The Kashmir Pulse

NEW DELHI — A prominent Kashmiri Pandit activist has criticised a recent comedy exchange involving Samay Raina and Sharon Verma on India's Got Latent, saying jokes touching on Bihar and Kashmiri identity crossed from humour into "deeply sensitive territory" involving displacement and regional identity.

In a press statement issued Saturday, Satish Mahaldar, Chairman of the JK Peace Forum, said the exchange — which reportedly began as a roast — should not be treated as a routine comedy controversy, given its connection to the decades-long displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley.

"Bihar is not an insult. Kashmir is not a punchline," Mahaldar said in the statement, adding that the Pandit community's history of displacement "cannot be reduced to a convenient joke, a social-media clip, or a publicity moment."

A roast that went viral

The controversy stems from an episode of India's Got Latent, the comedy roast show, in which jokes referencing Bihar and Kashmiri identity between Raina and Verma circulated widely on social media.

Mahaldar's statement noted that Raina himself has previously spoken publicly about his family's experience of displacement from Kashmir.

"Not asking for censorship"

Mahaldar said his organisation was "not asking for censorship" but "sensitivity," and acknowledged that comedians retain the right to joke about their own experiences and communities. However, he argued that when "historical suffering becomes material for entertainment," it raises a legitimate public question about where comedy ends and humiliation begins.

He said the Kashmiri Pandit community was not seeking "special treatment," but rather what he described as more fundamental demands: truth, dignity, justice, recognition, and the right to return to their ancestral homeland "with security and honour."

"The answer to an offensive joke should not be another offensive joke," Mahaldar said. "It should be facts, courage and historical memory."

Warning against communal framing

Mahaldar's statement also sought to head off any broader communal reading of the controversy, explicitly rejecting attempts to frame it as hostility "between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims, or between Kashmiris and Biharis." He said no community should be judged by the words of an individual, and described Kashmir's history as "complicated," calling for its future to be "built on truth, reconciliation, justice and mutual dignity."

Mahaldar's remarks come as Kashmiri Pandits mark more than three decades since mass displacement from the Kashmir Valley began in 1990. His statement described the community's position as unchanged despite the passage of time: "We may have lost our homes, but we have not lost our voice."

SRINAGAR — Senior IPS officer Sujit Kumar on Wednesday took charge as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Zone, succeeding V K Birdi as part of a major reshuffle of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Kumar, a 2007-batch AGMUT cadre officer, formally assumed charge on Wednesday afternoon following the Home Department's order transferring and posting 14 police officers with immediate effect.

Kumar, who was serving as Inspector General of Police, Security, J&K, has now been posted as IGP Kashmir Zone under Government Order No. 438-Home of 2026.

Birdi, who was serving as IGP Kashmir, has been relieved of the charge following Kumar's appointment.

Senior officers of the Kashmir Zone were present during the formal assumption of charge and extended their greetings to the newly appointed IGP.

Kumar has previously served in several key positions in Jammu and Kashmir, including in the Kashmir Valley, and has extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations, security and law-and-order management.

A native of Patna, Kumar is an alumnus of Delhi University's Hindu College and has also served on central deputation with the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

He is a recipient of the President's Police Gallantry Medal and the Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

The appointment comes amid a broader reshuffle of senior police officers in Jammu and Kashmir.

SRINAGAR — The Food & Drugs Administration (FDA), Jammu and Kashmir, has directed the School Education Department to strictly implement food safety regulations in all government and private schools, including a ban on the sale of junk food within school premises and within 50 metres of school gates.

In a communication to the Directors of School Education, the FDA said the Food Safety and Standards (Safe Food and Balanced Diets for Children in School) Regulations, 2020, must be effectively implemented to ensure safe, hygienic and nutritionally balanced food for schoolchildren.

Restrictions on food sales

Under the regulations, schools must ensure that food products high in saturated fat, trans-fat, added sugar or sodium are not sold or offered within school premises.

The restrictions also extend to an area within 50 metres of the school gate in any direction, where the sale, marketing or advertising of such food products to school children is prohibited.

Licensing and hygiene requirements

The FDA has also directed that school authorities or food business operators running food services on school campuses must be registered or licensed under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and comply with prescribed sanitary and hygienic requirements.

Such food facilities are also required to have Food Safety Display Boards and Food Safety Supervisor(s), wherever applicable.

Additional measures

The regulations further require schools to designate meal times to encourage healthy eating habits among children and provide safe drinking water free of cost to all students.

School authorities, including principals and headmasters, along with the bodies responsible for management of the institutions, have been tasked with ensuring regular inspection of food premises and monitoring the quality, safety and hygiene of food served to students.

The FDA has also said schools may appoint a Health and Wellness Ambassador or constitute a Health and Wellness Team to act as a nodal mechanism for monitoring the availability of safe, balanced and hygienic food.

The FDA has called upon the School Education Department and school authorities to ensure strict compliance with the regulations across Jammu and Kashmir.