#file this post under 'things bashir has said'

[pockyandsoda]

me, while watching any star trek ds9 season one episode that isnt episode 3: yes yes this is all very fascinating, but what is mr garak up to i wonder?

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

Why are you running a poll about gay disabled characters and allowing headcannons? Why not focus on canon lgbt characters with disabilities?

Sorry for taking so long to respond, but I wanted to wait until after Round One was posted. (Ignore the fact that it is several days after round 1 finished posting, I got busy). ((Extra update: lol this is such a late response I haven’t been doing like anything)). Also, sorry for such an extensive breakdown on an honest question, we just want to have this to refer to if we get more questions like this.

A quick breakdown: This post will have four parts: a practical explanation, an explanation more related to our blog set up, just a more philosophical explanation, and under the cut a breakdown of more headcannon like characters.

Practical Explanation:

So one of the reasons why we decided to allow more headcanon like characters is simply the logistics on defining what is more fanon or not is a pain. If you look down at the list you can see there’s an ambiguous section, and that’s because especially regarding sexuality/gender often times there is conflicting opinions/information from actors, producers, whatever. (Ex. Many of the Star Trek characters (their various propaganda has decent information.)) Additionally in the cases of especially Spock and to some extent Frodo them being read as queer has a really long history through the fandom, so to discount them from this feels a bit weird. There are also other cases where due to time period of the media specifically there aren’t gonna be specific terms for some disabilities or sexualities or genders. Overall, there is just a lot of gray areas, and to be like some noncanon stuff counts but others don’t is kinda a hard line to draw. (That being said we did reject a few characters for really not fitting, all characters in the showdown have a decent explanation for being here.)

Blog Set Up Explanation:

This is a little bit more rude (sorry). Honestly, from the get go we’ve established that noncanon characters would count, we didn’t get any complaints until we actually started the polls, and there’s not any way that they will be taken out at this point. If you don’t agree with who we let be in the showdown don’t vote for them.

Philosophical Explanation:

On a more philosophical basis, characters can still resonate with people as having similar stories/experiences to them even if they are not canonically LGBTQ or disabled. This is a place that is celebrating LGBTQ and disabled characters, and if a character’s experiences are important to you why shouldn’t they qualify?

Note about qualifications: characters with disabilities that get cured do count as disabled, also word of god counts as confirmation.

Having to sort this out was confusing as hell, apologies for any errors.

Characters that are not canonically disabled:

Sabran IX Berethnet (The Priory of the Orange Tree)

Robin Buckley (Stranger Things)

Rudyard Funn (Wooden Overcoats)

Characters that are really ambiguous/confusing:

Julian Bashir, Data, Elim Garak, Geordi La Forge (Star Trek)

Riku (Kingdom Hearts)

Kuruto Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files- Nirvana Initiative)

Chu Sangwoo (Semantic Error)

Characters that are not canonically LGBTQ+:

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows)

Saki Tenma (Project Sekai)

Kurogane (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle)

Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan (The Untamed / Mo Dao Zu Shi)

Daan (Fear and Hunger)

Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Patchouli Knowledge (Touhou Project)

Havelock Vetinari (Discworld)

Wayne Terrisborn (Mistborn)

Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe)

Link (Legend of Zelda)

Qifrey (Witch Hat Atelier)

Viktor (Arcane)

Chicory (Chicory: A Colorful Tale)

Johnny Joestar (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run)

Schnn T’gai Spock, T’Poll, Keyla Detmer (Star Trek)

Chirrut Îmwe, Darth Maul (Star Wars)

Gaige (Borderlands)

Hiccup Haddock (How To Train Your Dragon)

Jem Carstairs (The Shadowhunter Chronicles)

Frodo Baggins (Lord of the Rings)

Eichi Tenshouin (Ensemble Stars!!)

Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Bucky Barnes, Professor X, Matt Murdock (Marvel)

Hitori Gotoh (Bocchi the Rock!)

Jace Beleren (Magic: The Gathering)

Joly (Les Misérables)

Nodoka Hanadera (Healin’ Good Precure)

Arthur Lester (Malevolent Podcast)

Hearthstone (Magnus Chase)

Hebe Harrison (Doctor Who)

Hermann Gottlieb (Pacific Rim)

Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium)

Merle Highchurch (The Adventure Zone)

Elphaba Thropp (Wicked)

Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)

Ricky Potts (Ride the Cyclone)

Tokito Minoru (Wild Adapter)

Blade (Honkai Star Rail)

[cyrelia-j]

[ficlet] #2 Menage a Triage (Jack/Julian)

So going off this post I decided to go ahead with the next drabble/ficlet series.

Check the tag “the new jj frontier” for all of these. I'm aiming to go strictly chronologically and will add links to all the parts so it's easier to keep track and reread or catch up. #1

Summary: Jack and Julian grew up together in the Institute, fell in love, and got married. As part of an experimental program Julian [a success story!] was allowed to join Starfleet and was assigned as CMO of Deep Space Nine as a test run along with his husband Jack (who’s still struggling to find his place). This is their story.

In this installment, Julian tells the story of their marriage

Pairing: Jack/Julian though there will be G/B/J in some fashion later

Warnings: None yet but a note that they do have a semi open relationship

Notes: In addition to retelling the series, I also wanted to explore Jack and Julian’s relationship as it changes. I like seeing how old expectations and habits can grow stronger through change and conflict. Jack in this story does still have a lot more issues than Julian, and I wanted to explore Jack coming into his own more as an individual instead of just the “Julian’s husband”/dependent role where he starts. 

“I think that’s the last of them,” Julian says with a breath and a smile. It was more than he was expecting his first day on the job but he actually did it! Actually succeeded, actually did some good for the file, with a capital G as he imagines Jack would say. He wipes his forehead giving Nurse Jabara a smile. They hadn’t much time for pleasantries following the attack on the station and he always preferred to have Jack there as his floating note, his memory, his second set of eyes but Jack was unusually insistent on wandering and as much as it worried him, he watched Jack go off with the Major without another word.

