After two soldiers were killed in an IED blast near the LoC in the Poonch district, J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha chaired back-to-back security review meetings in two days to formulate more effective security measures to tackle the militancy in the UT. Concerned over the killings, Lt Governor Sinha on Wednesday chaired a high-level security meeting in Srinagar. On Thursday, he chaired another meeting with top security officials in Jammu. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was not invited to both meetings. Sinha’s security review meetings took place after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the J&K security situation in Delhi last week.
Private Members’ Bills in Assembly on liquor ban
As the maiden budget session of J&K Union Territory begins on March 3, three legislators, including two from the opposition and one from the ruling National Conference, have submitted Private Members’ Bills for a ban on alcohol in Jammu and Kashmir. PDP MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP Fayaz Mir has submitted the Private Members Bill “J&K Prohibition of Alcohol Bill 2025” to the Assembly Secretariat. NC MLA Ahsan Pardesi has also submitted another private members’ Bill, “The Lal Chowk Constituency Alcohol Sale Ban (Prohibition) Bill, 2025.”
PhD scholar gets bail after 34 months
A local court has granted bail to a PhD scholar, Abdul Aala Fazili, after 34 months. Fazili was arrested in April 2022 by J&K police’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) for allegedly writing a “seditious” article in 2011 in a local digital magazine, The Kashmir Walla, which is closed now. The magazine’s editor, Fahad Shah, was also arrested for this. The 3rd Additional Sessions Judge in Jammu granted bail to Fazili after noting that he had been in custody for nearly three years. It said the govt failed to take action against the article until the registration of an FIR against Fazili in April 2022.
Fayaz wani
Our correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir
fayazwani123@gmail.com