Srinagar, Jul 26: The ongoing Amarnath Yatra on Sunday total surpassed the four-lakh yatri mark.

In a post on X, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha posted: “By Lord Shiva’s divine grace, the holy Shri AmarnathJiYatra has crossed a remarkable milestone and more than 4 Lakh pilgrims have already completed the sacred journey. Till now, 4.14 Lakh devotees have received darshan. I bow with reverence to Baba Amarnath for this blessing and extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this journey a truly divine experience for all.”

Wantrag (Anantnag), Jul 26: Buyers gathered around Muhammad Aslam Khan’s watermelon field in Cheki-Isherdas, Wantrag, as he sliced open a freshly harvested fruit. The reaction was immediate. The watermelon was yellow inside.
The unusual variety is part of Khan’s latest experiment; introducing Chinese hybrid watermelons in a village where his 18-year journey has transformed the local economy.

Khan, 46, introduced two Chinese hybrid varieties on about two kanal this season. He was also the first farmer in this Pakhtoon village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district to start watermelon cultivation in 2008. “We introduced two Chinese hybrid varieties on about two Kanals this season. Buyers are showing keen interest, especially in the yellow-fleshed fruit,” Khan said.

The seeds, sourced through a supplier in Bengaluru and originally developed in China, cost around Rs 40,000 per kg. One variety has a zebra-striped green rind with yellow flesh, while another has a yellow rind with the usual red flesh. Khan has also introduced the pumpkin-shaped Century Janat variety with a yellow exterior and red flesh, besides continuing with a black-rind, red-fleshed hybrid. His farm now grows five watermelon varieties. The yellow hybrids sell for around Rs 70 a kg. The Century Janat and Black-rind varieties fetch around Rs 50 percent kg, while the traditional red watermelon sells for about Rs 40 per kg.

Khan planted his first crop on a few kanal in 2008. This season, his Pakhtoon Hi-Tech Green Nursery has expanded to nearly 70 kanal, employing around a dozen workers during the growing and harvesting season. Last year, he cultivated watermelon on 55 kanal and earned around Rs 30 lakh. This year, he expects production to reach nearly 1000 quintals. Around 250 quintals have already been harvested, while another 750 quintals are expected before August. The transformation has spread across Wantrag. Nearly 80 percent of households in the village now grow watermelons, earning it the moniker ‘Water-melon village’.

The area under the crop has expanded from around 500 kanal last year to more than 1000 kanal this season, according to local growers. “Last year, the village earned over Rs 2 crore from watermelon sales. This year, the returns are expected to double,” Khan said adding that the introduction of hybrid varieties will further boost farmers’ profit. He said farmers spend around Rs 12,000 per kanal on cultivation, while returns can exceed Rs 50,000 per kanal. “I also grow three varieties of muskmelon on a 10-kanal demonstration farm,” Khan said. Cheki-Isherdas, Wantrag, is home to a Pakhtoon community whose ancestors migrated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan more than a century ago.

The residents traditionally depended on apples, walnuts, small-scale farming, and government employment. Kashmir’s horticulture sector remains the backbone of rural livelihoods, supporting around 35 lakh people and contributing nearly Rs 10,000 crore annually to the region’s economy. Farmers in Wantrag say watermelon has emerged as an additional source of income. The villagers continue to practise organic farming, using vermicompost instead of chemical fertilisers. During harvesting, buyers from across Kashmir and the Chenab Valley come directly to the village.

“We don’t depend on mandis or middlemen. The sales are all local,” Khan said. He also supplies seedlings to farmers in other districts, helping spread the model beyond Wantrag. The success of the crop has drawn educated youth into farming. Graduate Umar Nazir, 26, and his brother Mohsin, 21, a mathematics student at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), expanded cultivation from eight to 30 kanal after earning around Rs 5 lakh last year. They have named their venture Bagh-e-Madina – The Garden Hub, Wantrag. “We expect a four-fold increase in both production and returns this year from our farm in Wantrag,” Umar said. He said they have also expanded watermelon cultivation to Silgam village near Akad in Anantnag and to Pulwama. “In Silgam, we have started cultivating watermelon on 20 Kanals and in Pulwama on 10 Kanals. We expect better production and returns there too,” Umar said, adding that they supplied around 20 lakh watermelon seedlings from their farm to growers across Kashmir.