He’d caught a few glimpses of him throughout the day with the ever present PADD, noting, moving debris, counting every anxious cross of his arms, hunch of his shoulders with a pang of unease because no matter how many times Jack told him that he could handle himself, he worried. He was sure to include in the file (and he double and triple checked as cross as Jack was with him) that they understood that Jack might need a few special accommodations. Still, he has a job to do and he smiles at Nurse Jabara (who’s certainly easy to smile at!) and begins cleanup.

He enjoyed listening to her talking about her family, as strained as life was under the occupation, as difficult as it was to practice medicine and he opened up himself about The Institute, about what it was life to live as an Augment, to lack the freedom of living in the freest society in the galaxy. Jack tended to be more bitter about it but Julian… tried to understand. He supposed he would be bitter too if their positions were reversed and he wasn’t allowed to go off on his own without a keeper.

Alright, that was a bit unkind. Julian is Jack’s husband, not his keeper and he finds himself telling the story of their wedding- that is the first wedding with a smile.

“It was a bit of a mess actually but really it was the most wonderful sort of mess. They ah… were concerned about us marrying which is silly because we weren’t children, and we had you know, been together for a long time. They said we didn’t know what we were doing that they couldn’t allow it so we broke out.” Julian always grins at that part remembering the both of them in black dramatic like two cat burglars stealing out, hacking into the security systems and stowing away on a transport after altering the ship’s manifest. “The difficult part was the matter of identification but we found a place, I think the captain might have had a bit of pity for us because he showed us to one of the backrooms of this bar at the next stationwhere an old Ferengi would marry anyone for a few slips of latinum and well our reflexes are faster than average so we may have lifted what we needed but well…”

Julian shrugs his shoulders followed with that smile which Jack says is good bait in that Jack way of complimenting that still always makes Julian feel stupid happy. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the story and not let his thoughts wander to the night before they were discovered, when Jack in one of his “hot” moments decided that they should Absolutely consummate their nuptials as thoroughly as physics allowed (especially since they had to sneak any real intimacy in The Institute), and Julian realized quite amazingly that both of them had stamina for brilliant bloody days.

Julian sometimes teases Jack for being like a Vulcan and only going into heat every seven years which Jack inevitably and pedantically always corrects his “ignorant misconception” and reminds him that Vulcans have perfectly routine patterns of intercourse outside of Pon farr, and then castigates him for repeating the same silly routine. But he still follows it up with long kisses for his “hopeless Bashir” (because Jack is always in the mood to kiss him following a few reflexive little nips)

But Julian leaves all of that out, because he’s found in this dance that there’s a fine line in showing that he and Jack have a loving and happy marriage (and this isn't one of those awful "my spouse doesn't understandme" sort of things) and gushing so much that any prospective partner wonders why he’s even making the proposition to begin with. Instead, he finishes the story as he always does (and who would have thought the “how we got married” story would be such a perfect date bait!) and asks the lovely nurse if she’d like to get to know him better over a spot of tea since they’ll be working together so closely.

He reminds himself after that frosty look and cool refusal to find out a little more about Bajoran social customs...

[chronotopes]

tagged by @benjameme-sisko; answers and questions (?!) under the cut

1. which starfleet uniform is your favorite? 

it’s a close race between the later-season ds9 ones that were introduced for first contact and the red-and-white wrath of khan uniforms. i think both of them reflect the tone of the works they’re in very well and also they look damn cool. i know a lot of people on here don’t like the gray ones but they’ve grown on me big time. 

2. do you create any fanworks of your own?

my m.o. before this has been “make fun text posts and call it a day, feat. occasional art”, but yeah for ds9 i’ve written two fanfics and .... WANT to write more, but who fucking knows am i right. in a true-to-brand fun fact, they both involve Jezri Hell in some way. 

3. if you could have a holodeck program of your own, what would it be?

if this is assuming i already live in the star trek universe, i think it’d be, like... definitely one of the #historical #rpf ones that all the NERDS on the shows are so fond of. maybe one that lets u hang out with byron and the shelleys for geneva ‘16. or maybe i could do one that’s themed after a dumas novel, that’s the right mix of romanticism and fun adventure  

4. your favorite tacky costume in star trek

ooh um it’s a tie between a) the mauve shirt jim kirk is wearing in the search for spock / the voyage home, which makes me Very Angry but is also funny, b) julian bashir’s asymmetrical v-neck, because garak so obviously made it, and c) quark’s vacation look. (GOD i’m so mad at that episode for being bad. i’ve said this like three times now but it SHOULD have been gold.) 

5. your favorite character in all of star trek; you’re allowed to choose only one

kiraaaaaa. she was my introduction to ‘women in star trek that are written like actual fucking people’ and i would die for her. 

6. if you could change any plot line in any trek media, what would it be? 

oh god. um i feel like the objective answer is to fix either a) the maquis storylines on voyager, or b) the development/’mentorship’ of seven, also on voyager, but i haven’t SEEN voyager so i can’t exactly be a #1 source on this. so.... i think i’d change ziyal’s arc so that a) she isn’t used as a convenient resource to straightwash garak, and b) she lives to see the end of the war. waltz still happens tho, i guess she fakes her death or something. dukat’s arc post-waltz is another thing that i think needs fixing (summoning bajoran satan kind of seemed to come out of the left field) but right now i don’t have any good ideas as to how. 

7. wackiest crackship pairing? 

quark/grantaire from les miserables. they don’t even fuck, they sit in the bar and tell one another all the ways in which they’re terrible people and this gives them sexual gratification. yes i’m aware that i’m the only person who finds this concept funny, am i going to stop bringing it up? hell no. dril voice “i will never log off”. anyway this relationship would be something that’s detrimental for them both and validates their worst aspects, which means it’s an in-character enterprise. 

8. favorite rarepair? 

kira/cretak!! i like kiradax but after the early seasons they REALLY don’t interact a great deal, and i guess kira/cretak creates lots of exciting post-canon possibilities. that jumja stick conversation? yeah, they need to fuck. 

