top police sources said. According to the latest data of the police, there are between 40 to 50 foreign militants active in north Kashmir compared to just 11 local militants. It is for the first time in a decade that north Kashmir is witnessing heightened militant activities compared to south Kashmir, which remained the hub of militants after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013.   "The foreign militants' build-up was taking place for a long time and cannot be connected with the recent situation in Afghanistan. The changing trend was visible in the past two months," a police officer said. The presence of foreign militants in the ranks of the groups such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad, Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front (TRF) had dried up in the first quarter of 2021. In fact, the first foreign militant, Hamas alias Asrar alias Saria, who was active since March 2018, was killed on May 4 in north Kashmir's Sopore, according to the police. Against 32 foreign militants killed in 2020, only nine foreign militants have been killed this year so far, according to official figures. A total of 102 militants, "mostly commanders", were killed, 88 youth recruited, 30 arrested and 425 over ground workers held this year, according to the police data. "The biggest success against foreign militants in Kashmir this year was the killing of Saifullah alias Adnan alias Lamboo, an IED expert who played a role in the 2019 Pulwama attack on July 31," a police officer said. The rising numbers of militants in north Kashmir, which is already over 50 militants, has forced the security agencies to re-strategise their response. A senior official said most mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives have been asked to lie low and provided with dos and don'ts when they plan to move around. "I have been asked not to visit Sopore during the daytime, not to take the interior routes in Handwara and Rafiabad, and ensure that police personnel remain on alert after the sundown," a north Kashmir-based mainstream leader said. In fact, the police investigation into the grenade attack on a sarpanch, Narinder Kour, on August 22 in Baramulla's Shrakwara Kreeri area was traced to TRF's non-local recruit Ali Bhai. The police said the two suspected attackers held in the case were "in contact with LeT terrorist Hilal Sheikh and Usman, a foreign terrorist". Congress voices support for 'Kisan Mahapanchayat', Rahul Gandhi says 'unjust govt' will have to listen  The Congress on Sunday voiced support for the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the call of truth is echoing and an "unjust government" will have to listen. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the "arrogance of power" cannot withstand the roar of the farmers. Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Sunday gathered in Muzaffarnagar for the 'Kisan Mahapanchayat', just months ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar in protest against the Centre's contentious farm laws. "The call of truth is echoing. You have to listen, unjust government!" Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Priyanka Gandhi also voiced support for the mahapanchayat, saying, "Farmers are the voice of this country. Farmers are the pride of the country. Arrogance of any power cannot withstand the roar of the farmers." The whole country is with the farmers in the fight to save agriculture and in demanding their dues in lieu of their hard work, the Congress general secretary said. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said those stealing the farms of farmers are traitors. Voicing support for the mahapanchayat, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed confidence that the mahapanchayat organised under the leadership of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will strengthen farmers' interests. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an amalgam of several farmer unions, has been spearheading the agitation against the farm laws since last year. Across parties, U.P. MLAs push to promote Hindu sites  An analysis of a tourism development scheme launched in Uttar Pradesh has shown that most of the MLAs — especially those of Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — have chosen Hindu religious, spiritual and cultural sites for promotion. In the rare instances, where an MLA picked a shrine linked to Muslims or sufism, one of them belongs to the BJP, going against political expectations. Most of the Muslim MLAs of the main Opposition Samajwadi Party also preferred Hindu sites. There were only two dargahs in the list; one dedicated to a Sufi saint Latif Shah in Chandauli, which was nominated by a BJP MLA. To put it in context, while the BJP has aggressively pushed the narrative of Hindutva nationalism, in recent times even its opponents, charged with allegations of "Muslim appeasement" and alarmed by communal polarisation in the elections, have tried to keep pace with what some observers have described as "soft Hindutva" while trying to maintain distance from Muslim symbolism. While U.P. has 403 elected legislators, the State Tourism Department received proposals for development of sites in 373 constituencies. The proposals were sent as part of the Mukyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier this year to develop and promote local heritage and tourism sites, centres of spiritual, historical, cultural, natural and religious importance. A booklet published by the Tourism department shows that a majority of the MLAs have picked sites associated with Hindu faith, most of them temples, dhams, ashrams, pilgrimage sites and shrines and ghats considered holy. The legislators were asked to nominate the "most important site" in their constituency to be developed into a high-level tourism site, according to officials. A sum of ₹50 lakh was allotted to each constituency while the additional funds would come from the MLA funds and CSR funds. The government earmarked a budget of ₹180 crore for the scheme. Indian athletes soar high in best ever Paralympics  Inspirational, incredible and indomitable. India's paralympians managed to be all these and much more in an epoch-making campaign at the Tokyo Games where an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, helped them sign off 24th in the overall tally — the highest position ever. The tally also included eight silver and six bronze medals but most importantly, it was a performance during which history was scripted almost everyday with the contingent living up to the 'Spirit in Motion' motto of the Games.   Even on the last day of competitions, the medal rush did not stop and Krishna Nagar won a gold after Noida's District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj signed off his brilliant run with a silver to complete a remarkable badminton show. The duo's performance was like icing on the cake for the contingent, which found new heroes, celebrated some established ones, and brought para-sports firmly into the mainstream in India. In all, 54 came to Tokyo and 17 of them left with medals around their necks. It was an improved performance, no doubt, but calling it just improvement would be an understatement given that India's overall Games haul was a mere 12 before this edition. To put things in perspective, at the 2016 Rio Games, India had 19 athletes across five disciplines with four returning with medals in the end. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments  The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,29,39,534 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,40,593.   Following the World Health Organization's (WHO) warning that it has identified counterfeit versions of the Covishield vaccine in Southeast Asia and Africa, the Union Health Ministry has written to all States and Union Territories to identify counterfeit/falsified Covishield vaccines in India. Monitoring teams for Covid-19 vaccination in States are being provided with details for due diligence. The Ministry said in its letter: "The States have been told to carefully authenticate vaccines before use. The Centre has provided details for identification of original labels of three vaccines being administered in India (Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V)." The Ministry has issued guidelines to ensure fake Covid-19 vaccines are not administered in India. The WHO noted that falsified Covishield (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus Vaccines-Recombinant) has been identified in the WHO's African Region and South-East Asia Region. "The falsified products were reported to WHO in July and August 2021. The genuine manufacturer of COVISHIELD (Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.) has confirmed that the products listed are falsified. These falsified products have been reported at the patient level in Uganda, India and Myanmar," the global health body said. The Union Health Ministry in its recent letter has indicated various features to ascertain genuine products. The anti-counterfeit features in the Covaxin label include an invisible helix (DNA-like structure) on the label that's only seen under UV light; micro text hidden in the label claim Dots, which is written as Covaxin; the green foil effect in the 'x' of Covaxin; and the holographic effect on Covaxin.   Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

Today's Top Picks

In Focus podcast | Why does India have such low rates of women in the workforce? President Ram Nath Kovind confers National Teachers' Award on 44 teachers   Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding dies at 39 after cancer fight Obituary | Keshav Desiraju was known for his keen engagement with public health and clean governance

Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD.

If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please try here If you do not wish to receive such emails go here