Poverty forces north Kashmir children to labour

 

 

By: Mushtaq Ahmad 

07-December-2015

BARAMULLA: Poverty is forcing many a children in this north Kashmir district to give up school education and work as labourers under various government and non-government projects.
Imtiyaz Hussain, a class 4th student at Government Middle School in Uri’s Pehlipora area of Baramulla, has been working as a daily-wager under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
At the tender age of seven, Imtiyaz said that given his family’s poor financial conditions, he had no choice but to work as a labourer after school, closed now for winter vacations.  
"Our financial condition is very low, my father is also a labourer and he can't afford our school fee. That is why I also work with a contractor for the NREGA scheme. I earn Rs 250 per day," he said.
Another child, Showqat Ahmad, a class 8th student of same school said that people living in far flung areas were extremely poor and hence children like him were bound to work to earn money.
"We know it is prohibited, but we are helpless, how we can afford school fee, uniform, books and other things. We have no other option without work in private," Showqat,11, said,
Significantly, current child labour law prohibits children under the age of 14 from being employed in hazardous jobs.
Like Showqat and Imtiyaz, a number of other children are working in hotels, shops and other private business units across north Kashmir. This despite authorities claiming they were providing financial assistance and scholarships to the needy children besides motivating them to go to school.
Mudasar Naqashbandi, an advocate of High court of Jammu and Kashmir said,”
“It is true that there are a number of children in rural and urban areas who work as labourers. There are schemes to rehabilitate these poor children, but all is in papers only.”
Block Development Officer (BDO), Noorkha Farooq Ahmad while taking to Kashmir Reader said that he would look into the matter.
"I don't know where small children are working in MGNREGA, I will visit the area soonn and I will personally check how children are working as labourers, who all are forcing them, and I will action against them" he aded
"If a needy child is working as labourer in any place, it means he has no further source of income, how can we run his family, how we support them. If I stop anyone how can I help them?” asked Aashiq Hussain, assistant commissioner, Labour, Baramulla.

PIL ON LIQOUR BAN IN JAMMU AND KAHSMIR HIGH COURT SRINAGAR

پاسپورٹ سے محروم کشمیریوں کی کل تعداد؟ حقیقت جاننے کےلئے انسانی حقوق تنظیم نے حق اطلاعات کے تحت درخواست جمع کرائی

سرینگر//پاسپورٹ سے محروم کشمیریوں کی کل تعداد جاننے کیلئے مقامی حقوق البشر فورم وائس آف وکٹمز نے ریجنل پاسپورٹ آفس سرینگر سے رجوع کیا ۔حق اطلاع قانون کے تحت جمع کرائی گئی درخواست میں مذکورہ فورم نے ان درخواست دھندگان کی مکمل تفصیل بھی طلب کی ،جن کے حق میں خفیہ ایجنسیوں کی منفی رپورٹ کی بنا پر پاسپورٹ اجراءنہیں کئے گئے۔مقامی خبر رساں ادارے کے این ایس کے مطابق مقامی حقوق انسانی فورم وی او وی نے اپنے قانونی صلاح کار ایڈوکیٹ مدثر نقشبندی کے ذرےعے سرینگر میں قائم ریجنل پاسپورٹ دفتر میں حق اطلاع قانون 2005کے تحت 2ستمبر 2013کو ایک درخواست جمع کرا دی ۔مذکورہ درخواست کے ذرےعے وی او وی نے اےسے درخواست دھندگان کی تعداد طلب کی ، جن کے حق میں صرف اس لئے پاسپورٹ اجراءنہیں کئے گئے کیونکہ ان کے بارے میں مختلف خفیہ ایجنسیوں نے منفی تحقیقاتی رپورٹ متعلقہ پاسپورٹ آفس کو فراہم کیں ۔ایڈوکیٹ مدثر نے اپنی جمع کردہ درخواست میں حصول پاسپورٹ کیلئے قواعد و ضوابط کے تحت رجوع کرنے والے اےسے تمام افراد کی مکمل تفصیل بھی مانگی ہے ،جن کے حق میں پاسپورٹ کی اجرائی کا معاملہ برسوں سے زیر التواءرکھا گےا ہے ۔وی او وی کے قانونی صلاح کارنے یہ معلومات بھی مانگی ہیں کہ جن درخواست دھندگان کے حق میں خفیہ ایجنسیوں نے اجرائی پاسپورٹ کی ممانعت کر دی ہے ، آےا انہیں پاسپورٹ فارم کے ساتھ جمع کرائی گئی فےس واپس لوٹائی گئی کہ نہیں ۔ریجنل پاسپورٹ آفس سرینگر کے پبلک انفارمیشن یا رلیشنز آفےسر نے وی او وی کی دائر کردہ درخواست وصول کرتے ہوئے جلد سے جلد طلب کی گئی معلومات فراہم کرانے کی یقین دہانی کرائی ۔ادھر وی او وی کے ذمہ داروں عبدالقدیر ڈار اور عبدالروف خان نے کہا ہے کہ پاسپورٹ کا حصول اےسے کشمیریوں کیلئے شجرممنوعہ قرار دےا گےا ہے ،جن کے رشتہ دار بالواسطہ یا بلا واسطہ طور رواں علیحدگی پسند جدوجہد سے وابستہ رہے ۔انہوں نے کہا کہ متعلقہ افراد کے حق میں پاسپورٹ کی اجرائی پر پابندی کے نتےجے میں سینکڑوں لوگ بغرض تجارت ، تعلیم ، ملازمت اور علاج و معالجہ کے علاوہ فریضہ حج و عمرہ کی ادائیگی کے لئے بےرون ممالک جانے سے قاصر ہیں ۔