9. episodic storytelling, or serialized storylines? 

hmm i mean. this is just in application to star trek (everyone knows the episodic x-files eps are the best ones) but i think i’ll go for serialized; there’s a reason ds9 is my fave, and i’ve been a lot more into dsc lately. that said i like the way ds9 does serialization more than dsc sometimes, in that i wish (i know this isn’t in line with today’s conception of television) that dsc had more in the cards-style episodes, where serialized plots are still happening in the background but the characters get a chance to slow down and relax and have nice things happen to them. we kind of had that with magic to make the sanest man go mad, which i think was one of the strongest early-season dsc episodes; i think we could do with more of that.  

10. which is your favorite title theme? 

it’s a tie between ds9 (which i am the most emotionally attached to, and which i think sets the tone for the series so well, and it’s ALSO absolutely beautiful) and tng (which is just.... A Fucking Banger)

11. give us an episode that never fails to make you happy, and an episode that never fails to make you sad. 

happy: in the cards (jake! nice things happening in times of war!), sad: what you leave behind (jezri! everyone saying goodbye to everyone they love!) 

okay uhh i don’t have that many star trek mutuals that i know for sure enjoy doing these things, but i’m going to tag @ensignhoshisato and @little-vulcan (SORRY, i know you were already tagged in the prev. one, you Really don’t have to do these), @bajroan, and @twentyeightghosts (idk if you do these but i like hearing your Thoughts on things so it’s worth a try.) yes anyway none of you have to obviously, and if you’re someone who wants to but wasn’t tagged then please do it. do you guys see why i don’t tend to tag people in these things. 

anyway, 

you’re called in to make a new season for the star trek series of your choice; which do you pick, and what are some things you plan to do? 

similarly, you’re called in to create a series bible for an entirely new star trek show; are there any characters/settings/timelines/gimmicks/central themes that you’re drawn to?

you get to make any recurring star trek character a regular, but to do this you have to demote an existing regular on that show to recurring. whom do you swap?

if you had to swap fashion senses with a star trek character for a year, who would it be?

what’s your stance on the mirror universe?

this link takes you to a random memory alpha page; what did you get, and do you have any opinion you’d like to express on this thing?

do you care about any kind of star trek Lore(tm) in terms of like, years, names of dominion war battles, runabout types, conlangs, etc, or are you like “fuck the lore this is my town now”?

do you read star trek novels? if so, what’s your favorite one, and if not, what would convince you to read one? 

which star trek show was your first, and is that one your favorite? 

what’s your ideal endgame for your Favorite Star Trek Ship Of All Time Ever? (i mean ‘pairing’ here but if you’d rather answer for a literal ship then go ahead) 

if you served on a starfleet ship, what would you like its name to be?

[momo33me]

On the night of September 16, 1982, my younger brother and I were baffled as we watched dozens of Israeli flares floating down in complete silence over the southern reaches of Beirut, for what seemed like an eternity. We knew that the Israeli army had rapidly occupied the western part of the city two days earlier. But flares are used by armies to illuminate a battlefield, and with all the PLO fighters who had resisted the Israeli army during the months-long siege of the city already evacuated from Beirut, we went to bed perplexed, wondering what enemy was left for the occupying army to hunt.

This was a little more than a month after the August 12 ceasefire that had supposedly ended the war, and was followed by the departure of the PLO’s military forces, cadres, and leadership from the city. The trigger for Israel’s occupation of West Beirut was the assassination on September 14 of Israel’s close ally, Lebanese President-elect Bashir Gemayel, head of the Lebanese Front militia and a top leader of the fascist-modeled Phalangist party.

What we had seen the night before became clear when we met two American journalists on September 17. They had just visited the scene of ongoing massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, home to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians as well as many Lebanese. They had taken with them into the camps a young American diplomat, Ryan Crocker, who was the first US government official to file a report on what they had seen. We found out from them that the Israeli army had used flares the previous night in order to light the way for the right-wing Lebanese militias whom the Israelis sent into Sabra and Shatila. From September 16 to 18, according to historian Bayan al-Hout’s authoritative account of this event, these militiamen slaughtered over 1,300 Palestinian and Lebanese civilians (for more on these and related events, see the revised 2014 edition of my book Under Siege: PLO Decisionmaking During the 1982 War).

Recently declassified documents from the Israel State Archives tell us that the US government was uncomfortable about what the Israelis and their allies might be up to. Special envoy Morris Draper, instructed to obtain a withdrawal of the Israeli army from West Beirut, met with Israeli officials in Jerusalem on September 17. There, Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir claimed that 2,000 armed “terrorists” remained in West Beirut. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon thereupon characteristically escalated things. “There are thousands of terrorists in Beirut,” he told the US envoy, challenging his demand that Israeli forces withdraw: “Is it your interest that they will stay there?” Draper, according to transcripts, failed to counter Sharon’s false assertion about the presence of thousands of “terrorists,” but when he mildly disputed another of his claims, the defense minister was even blunter, stating: “So we’ll kill them. They will not be left there. You are not going to save them. You are not going to save these groups of the international terrorism [sic].” Again, Draper did not demur at these chilling words based on a falsehood.

When the exasperated US envoy finally said to the assembled Israeli officials, “We didn’t think you should have come in [to West Beirut]. You should have stayed out,” Sharon’s tone became even more imperious: “You did not think or you did think. When it comes to our security, we have never asked. We will never ask. When it comes to existence and security, it is our own responsibility and we will never give it to anybody to decide for us.”

Unbeknownst to Draper, at the very moment that this exchange was taking place, the Lebanese militias that Sharon’s forces had sent into the refugee camps—where, needless to say, there were not thousands of well-armed veteran PLO fighters to protect their civilian population—were busy carrying out their macabre work. Sharon could not have been more brutally explicit when he said to his American interlocutors of the so-called terrorists “we’ll kill them.” The fact that the actual killing of unarmed civilians was carried out by Israeli proxies which Sharon’s forces had armed, trained, and sent to do the job (rather than Israeli soldiers) did not much change the overall moral calculus regarding this crime. The following year, an Israeli commission of inquiry found that Sharon, as defense minister, bore “personal responsibility” for the massacre and recommended that he be dismissed from his ministerial post.