The brothers own 20 kanal of land and have leased another 40 kanal exclusively for watermelon cultivation. “We also experimented with the Chinese-origin yellow hybrid variety, Century Janat and zebra-striped watermelons on a couple of kanal this year,” Mohsin said. He said they also cultivate four varieties of muskmelon, with the average fruit weighing between 2 kg and 3.5 kg, while some grow to 4.5 kg or even 5 kg. History postgraduate Tawseef Pathan, 28, increased the area under watermelon from five to six kanal this year after earning around Rs 3 lakh in profit last season.
“The returns convinced me that farming could provide a stable livelihood. Instead of waiting for a government job, I decided to expand and will increase it further next season,” Pathan said.

What sets Wantrag’s watermelons apart, growers say, is their taste, colour, and size.
“They are sweeter, have deep red flesh and can even weigh up to 20 kg. So far, we have harvested fruits weighing around 14.5 kg, and we are confident some will grow even bigger before the season ends,” a grower said.
He said the average watermelon weighs between 6 kg and 9 kg and accounts for about 55 percent of the total yield.
“Around 20 percent of the harvest weighs between 10 kg and 12 kg. Nearly 10 percent falls in the 13 kg to 15 kg category, while the remaining 15 percent ranges between 3 kg and 5 kg,” he said. “Only a few fruits grow beyond 15 kilograms and reach 20 kg, but that remains rare.”

Farmers credit support under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the Per Drop More Crop irrigation scheme and the J&K Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project (JKSIP) for improving irrigation and cultivation practices. “Today, no one in the village is idle. Every educated youth here cultivates watermelon, vegetables and other crops. Everyone earns and lives with dignity,” Khan said.
He urged farmers to make use of their land throughout the year.

“Don’t leave your land idle. You can grow something in every season, even during late autumn and winter, like we do here,” he said. Watermelon is among the world’s most widely cultivated fruits, with China, Turkey, India, Brazil, Algeria, and Iran among the leading producers.  While China and Turkey dominate global production, Wantrag’s organic melons have found buyers across Kashmir and created a new livelihood avenue for the Pakhtoon community.

“We proved that with determination, even the mountains of Kashmir can grow what was once considered possible only in the plains,” Khan said. Harvesting will continue through August.

Encouraged by the response to the Chinese hybrids, Khan and the Umar-Mohsin brothers plan to expand cultivation next season, while other growers in the village are closely watching the trial.

Srinagar, July 26: The ongoing Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2026 achieved a significant milestone today as total pilgrim turnout surpassed the four-lakh mark.

In a post on X, the Lieutenant Governor said: “By Lord Shiva’s divine grace, the holy Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra has crossed a remarkable milestone and more than 4 Lakh pilgrims have already completed the sacred journey. Till now, 4.14 Lakh devotees have received darshan. I bow with reverence to Baba Amarnath for this blessing and extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make this journey a truly divine experience for all.”

Budgam, July 26: Security forces have clarified that there was no restriction on the offering of Friday prayers or the Azaan at Pakherpora Mosque on 24 July, addressing reports circulating on social media that suggested otherwise.

A senior district police official told news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that on the basis of serious intelligence inputs, a cordon and search operation (CASO) was being conducted in the general area of Pakherpora for the past few days. During the operation, some devotees travelling from outside the locality may have experienced temporary inconvenience in reaching the mosque owing to the security measures in place.

The official, however, emphasised that no restrictions were imposed on religious observances at the mosque. The Friday congregational prayers and the Azaan were conducted as scheduled on the said day.