How many Kashmiris were denied passports? MEA won’t say

By DANISH ZARGAR

Published: Fri, 11 October 2013 10:49 PM

SRINAGAR: India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has refused to disclose information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act regarding the number of Kashmiris who have been denied passports.
Citing section 8 (1)(J) of the RTI Act-2005, MEA said that the disclosure “will invade the privacy of individuals,” and therefore, cannot be made public.
However, the RTI applicant advocate Mudasir Naqashbandi says the section under which the authority has denied information is being used “on flimsy grounds.”
“Thousands of Kashmiris have suffered in the absence of passports. It’s a public issue, and MEA cannot shield itself under the cover of ‘invasion of privacy’,” said Naqashbandi who had filed the RTI.
In 2007, the Indian Express reported that the intelligence sleuths had prepared a blacklist which the establishment calls a “Security Index”. The list has as many as 60,000 families from the Valley alone, it said.
The High Court in a landmark judgement in October 2009 held that the acquitted persons have a right to hold passport.  Humayoun Yusuf Jan, a Srinagar businessman was arrested by a security agency in connection with FIR No.  130/97 under section 3/25 Indian Arms Act.  The court later acquitted him. But Jan was denied a passport. He moved the court. As per the court directions, the passport had to be issued to the petitioner in four weeks time. Jan was later given a passport.
In his RTI, Naqashbandi had wanted to know the number of Kashmiris who have been denied passports and the quantum amount taken by MEA as fee for processing their passport application only to be rejected later.
Naqashbandi said that since the reply is ‘far from satisfactory’, he will file first appeal against the CPIO under Section 19 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005 in the MEA.
“Only some cases which come under media spotlight and generate widespread attention are cleared. There are thousands of Kashmiris like those wanting to perform Hajj but cannot as they have been denied passports; their sons or nephews were militants, but are long dead,” Naqashbandi said.
Also, he said, the issue “is a scam” as the MEA has taken Rs 1000 to 1500 as a non-refundable fee from every applicant and later denied passports to them. “This amount runs into hundreds of crores.”

Drug de-addiction seminar held in Baramulla

Submitted by admin4 on 1 July 2013 - 10:26am

• Indian Muslim

By TCN news,

Baramulla, J&K: Idara Tahqeeqat-e-Imam Ahmad Raza Baramulla (ITIAR) organized a one-day seminar to combat drugs at Sherwani Hall in Baramulla on “Drugs De-Addiction” on Sunday. The seminar covered the full range of issues associated with the drugs problems at international, national and local levels.