American responsibility for this and other outcomes of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is more extensive even than the fact that Secretary of State Alexander Haig provided a green light for this onslaught, as we now know to have been the case. And it relates not just to the supply of a plethora of lethal American weapons systems that were used in manifest contravention of the exclusively defensive purposes mandated by US law. Sharon explicitly forewarned US officials that this would happen. According to Draper, Sharon had earlier told Haig and other Americans to expect “that we were going to see American-made munitions being dropped from American-made aircraft over Lebanon, and civilians were going to be killed.” Given all of these factors, American responsibility clearly rose well above the level of mere complicity, and amounts to collusion.

This responsibility extends further, to the failure to protect the more than 1,300 Palestinians and Lebanese victims of the September massacre in Sabra and Shatila. The Americans had given explicit guarantees for their safety, which the PLO had painstakingly negotiated with US diplomats during the cease-fire talks. The slaughter in Sabra and Shatila was thus the result not just of the actions of the anti-Palestinian right-wing Lebanese militias that carried it out, or of decisions by Sharon and others to send those militias into the refugee camps and provide support for them. In light of the written commitments the US government made to the PLO in order to secure its evacuation from Beirut the month before, these deaths were also the direct responsibility of the Reagan administration.

Presidential special envoy Philip Habib made these solemn pledges in typed memos, which were transmitted to the PLO by Lebanese Prime Minister Shafik Wazzan. They were later enshrined in an exchange of notes with the Lebanese government. The first of these memos, from August 4, 1982, noted “US assurances about the safety of…the camps.” The second, two days later, said, “We also reaffirm the assurances of the United States as regards safety and security…for the camps in Beirut.” The American note of August 18 to the Lebanese foreign minister stated:

Law-abiding Palestinian non-combatants remaining in Beirut, including the families of those who have departed, will be authorized to live in peace and security. The Lebanese and US governments will provide appropriate security guarantees…on the basis of assurances received from the government of Israel and from the leaders of certain Lebanese groups with which it has been in contact.

These assurances proved to be utterly worthless, as Washington had been unwilling to provide multilateral international guarantees or the long-term deployment of international forces, both of which had been demanded by the PLO and refused by Habib, and which would have been necessary to protect these innocent people.

Soon after these massacres, US and French troops returned to Beirut with an ill-defined mission, and the United States became embroiled in the bloody conflict in Lebanon. Out of this maelstrom grew Hezbollah, which became a deadly foe of the United States and Israel. It is worth recalling that many of those who founded this group had fought alongside the PLO in 1982, and had remained behind, only to see their fellow Lebanese massacred along with Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila. They remembered these grim events, even if Americans had forgotten. Thus the many staff members who were killed when the US Embassy was destroyed the spring of 1983, and the Marines who died when their barracks was blown up later that year, and the many Americans kidnapped or assassinated in Beirut in succeeding years were in effect victims of the real and perceived collusion between the United States and the Israeli occupier.

This was only some of the unanticipated blowback from the ill-considered and morally flawed decisions about the 1982 war that were made by American policy-makers. The United States continues to repeat similar mistakes in the Middle East decades later, with illegal invasions, interventions, and occupations costing hundreds of thousands of lives, and through its blind support and armament of the most loathsome regimes in the region.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Year since abrogation of Article 370, Mehbooba Mufti, other politicians still under detention as Centre claims normalcy

A spate of arrests and detentions followed the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August last year with three former chief ministers coming under radar. Even as the Centre readies to observe the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370, life in the region is far from what defines normalcy in rest of the country.

The erstwhile state -- which was granted the status of a Union Territory a year ago following the abrogation -- is yet to elect a government over two years after a split in the PDP-BJP combine led to President's rule. High speed internet is still a distant dream for residents of the Valley, while mobile connectivity too can be disrupted by the authorities on need basis.

The last serving chief minister of the semi-autonomous state, Mehbooba Mufti is still under house arrest even though the the government has seen fit to release several key opposition leaders and former chief ministers.

Mufti’s detention was extended by three months under the Public Safety Act (PSA), ahead of the expiry of her current detention order on 5 August this year. Her residence, where she was shifted in April after spending over eight months at two government facilities, has been declared a subsidiary jail.

Her former aide and ex-MLA Sajad Lone, who founded the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, was released from detention this week. After being taken into custody on 5 August, he was kept at makeshift jail at Srinagar's Centaur hotel, along with other leaders from mainstream parties before they all were moved to an MLA hostel. In February, he was shifted to his residence and kept under house arrest.

Finally 5 days short of a year I have been officially informed that I am a free man. So much has changed. So have I. Jail was not a new experience. Earlier ones were harsh with usual doses of physical torture. But this was psychologically draining. Much to share hopefully soon.

— Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) July 31, 2020

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Controversy over claims of detentions

The curious case of Congress leader Saifuddin Soz has been making headlines recently. While the former Union minister claims he is still under detention, the Jammu and Kashmir administration vehemently claims that he is a free man.

"I continue to be under house arrest. The only thing that has changed is; a lock has been put on my gate from inside also," Soz has claimed in a statement.

However, the Supreme Court closed a habeas corpus petition by his wife after being told by the administration that he was “never detained nor under house arrest”.

The order came even as videos went viral of policemen stationed at Soz’s residence pulling him away from the boundary wall of his home as he talked to media persons. Another video showed cops stopping him from leaving his residence.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah says that Soz's story is neither unique nor unusual. He claims that 15 leaders of his party were also illegally detained like Soz.

"Soz Sahib’s plight is not unique. JKNC has gone to court because more than 15 of our colleagues are similarly illegally detained and I have no doubt the administration will claim they aren’t detained."

The party had filed a petition on 13 July in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, seeking the release of 16 party leaders still under house arrest. A letter to Principal Secretary, Home, Jammu and Kashmir noted that “no order (preventive or otherwise) justifying such confinement has till date been served upon” the detained leaders.

Soz Sahib’s plight is not unique. @JKNC_ has gone to court because more than 15 of our colleagues are similarly illegally detained & I have no doubt the administration will claim they aren’t detained. As if any of these people would sit at home for a year of their own free will. https://t.co/pBuMsoQOCa

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 30, 2020

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The leaders names are: Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Nasir Aslam Wani, Aga Syed Mehmood, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Irfan Shah, Sahmeema Firdous, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzaan, Mubarak Gul, Dr Bashir Veeri, Abdul Majeed Larmi, Basharat Bukhari, Saifudin Bhat Shutru and Mohammad Shafi.

