On 8 December 1989, JKLF activists kidnapped Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s daughter Rubaiya Sayeed, a medical student, while she was returning home in Srinagar. The Home Minister’s daughter had no security attached to her, and till the kidnappers rang up a local newspaper’s office about their demands for her release no one, not even her family members, knew anything about the kidnapping. Such an incident had not taken place earlier in the state and everyone was taken by surprised
This kidnapping, and the way it was handled, became a watershed in the history of terrorism and secessionist movement in the state. I was an eyewitness to the events, first in New Delhi and later in Srinagar. I was, at that time, posted as the Director-General of the National Security Guards. I received a call around dinner time asking me to immediately reach the Home Minister’s house at Akbar Road to discuss Rubaiya Sayeed’s kidnapping. I was ushered into the Home Minister’s drawing-room, where Arun Nehru, Commerce Minister, TN Seshan, the Cabinet Secretary, and the Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB), MK Narayanan were already present. We sat there for quite some time, but there was no serious discussion as the Home Minister could not see us.
Around midnight it was decided to go to the DIB’s office, in the North Block, to talk to Srinagar on telephone from his hotline to get the latest information. Some more officers had by then also joined the meeting. At that late hour, all of us were getting tired and a little bored, as we did not know what we were supposed to do. It was then that Arun Nehru decided to take charge of the situation. The J&K Chief Secretary, Moosa Raza, who was on tour in New Delhi was also asked to attend the meeting. We were now quite a crowd, but the Home Minister could not join the meeting.
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Before The Kabul Retreat
Described as the ‘Graveyard of Empires’, Afghanistan was always termed to be at peace when it was at war. But the land-locked desert country that was always in turmoil and one of the worst targets of the Great Game suffered immensely throughout, especially in the last 40 years, Masood Hussain writes
FINGERS CROSSED
Almost everybody in academia and politics that Khalid Bashir Gura spoke to, the response over Kabul happens was simple – wait and watch
Parliamentary Committee In Srinagar
The visiting 28-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs have had detailed interactions with top civil administration and discussed developmental scenario and people’s welfare measures in Jammu and Kashmir. It is on a 4-day visit. Congress leader and MP Anand Sharma is heading the committee.
MUSIC IN MUD HOUSE
Deep into north Kashmir, Faheem Mir meet a small community that sings and lives on folk music but is facing a tense situation in the last few years
THE KABUL SPILLOVER?
Security experts are divided over the possible impact of the Kabul situation on Kashmir. But the dramatic Taliban triumph has altered the region’s geopolitics, for the time being, writes Riyaz Wani
Durga Bhawan At Katra
To enhancing facilities for the convenience of the Vaishno Devi pilgrims, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha laid the foundation for the Durga Bhawan, a high utility pilgrim-centric facility worth Rs 24.4 crore. The facility will accommodate 4000 pilgrims.
Women Empowerment
In the first, 480 talented girls from Jammu and Kashmir were included in the degree and diploma courses of the Pragati Scholarship. Jammu and Kashmir has also got nine scholarships under the Saksham Scheme for Persons with Disabilities.
‘SOME HISTORIANS BELIEVE THAT AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT IS THE OUTCOME OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN KASHMIR STAND-OFF'
Foreign policy expert and editor of HardNews magazine, Sanjay Kapoor believes that Taliban 2.0 has more legitimacy unlike in the past as it had signed a deal with the US and negotiated with other countries of the region, but the final verdict can be passed only after it manages ticklish issues involving half of its population, the women
Boredom Is Creative?
Getting bored is not as boring as it gets, writes Azra Hussain
LG In Bangus
Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha inaugurated the Bungus Awaam Mela amidst grand arrangements for village games, exhilarating local performances, and other activities to celebrate the 75th year of Independence.