Justice Bashir Ahmed Kirmani was the key note speaker on the occasion. He reached out to those attending the meeting saying the problem of children experimenting with drug abuse has also remained a considerable risk for households as well. He addressed the most fundamental and essential questions about drug abuse- from detecting and responding to emerging drug abuse trends and understanding how drugs work in the brain and body, to developing and testing new approaches to treatment and prevention.

Irshad Ahmad Wani, Principal of the Boys Degree College, Baramulla said in his address that use of drug give rise to many problems. He highlighted causes and effects of the drug abuse. He told that the use of drug in our society is due to psychological and socio-cultural factors. Drug use can be prevented if proper measures are taken, public awareness seminars and campaigns can also be helpful in this matter, he added.

Dr Nazir Mushtaq was also present on the occasion. He said, “There has been considerable growth in cases of abuse, arrest and rehabilitation admissions”. All the sensible and conscious people in the society share a common concern, therefore in order to eradicate this menace in order to eradicate this menace from the society, a joint and well coordinated efforts deserve to be set in motion as the issue is highly heinous in nature, he added.

The seminar broke new ground as it dealt with the global problem of drugs consumption, production and trafficking. “The nature of the problem we face is such that it is important that we look at these issues together and not become compartmentalized in our approaches”, said Advocate Mudasir Naqshbandi, the convener of the seminar. He signaled that the results of the seminar would now be considered in the proposals he was drawing up to provide a new framework for action on drugs in the field of public health.

Senior journalist, Karamat Qayoom was also present on the occasion. He said, “There has been considerable growth in cases of abuse, arrest and rehabilitation admissions”. All the sensible and conscious people in the society share a common concern, therefore in order to eradicate this menace in order to eradicate this menace from the society, a joint and well coordinated efforts deserve to be set in motion as the issue is highly heinous in nature, he added. He reached out to those attending the meeting saying the problem of children experimenting with drug abuse has also remained a considerable risk for households as well. He also emphasized on self-restraint and pervasive control and discipline of the joint family and community.

While government officials do their best to eliminate drugs on the streets, the best thing that communities and individuals can do is spread the knowledge and information about the dangers involved with drugs, said Asst Drug controller Baramulla Parvez Ahmad

Other dignitaries who throw light on the topic were young Islamic Scholar, Moulana Muzaffar Ahmed Qadri, President Teachers Forum Baramulla Rafiq Ahmad Rather, Secretary teachers Forum Ishfaq Ahmad Shah, Abdul Quyoom Wani president EJAC President fruit association Baramulla, leading human right activist Kadeer Ahmad Dar.

In the end Idara Tahqeeqat-e-Imam Ahmad Raza distributed awards among the students who have got first 10 positions in Seerat-un-Nabi Sallhu Alaihi wasalum Knowledge test which was conducted by Idara in the month of May. The first prize was given to Afia Fayaz of Girls Higher secondary school old town baramulla, second prize Sadia majeed hanfia higher secondary school Azadgunj, third prize Amir Nazir Malla boys higher secondary school baramulla

ITIAR grounded its roots in Kashmir in 2004 to serve the Muslim community across the globe. Idara Tahqeeqat-e-Imam Ahamad Raza Kashmir was formed in 2004, to serve the Muslim community all around the globe. Organization has published 73000 books on different topics of Islamic faith and on drug de-addiction, science and education and distributed them free of cost in universities, colleges, schools, courts ,offices and talking to sidelines of the seminar president Idara Khursheed Ahmad Shah said, we are continuously trying our level best to spread the message of humanity.