From among the gamut of leaders who have been arrested since the abrogation of Article 370 last year, Peoples Democratic Party’s Waheed Parra, arrested on 5 August and later booked under a preventive detention law, said "disgrace and defeat have been both personal and political”. “My work became a reason for my arrest. My dossier said I was motivating people to be part of democratisation and elections,” he told Outlook.

Even though PDP leader Nizamuddin Bhat was released from detention at the MLA hostel in Srinagar in January, party spokesman Suhail Bukhari said this week that top PDP leaders are still not allowed to move out of their houses.

"Naeem Akhtar, GN Hanjura, Sartaj Madani, Peer Mansoor, AR Veeri, all former legislators and ministers, remain under house arrest since their release from sub-jails," he said.

Peoples Conference leader Abdul Ghani Vakil and Peoples Movement chief Shah Faesal and leader Javaid Mustafa Mir are also placed under house arrest, according to party spokesmen.

Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has also been under house arrest since 5 August, while Yasin Malik has been in Tihar jail for 18 months. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, who was among those placed under house arrest in August 2019, was arrested by police in Srinagar on Sunday, with sources telling New Indian Express that he was booked under PSA.

Home ministry data stated that top political leadership from NC and PDP were released in multiple batches within seven months after the scrapping of Article 370. As many as 6,605 persons including political heads, overground workers, stone-pelters and separatists were taken into preventive custody. But, 90 percent of them were released in the first three months, central government officials told The Economic Times.

A leadership vacuum created by the long absence of major leaders from parties with strong regional presence saw the emergence of newer faces. While Mufti's daughter Iltija took control of her mother's Twitter account in her absence and spoke on "issues of the common people", former PDP leader Altaf Bukhari launched a new outfit Apni Party in March. The BJP too started grooming entrants like Aijaz Hussain and Sheikh Khalid Jehangir.

The Block Development Council elections were held from 8 to 16 October last year, recording a voter turnout of 98 percent. While the PDP and JKNC boycotted the first elections to be held after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, 109 of the 128 winning candidates turned out to be Independents. The erstwhile state, however, has not had a stable government since June 2018, when Mufti stepped down from the chief ministerial post.

Petitions say courts overlooked grounds of detention

Soz had left his residence twice in September and December 2019 after seeking permission from authorities and said that he would sue the government for his unlawful arrest, blaming the UT administration for lying to the apex court. The court stressed heavily on the omission of Soz’s travels in the petition, even as the question of the grounds of detention did not arise.

A petition challenging Mufti’s detention remains pending before the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Sitaram Yechury’s habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami was met with conditions by the court allowing a meeting between the two leaders. The petition remains pending and was last listed on 28 January.

The case against the detention of Kashmir Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom lasted almost as long as his detention period, with the court suggesting his early release and the government accepting the suggestion, while not giving any answers on the legality of the detention.

Awami National Conference (ANC) leader Muzaffar Ahmad Shah had approached the High Court on 11 September last year along with his family, alleging that they had been detained. Srinagar authorities told the court that they had not been put under house arrest. While the court did not look into the allegations of illegal detention, it passed directions to withdraw the security personnel deputed at their residence in March.

4G internet remains suspended in UT

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor GK Murmu said that high-speed internet should not be an issue days after the home ministry said no to the restoration of 4G internet in the Union Territory. The Jammu and Kashmir administration, however, ordered to continue the curb on internet speed across the Union Territory in an order released on Wednesday that says that internet speed shall be restricted to 2G only and available on post-paid sim cards. Orders were passed by authorities on 4, 17 and 26 March restricting internet speed for mobile data services to 2G. The order has brought concerns about not being able to access telemedicine and information from the government on the coronavirus pandemic.

Slamming the Centre’s attempt to hide what is happening in the Valley by shutting down 4G services, Farooq Abdullah said, "Every country in the world knows what is happening here. Packing up media, shutting telephones down, and using your media to put false stories -- one day this will rebound on you. When you will be sitting in the opposition and you have to answer for your misdeeds," he said.

Officials, on the other hand, cited relaxations in curbs within two weeks of abrogation of Article 370 when seventeen landlines exchanges out of 96 were restored. “Postpaid mobile services were re-activated on 14 October last year, however, 4G internet services still continue to remain suspended,” an official said.

With inputs from agencies

via Blogger https://ift.tt/30vEdqC

[nilority-blog]

A former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), 13 former governors and seven ex- ministers have been barred from travelling out of the country under Executive Order 6 (EO6) issued yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The restriction followed the judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 (EO6).

The watch-list and restriction were put in place pending the conclusion of the cases against those affected.

Also on the watch list seen last night by The Nation are: ex-governors Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto), Muazu Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Gbenga Daniel (Ogun); and Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Katsina).

The ex-ministers are Nenadi Usman, Bashir Yuguda, Jumoke Akinjide; Bala Mohammed; Abba Moro; Femi Fani-Kayode; and Ahmadu Fintiri.

Others include a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh; ex- Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral A. D. Jibrin; a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar; a former Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero; and a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu; Chairman Emeritus of AIT/ Raypower, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi; Waripamowei Dudafa (a former Special Assistant (Domestic) to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan); a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Umezulike; a former judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia;

Also on the list are a former National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh; Chief Jide Omokore; Ricky Tarfa; and Dele Belgore (SAN).

Most of the affected persons are currently facing trial for alleged corrupt practices in different courts.

The list was generated from cases and proceedings filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Nigeria Police, and 17 other agencies.

The document indicated that many of those affected had earlier been placed on similar legal restrictions by the courts and security agencies including restriction of movement, seizure of passport, temporary forfeiture of assets, freezing of accounts and others.

Explaining the government’s action in a statement yesterday, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu said:

“Following the instant judicial affirmation of the constitutionality and legality of the Executive Order 6 (EO6), President Muhammadu Buhari has mandated the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice to implement the Order in full force.