The security forces have urged members of the public to refrain from relying on or sharing unverified information and to refer to official sources for authentic updates, particularly on matters relating to security and public order.

Srinagar, July 26: The PDP President Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar have reopened one of Kashmir’s deepest political wounds: the legacy of the 2016 unrest and the use of force against civilians. While the PDP president intended to distinguish between law-and-order situations elsewhere and the security challenges posed by militancy in Kashmir, one phrase, “banta hai”, came to define the entire speech, eclipsing her broader message.

Addressing students protesting over the NEET paper leak, Mehbooba contrasted police action in Delhi with the situation in Kashmir. In doing so, she suggested that security forces in Kashmir were confronting militancy, adding that there “was militancy there” and that “it banta hai”, a phrase many interpreted as justifying the use of force against Kashmiri protesters. Critics quickly isolated those words from the larger speech, transforming them into a potent political weapon.

The backlash was immediate because the comment struck at a deeply sensitive memory. For many Kashmiris, 2016 remains synonymous with pellet injuries, civilian deaths and mass protests during the PDP-BJP coalition government led by Mehbooba Mufti. Any suggestion, even if unintended, that those actions were justified was bound to provoke outrage.

The National Conference sensed an opportunity. Party leaders demanded that Mehbooba apologise, arguing that no democratic leader should appear to legitimise excessive force against civilians. The controversy also enabled the NC to reinforce its long-standing narrative that the PDP cannot escape responsibility for decisions taken during its coalition with the BJP.

NC leader and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq called on Mehbooba to apologise, arguing that her remarks appeared to equate routine public protests with militancy.

“Are those who protest against reservation militants? Are those who protest for basic amenities also militants? This is shameful coming from a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir,” Sadiq said, adding that Mehbooba owes an immediate apology to the people of J&K.
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar accused PDP president Mehbooba Mufti of justifying the use of force against Kashmiri protesters, including young people and children.

“I am appalled beyond words. @MehboobaMufti unabashedly and casually brands every Kashmiri protester a ‘militant’. The kids, the little girls… just everyone was a militant, she says,” Dar posted on X.
“Even shame must be ashamed today. Her hypocrisy is uglier than what I believed.”

Altaf Bukhari’s Apni Party similarly criticised the remarks, saying that describing the suffering of Kashmiri protesters as something that “banta hai” amounted to lowering the political discourse and undermined the pain experienced by thousands of families.

“This is, after all, the same leader who justified the killing of Kashmiri children by asking, ‘Kya woh doodh aur toffee lane gaye the?’ (Had those children gone out to fetch milk and toffees?),” Bukhari said.

The Awami Ittehad Party was even more scathing, accusing Mehbooba of “political hypocrisy” for condemning police action against students in Delhi while, in its view, rationalising actions taken against Kashmiri youth during her own tenure. It argued that she owed an apology to young Kashmiris rather than attempting to recast her record.

On social media, however, the debate was more nuanced than the political rhetoric suggested. Critics widely shared clipped videos containing only the “banta hai” phrase, arguing that Mehbooba had inadvertently admitted the legitimacy of the state’s response during 2016. Supporters countered with longer videos, insisting that she had been explaining the distinction between counter-insurgency operations and ordinary policing rather than endorsing civilian casualties. The resulting information battle became less about what she said in full and more about which clip viewers encountered first.

Politically, the controversy exposes the PDP’s continuing dilemma. Since 2019, Mehbooba Mufti has positioned herself as one of the strongest critics of the Centre’s Kashmir policy and a defender of civil liberties. Yet every attempt to reclaim that space is overshadowed by the legacy of her party’s alliance with the BJP and the events of 2016. Her opponents understand this and have repeatedly sought to bring that period back into public debate.

In the end, the storm over “banta hai” is about more than a single phrase. It illustrates how, in Kashmir’s intensely polarised politics, a few words can outweigh an entire speech, and how unresolved memories of 2016 continue to shape the credibility of today’s political leaders.