Drug de-addiction seminar at Baramulla

Drug De Addiction Seminar At Sherwani Hall Baramulla

Drug De Addiction Seminar At Girls Higher Secondary School Baramulla

Mudasir Naqshbandi Selected National Member Of Muslim Students Organization Of India

Mudasir Naqshbandi Selected National Member Of Muslim Students Organization Of India

Mudasir Naqshbandi Selected National Member Of Muslim Students Organization Of India

Govt declines info about Dastegeer shrine blaze

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Sat, 11 May 2013 08:50 AM

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has declined to give information under the RTI (Right to Information) Act about the gutting of revered Dastegeer Sahab shrine last year, saying the disclosure will “impede the investigation.”
“The information asked by you cannot be provided to you for the reason same is exempt from the disclosure in view of the context of clause “g” of section 8 of J&K Right to Information Act, 2009,” says the reply from the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir in response to an RTI application filed by Advocate Mudasir Naqashbandi.
Naqashbandi had sought a copy of the report of inquiry ordered by the government into the mysterious fire. The 200-year-old shrine of Sheikh Syed Abdul Qadir Jeelani (RA), popularly known as Dastegeer Sahab, at Khanyar in the heart of downtown Srinagar was gutted in a major blaze on June 25 last year, sending entire Valley in grief and anger.
To calm the tempers, the state government immediately ordered a probe appointing the Divisional Commissioner as the inquiry officer to ascertain the cause of the fire as well as the response of the agencies and departments concerned.
The government had then said that inquiry officer will submit the report within a week’s time. The deadline, however, stretched into months, and on July 31 the government formally gave orders granting two more weeks to the inquiry officer for submitting his report. Finally, on August 15 the inquiry officer submitted the report to the government.
Naqashbandi termed the government explanation as bizarre, given that the inquiry officer has already completed the investigation and submitted the report to the government.
“The inquiry officer submitted the report two months after the incident, without establishing the cause of the fire. Instead, the report gave recommendations like installation of fire alarm bells, smoke detection systems, underground water tanks, etc,” Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader.
Under the clause ‘g’ of section 8, Naqashbandi says, they (Divisional Commissioner’s office) have not given the information on the pretext that disclosure of the said information would impede the process of investigation along with apprehension of prosecution of offenders.
“Now I am filing first appeal at Divisional Commissioner office under section 15 of J&K RTI ACT 2009 as the requisite information has not been provided,” Naqashbandi said. “The reasons behind the inferno are still shrouded in mystery and people have a right to know what really happened.”

Govt declines info about Dastegeer shrine blaz

Kashmiri students harassed  in Dehradun Uttrakhan : Muslim Students Organization condemns attack

Srinagar, Febuary 12: Muslim Students’ Organization (MSO) Tuesday strongly condemned the harassment of Kashmiri students in Dehradun Uttrakhand.

In a statement issued here, MSO General Secretary Mudasir Naqshbandi said beating and detaining of Kashmiri students in outside states reveals that they (Kashmiris) are unnecessarily made targets.

“JK government should immediately take up the issue with the States where Kashmiri students are harassed,” and we want immediate release of all the Kashmiri students who have been arrested the statement said

Police abuse video: ‘Perpetrators let off, whistle-blower booked’ LEGAL EXPERTS QUESTION ‘SELECTIVE USE’ OF IT ACT

Police abuse video: ‘Perpetrators let off, whistle-blower booked’ LEGAL EXPERTS QUESTION ‘SELECTIVE USE’ OF IT ACT

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Fri, 11 January 2013 10:30 PM

 