“To this end, a number of enforcement procedures are currently in place by which the Nigeria Immigration Service and other security agencies have placed no fewer than 50 high profile persons directly affected by EO6 on watch-list and restricted them from leaving the country pending the determination of their cases.

“Also, the financial transactions of these persons of interest are being monitored by the relevant agencies to ensure that the assets are not dissipated and such persons do not interfere with, nor howsoever corrupt the investigation and litigation processes.

“It is instructive to note that EO6 was specifically directed to relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that all assets within a minimum value of N50 million or equivalent, subject to investigation or litigation are protected from dissipation by employing all available lawful means, pending the final determination of any corruption-related matter.

“The Buhari administration reassures all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians of its commitment to the fight against corruption, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the general principles of the Rule of Law.

“Accordingly, this administration will uphold the rule of law in all its actions and the right of citizens would be protected as guaranteed by the Constitution.

“We, therefore, enjoin all Nigerians to cooperate with the law enforcement authorities towards ensuring a successful implementation of the Executive Order 6 which is a paradigm-changing policy of the Federal Government in the fight against corruption.”

A top government official, who spoke in confidence, said there is no cause for alarm on E06.

The source said: “The ban is not different from the conditions given by the court in granting these accused persons bail. The E06 is like a codification of steps to prevent those on trial for alleged corrupt practices from tampering with assets.

“Some of these accused persons used to go to court for permission before they can travel out of the country. The E06 is not a new thing but instead of all agencies working at cross-purposes, a list was generated and backed with the Executive Order.

“Some of those on trial, especially the Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) had been selling their assets. What will they return after being convicted?”

What Will Happen To Oyedepo, Adeboye & Other Religious Leaders Involved In Politics – Buhari Speaks

The post Revealed: See The Names Of Former Governors And PDP Members Banned By Buhari From Travelling Abroad appeared first on Naijaloaded | Nigeria’s Most Visited Music & Entertainment Website.

Go to Source Revealed: See The Names Of Former Governors And PDP Members Banned By Buhari From Travelling Abroad A former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), 13 former governors and seven ex- ministers have been barred from travelling out of the country under Executive Order 6 (EO6) issued yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

[cyrelia-j]

[ficlet] #22: Restless (Jack)

Another 30 Days of Jack and yeah the drabble thing has gone out the window but this is pretty short still with like barely there Jack/Sarina and Jack/Julian

All of these are under the tag “30 days of jack”

Series note: These start out Jack/Sarina moving to Jack/Julian (as you can see lol). I’ll just tack on here as a note that Jack is ace. These aren’t always being posted in chronological order. For now the timeline is as follows: 1, 2, 12, 11, 15, 16, 7, 4, 8, 13, 3, 19, 5, 14, 10, 18, 22, 20, bonus #c, 21, 9, 6, bonus #a, bonus #b, 17

To refresh- this takes place after Jack decides to stay on DS9 after he’s settled in a bit before he begins a relationship with Julian

Warnings: Angst, Anxiety, dealing with sensory issues, medical abuse, and Jack’s stream of conscious

           Jack has never understood the silence of night. Or rather, he’s never understood why it’s described as silent when there’s still as much noise as the daytime. It’s different noise, but it’s still noise, only it’s the hum of the station no longer drowned out by the sound of motion, speech, by the other people sounds that he normally hears. Sometimes he listens to music, but there’s only so much of it that he can stand before it’s Too Much and then he’s back to the hum and the sound of his own breathing. But the station is better than the Institute because at least here he doesn’t have to pretend- they’re not watching him, no cameras no laying in bed still, breathing slowly so they don’t need to use the hypospray to force him to sleep.

             Jack catches sleep like butterflies in a net, running, running until his body stops, a wind up bird slowing slowing until he crashes to the earth. He can feel himself fade, feel everything slow, the world spinning just long enough for him to blink, blink and fight that small death with every blink until he can find a small space to sit, forehead pillowed on his knees and close his eyes. “There, in the happy no-time of his sleeping, Death took him by the heart.” He thinks that as he slips off, always remembering how the pale shade that never said “mother”, the pale Mary, the virgin who surely never gave birth to him, would say softly “now I lay me down to sleep...” before placing a cold hand to his shoulder, drifting from the side of his bed, and he whispers that prayer to the Thing that he no longer prays to every time he feels his eyes falling shut.

             When he was younger, he wondered in those rare religious (stupid, Stupid!) moments what he had done to deserve that painful torment during the one time that he could ever Escape. Netta had deduced after a time it was likely his enhancements causing what should be otherwise Standard Procedural Functions to be Unpleasant. She wrote up a brief for the old man who dismissed it out of hand because the Old Man was the all seeing eye who said he’d Be Silent or Be Sedated so Jack… Jack stopped sleeping and he didn’t understand what the old man hired him an Attorney for if not to provide counsel but… but that was that, and he stopped sleeping and the Pain made it stop Doing That when he was awake, and they didn’t sedate him.

 He learned in The Institute that sedation only trapped him in paralysis while the serpent twitched and throbbed and felt like it would explode out of his skin in fire and melt molten down his thighs, the rest of his body hypersensitive, every shift making his clothes scratch until he wanted to crawl clear out of his skin. Voices in him saying if he were a Man he would take a stick and break him now and finish him off and every time he told them that they merely said it was in his head, that it was a dream and there was no Harm to him. So he learned to feign sleep and learned that he had… that he had little desire for that primitive Pointless function anyway, content to rest his head on Sarina’s shoulder and close his eyes for fifteen, twenty minutes until she’d shake him awake.

