Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 18

Separatist leaders today hit out at Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat saying his recent assertions about J&K are “open admission of occupation.”“The Army Chief’s statement is admission of what people of Kashmir want and how military force is and will be used to prevent them from doing so. It is an open admission of occupation,” moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said at a joint press conference in Srinagar.General Rawat was recently quoted as having said that people of J&K had realised that “they cannot get what they want” and “let me tell you, to seek independence from a country where we have strong armed forces and very strong government, you cannot secede from India.” “This shows that the Army has been always using military might to crush the genuine struggle,” Mirwaiz said. Meanwhile, the joint separatist leadership has also called for a shutdown on January 26.

8 trainees of Army Youth Centre get jobs

Srinagar: Eight trainees of the Army’s Youth Centre at Boniyar in Uri sector have been selected by food chain Onesta in the latest online interviews. They have proceeded to Bengaluru for their employment. The youth centre at Boniyar had facilitated jobs for 58 trainees outside the state and 23 students within the state, besides facilitating self-employment for about 60 young girls in the domain of cutting and tailoring. An Army spokesman in Srinagar said the youth centre had been at the forefront of skill development to enable the youth of the area to compete and acquire jobs, including in the hospitality sector and fashion designing. The effort has started bearing fruit, leading to increase in the popularity of the centre, the spokesman said. tns