SRINAGAR: Police investigation into the video-clip showing cops brutally thrashing two youths has drawn flak from legal experts here who say that police have filed a case against the whistle-blower of the video and not the erring cops.
On Wednesday, the police registered a case in Baramulla police station after a 2-minute video-clip surfaced showing scores of policemen thrashing two youth before forcing them to strip. The video became viral on social networking websites amid mass outrage.
However, legal experts said that instead of booking the erring cops under assault and criminal charges, police launched investigation on the basis of a controversial law (Section 66A of the Information Technology Act) that is already under fire for its misuse.
Prominent lawyer and human rights activist Parvez Imroz, while condemning the police said the video is a “glaring testimony of state-wide torture that is being perpetuated upon half a million Kashmiris.”
“When the same kind of torture was carried out by US forces in the infamous Abu Ghairab prison, there was an investigation against the accused and they were punished. But here instead of registering an assault charges against the erring cops, they have started an investigation against the whistle-blower who has dared to expose the video,” Imroz told Kashmir Reader.
“They have invoked Section 66A which essentially books the individual who has uploaded the video in the first place, thereby giving cover to those who are involved in this brutal act.”
Echoing similar views, J&K High Court lawyer Mudasir Naqashbandi said that Instead of filing a case to find who uploaded this video on YouTube, “police should have booked the cops who are involved in this barbaric act under charges of grievous hurt, wrongful confinement and attempt to murder.”
“The Section 66A of the IT Act has no immediate standing in this case because the video clearly shows that cops are involved in this ghastly act. The State Human Right commission (SHRC) should take suo-moto cognizance of this barbaric act committed by cops,” Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader.
Section 66A of the IT Act reads: “Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.”
Section 66A was recently in the eye of the storm after it was used by the authorities in Bombay to arrest two young girls. The duo—Shaheen Dhanda, 21, and Renu Srinivasan—who had questioned the Bombay shutdown to mourn the death of Hindu extremist leader and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on November 17, 2012, were booked under the Act. The case was withdrawn following public outrage.
Although senior police officials are tight-lipped on the video, a police spokesmen, said that they have not used Section 66A to book the person who has uploaded the video on the YouTube and that it is only a starting point for the investigation.
“The Act involves investigating individuals who have committed crimes relating to Information and Technology with a criminal intent, and let us not jump to conclusions here. This investigation under Section 66A will then subsequently lead us to those cops who were seen thrashing the two youth on the video,” police spokesman Manoj Pandita told Kashmir Reader.

Protest Against Women Molestration In Baramulla

Protest Against Women Molestration In Baramulla

Protest Against Women Molestration In Baramulla

Madrassa funding row: Now, DSEK says funds ‘surrendered’

By MUDASIR AHMED

Published: Wed, 12 December 2012 10:23 PM

SRINAGAR: The Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), which is under fire over alleged embezzlement of the funds it had received as New Delhi’s assistance for Valley madrassas, now says that a major chunk of those funds has been “surrendered.”
“The un-operated funds of 361.5176 lakhs rupees out of the total allotment of 553.45 lakhs was surrendered ‘as a routine’ at the end of the financial year 2011-12 and the remaining amount of 91.613 lakhs has been remitted by Chief Education officers to government treasuries,” DSEK says in an RTI application filed by Mudasir Naqashbandi and Firdous Ahmed Parray.

The lawyer duo had sought details about lapsed amount and utilisation of the funds by DSEK, the nodal agency for funds distribution, after DSEK reply to a previous RTI in April this year contradicted the total figure provided by the government on the floor of the House.
In the first RTI reply in March, the DSEK had said that it received “only 373.77 lakhs in central assistance for madrassas”. Following the April RTI, DSEK said that it received 553.45 lakhs out of which 100.3194 were disbursed by CEOs to various madrassas.
But, government in a written reply to MLA Langate Er Rashid’s query in the House disclosed that it received Rs seven crores in central assistance for the madrassas in the Valley, out of which only 100.1394 lakh were disbursed.
“The information they have given now on the quantum amount is still ambiguous despite the request for a clarified reply about the declaration of the lapsed amount,” Mudasir Naqashbandi told Kashmir Reader. “Although DSEK has maintained that it received 553.45 lakhs from government of India, the latest RTI raises more questions than it answers.”
In the RTI reply in March, Naqashbandi says, DSEK claims to have disbursed the amount after March 31. “However, in the new RTI application they have said that funds get automatically lapsed after March 31. But in the previous RTI, DSEK said that it disbursed funds to madrassas in Budgam in the month of April this year.  So did they disburse the amount in April in Budgam if the amount got lapsed in March?”
Also, Naqashbandi says, list of all the madrassas who have received the aid “is with us, and they are not 372, as shown in the new RTI by DSEK, but only a handful.”
“I believe the information they have provided is totally misleading and incomplete. We are mulling to take necessary course of action in order to get to the facts,” Naqashbandi added