             The Trill asked him about his dreams which was stupid and he said as much because he didn’t dream in the literal sense and in the metaphoric sense dreams meant little more than dust blown away, the old man said, and if Dreams could be killed by even the gentle West Wind then they were Useless. She said that sleep was the restorative state and that it was necessary to function no matter how godlike he imagined himself. An hour, she suggested, try an hour, only an hour, only an hour with the venom dripping on him and was she going to hold the basin until it overflowed?! She asked him if there was anyone that he trusted to “hold the basin” if not her (no, not her not her, she Read the File and couldn’t be trusted!) and so he he…

 Jack shuffles into the Infirmary when he feels the blink of sleep, seeing the Bajoran leave, seeing the flicker of eyes at him as his own fall down heavy and he looks at Bashir as the world falls down and the blackness swirling in his vision grows to half and half and he tells him that he needs to sleep. Not long, just an hour and if the snake starts to stir he’s to wake him or cut off its head like Nagini to which Bashir says Stupidly that he’s not going to mutilate him over an involuntary biological function and he shouldn’t worry about it because Bashir just doesn’t Understand that it’s more than that, it’s… it’s

“Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable in your room?” he hears as he falls against him, everything failing at once.

...and keep me safe till morning’s light.

[cyrelia-j]

[drabble] #33 Search (Jack & Garak)

Although 30 days is up I’m still going in the same universe with 30 Days of Jack.  I’ve been half avoiding these two together because I’ve been unsure of the dynamic but here goes nothing with Jack and Garak people watching.

All of these are under the tag “30 days of jack”

Series note: These start out Jack/Sarina moving to Jack/Julian. I’ll just tack on here as a note that Jack is ace (though his experiences and issues aren’t intended to be representative of all asexual people). These aren’t always being posted in chronological order. For now the timeline is as follows: 29, 1, 2, 12, 11, 26,15, 16, 24, 7, 4, 25, 8, 13, 3, 19, 5, 14, 10, 18, bonus #d, 33, 22, 27, 20, bonus #c, 21, 23, 9, 32. 28, 6, bonus #a, bonus #b, 17, 31, 30

To refresh- this takes at the end, after Jack decides to stay on DS9 and is trying to adapt to living outside The Institute

Warnings: none

           “They’re fighting.”

           “I disagree. They’re clearly flirting.”

           “Of course you’d say that. It’s Cardassian bias hm. You’re not… not considering that Ferengi have different body language, different postures. See Ferengi don’t tilt their heads coyly, they’re not showing neck- that’s the ears like… like ‘did I hear you correctly’ like anger mmhmmmhmmhm.” Jack ducks back through the door, only having looked up at the sound, at Garak’s voice questioning, asking his thoughts on the matter. He knows that Garak is only engaging him in Conversation at Bashir’s request because Garak doesn’t like him, doesn’t like some feeling or some scenting thing that he gets from him but that’s fine because Jack doesn’t particularly like the Cardassian (the Morlock!) either.

             “I assure you that as many years as I’ve… enjoyed the pleasure of occupying this real estate, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to familiarize myself with the Ferengi prior to the Federations arrival.” Jack pokes his head out again because Garak says a lot and much of it Pointless, but there’s a certain Tone that he affects when he’s about to say something useful so Jack gives his attention remembering that Bashir says that Garak can’t be believed to say if the sun will rise the next day (which makes no sense to Jack because where they’re currently situated the sun hardly rises as such but even if it did it would be stupid to rely on the word of an untrained observer for something involving astronomical constants. Bashir asked if he was kidding when he said that and Jack had no idea why that would be considered a joke.)

           “While Quark may have his more benevolent moments, he is still a Ferengi and the heart of his operation is still profit,” Garak continues pedantically. Jack is about to tell him that he knows that and it’s obvious but he reminds himself- or rather reminds himself that Sarina reminded him that’s a Filler Sentence for basics nono Improper word… non genetically enhanced individuals so he crosses his arms, biting his finger instead silent reminder as he listens. He catches a flick of Garak’s eyes like he deliberately paused just to test him which is… weird but Garak is always testing him for something for some reason and Jack is always… pleased when he passes.

             “So the cheapest labor one can hire is the young unestablished men you see working there currently. Some of them like Prell have just arrived from Ferenginar but the two gentlemen in question were hired when the station was still occupied by its previous occupants shall we say. I’ve noticed curiously, that during those formative years some employees like Mr. Lat and Mr. Resk have unconsciously adopted a lot of Cardassian mannerisms, such as that tilt of the head and that penchant for heated conversation to further along interpersonal relationships.” Jack looks again, looking closer, blinking, taking that in, filing it away because there so much that he still doesn’t Understand. It’s… it’s a lifetime of catching up and at times like this it almost seems like it’s Too Much and it’s difficult to breath but-

             “I knew that,” he mumbles automatically and Garak smiles not believing him for a moment. One liar to another, though Jack doesn’t lie which makes Garak tell him glibly that’s why he’s one of the best liars of them all but-

             “What about them over there?” he asks stepping out further into the light, having already completed the count of bolts anyway.

           “Tell me what you think,” Garak says offhanded that smile growing as he idly sketches on a paper behind the counter, “And I’ll tell you why you’re mistaken.”

           “Ha! You’re on!”

[brajeshupadhyay]

A spate of arrests and detentions followed the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August last year with three former chief ministers coming under radar. Even as the Centre readies to observe the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370, life in the region is far from what defines normalcy in rest of the country. The erstwhile state -- which was granted the status of a Union Territory a year ago following the abrogation -- is yet to elect a government over two years after a split in the PDP-BJP combine led to President's rule. High speed internet is still a distant dream for residents of the Valley, while mobile connectivity too can be disrupted by the authorities on need basis. The last serving chief minister of the semi-autonomous state, Mehbooba Mufti is still under house arrest even though the the government has seen fit to release several key opposition leaders and former chief ministers. Mufti’s detention was extended by three months under the Public Safety Act (PSA), ahead of the expiry of her current detention order on 5 August this year. Her residence, where she was shifted in April after spending over eight months at two government facilities, has been declared a subsidiary jail. Her former aide and ex-MLA Sajad Lone, who founded the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference, was released from detention this week. After being taken into custody on 5 August, he was kept at makeshift jail at Srinagar's Centaur hotel, along with other leaders from mainstream parties before they all were moved to an MLA hostel. In February, he was shifted to his residence and kept under house arrest. Finally 5 days short of a year I have been officially informed that I am a free man. So much has changed. So have I. Jail was not a new experience. Earlier ones were harsh with usual doses of physical torture. But this was psychologically draining. Much to share hopefully soon. — Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) July 31, 2020 // // ]]> Controversy over claims of detentions The curious case of Congress leader Saifuddin Soz has been making headlines recently. While the former Union minister claims he is still under detention, the Jammu and Kashmir administration vehemently claims that he is a free man. "I continue to be under house arrest. The only thing that has changed is; a lock has been put on my gate from inside also," Soz has claimed in a statement. However, the Supreme Court closed a habeas corpus petition by his wife after being told by the administration that he was “never detained nor under house arrest”. The order came even as videos went viral of policemen stationed at Soz’s residence pulling him away from the boundary wall of his home as he talked to media persons. Another video showed cops stopping him from leaving his residence. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah says that Soz's story is neither unique nor unusual. He claims that 15 leaders of his party were also illegally detained like Soz. "Soz Sahib’s plight is not unique. JKNC has gone to court because more than 15 of our colleagues are similarly illegally detained and I have no doubt the administration will claim they aren’t detained." The party had filed a petition on 13 July in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, seeking the release of 16 party leaders still under house arrest. A letter to Principal Secretary, Home, Jammu and Kashmir noted that “no order (preventive or otherwise) justifying such confinement has till date been served upon” the detained leaders. Soz Sahib’s plight is not unique. @JKNC_ has gone to court because more than 15 of our colleagues are similarly illegally detained & I have no doubt the administration will claim they aren’t detained. As if any of these people would sit at home for a year of their own free will. https://t.co/pBuMsoQOCa — Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) July 30, 2020 // // ]]> The leaders names are: Ali Mohammad Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Nasir Aslam Wani, Aga Syed Mehmood, Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Irfan Shah, Sahmeema Firdous, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Chaudhary Mohammad Ramzaan, Mubarak Gul, Dr Bashir Veeri, Abdul Majeed Larmi, Basharat Bukhari, Saifudin Bhat Shutru and Mohammad Shafi. From among the gamut of leaders who have been arrested since the abrogation of Article 370 last year, Peoples Democratic Party’s Waheed Parra, arrested on 5 August and later booked under a preventive detention law, said "disgrace and defeat have been both personal and political”. “My work became a reason for my arrest. My dossier said I was motivating people to be part of democratisation and elections,” he told Outlook. Even though PDP leader Nizamuddin Bhat was released from detention at the MLA hostel in Srinagar in January, party spokesman Suhail Bukhari said this week that top PDP leaders are still not allowed to move out of their houses. "Naeem Akhtar, GN Hanjura, Sartaj Madani, Peer Mansoor, AR Veeri, all former legislators and ministers, remain under house arrest since their release from sub-jails," he said. Peoples Conference leader Abdul Ghani Vakil and Peoples Movement chief Shah Faesal and leader Javaid Mustafa Mir are also placed under house arrest, according to party spokesmen. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has also been under house arrest since 5 August, while Yasin Malik has been in Tihar jail for 18 months. Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, who was among those placed under house arrest in August 2019, was arrested by police in Srinagar on Sunday, with sources telling New Indian Express that he was booked under PSA. Home ministry data stated that top political leadership from NC and PDP were released in multiple batches within seven months after the scrapping of Article 370. As many as 6,605 persons including political heads, overground workers, stone-pelters and separatists were taken into preventive custody. But, 90 percent of them were released in the first three months, central government officials told The Economic Times. A leadership vacuum created by the long absence of major leaders from parties with strong regional presence saw the emergence of newer faces. While Mufti's daughter Iltija took control of her mother's Twitter account in her absence and spoke on "issues of the common people", former PDP leader Altaf Bukhari launched a new outfit Apni Party in March. The BJP too started grooming entrants like Aijaz Hussain and Sheikh Khalid Jehangir. The Block Development Council elections were held from 8 to 16 October last year, recording a voter turnout of 98 percent. While the PDP and JKNC boycotted the first elections to be held after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, 109 of the 128 winning candidates turned out to be Independents. The erstwhile state, however, has not had a stable government since June 2018, when Mufti stepped down from the chief ministerial post. Petitions say courts overlooked grounds of detention Soz had left his residence twice in September and December 2019 after seeking permission from authorities and said that he would sue the government for his unlawful arrest, blaming the UT administration for lying to the apex court. The court stressed heavily on the omission of Soz’s travels in the petition, even as the question of the grounds of detention did not arise. A petition challenging Mufti’s detention remains pending before the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Sitaram Yechury’s habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami was met with conditions by the court allowing a meeting between the two leaders. The petition remains pending and was last listed on 28 January. The case against the detention of Kashmir Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom lasted almost as long as his detention period, with the court suggesting his early release and the government accepting the suggestion, while not giving any answers on the legality of the detention. Awami National Conference (ANC) leader Muzaffar Ahmad Shah had approached the High Court on 11 September last year along with his family, alleging that they had been detained. Srinagar authorities told the court that they had not been put under house arrest. While the court did not look into the allegations of illegal detention, it passed directions to withdraw the security personnel deputed at their residence in March. 4G internet remains suspended in UT Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor GK Murmu said that high-speed internet should not be an issue days after the home ministry said no to the restoration of 4G internet in the Union Territory. The Jammu and Kashmir administration, however, ordered to continue the curb on internet speed across the Union Territory in an order released on Wednesday that says that internet speed shall be restricted to 2G only and available on post-paid sim cards. Orders were passed by authorities on 4, 17 and 26 March restricting internet speed for mobile data services to 2G. The order has brought concerns about not being able to access telemedicine and information from the government on the coronavirus pandemic. Slamming the Centre’s attempt to hide what is happening in the Valley by shutting down 4G services, Farooq Abdullah said, "Every country in the world knows what is happening here. Packing up media, shutting telephones down, and using your media to put false stories -- one day this will rebound on you. When you will be sitting in the opposition and you have to answer for your misdeeds," he said. Officials, on the other hand, cited relaxations in curbs within two weeks of abrogation of Article 370 when seventeen landlines exchanges out of 96 were restored. “Postpaid mobile services were re-activated on 14 October last year, however, 4G internet services still continue to remain suspended,” an official said. With inputs from agencies

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/08/year-since-abrogation-of-article-370.html