'...for three hours to the seven or eight of us who spoke at the meeting.' 'Talking together and allowing us to express our thoughts on these important issues is a good beginning.'
With no agenda announced for the meeting, the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir said they have come with an open mind.
The political script for pre-2019 politics has gone with the wind and the writers of the new script seem in no great hurry to oblige the tormented, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park.
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
He accused the Apni Party, led by former People's Democratic Party leader Altaf Bukhari, and the union territory administration of using coercive tactics to buy loyalties of newly elected DDC members.
"Trust is something that has been missing from both sides (Delhi and Srinagar). Successive prime ministers -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- made promises but the trust deficit has persisted," he added.
Released on Friday after his detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah drove from his residence to nearby Hari Nivas where his son, also a former chief minister, has been held first under preventive custody since February 5 under the PSA. The two warmly embraced.
She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre of "murdering the democracy" in the name of polls.
"They have apologised for hurting Indian sentiments and have sworn to correct the error by November 30, 2020," she added.
Abdullah, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, is the first Jammu and Kashmir chief minister to be booked under the PSA.
He had a breakfast meeting with Tarigami at his government accommodation located at the secured Gupkar road in the civil lines area of Srinagar city where he has been under detention since August 5 after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was withdrawn.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CMs placed under arrest as they were considered a threat to the law-and-order situation in the state.
Out of the 280 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 43 are going to polls in the second phase with 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu division.
'I've been illegally detained yet again. Since two days, J-K admin has refused to allow me to visit @parawahid's family in Pulwama. BJP Ministers and their puppets are allowed to move around in every corner of Kashmir but security is a problem only in my case,' Mufti tweeted in English and Urdu.
The working committee of the ruling National Conference is holding a crucial session in Srinagar to discuss the prevailing situation in Kashmir on Thursday.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister-designate Omar Abdullah on Saturday said that he would continue to live in his present Gupkar road residence in the high security Sonawar area.
Before repeal of Article 370 and Article 35-A in August last year, non-residents could not buy any immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the fresh changes have paved the way for non-residents to buy land in the union territory.
Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the PDP, formed the Gupkar alliance on October 15 for restoration of special status of the erstwhile state and also to initiate a dialogue between all the stakeholders on the issue.
'I am not afraid of BJP. I am not armed with lathi or stone, let them come to me and reply to my questions which they will not'
What the election demonstrated is that the BJP has a stranglehold on most of the Hindu votes in the Union territory, observes David Devadas.
Three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah is under house arrest at his Gupkar Road residence while his son Omar is confined to Hari Niwas, a state guesthouse-turned into a jail, barely 500 metres away. Mehbooba is in detention in a hut at Chashmeshahi near the governor's residence Raj Bhavan.
'Your confidence is shaken when the government does what it does these days, but then it is the same confidence that gives you the courage to stand up to the government's high-handedness.' 'There will always be people who will not fear jails or the physical and mental torture that visit citizens protesting against the government's draconian policies and laws.' 'There will always be Indians who will not be afraid to face the consequences of fighting for their Constitutional rights.'
Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
Arrangements are being made at Bejibehara, the leader's hometown, for his last rites.
In a major security lapse, a 'depressed' BSF jawan posted outside the residence of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar fired around 12 rounds in the air on Monday morning, triggering panic in the high security area.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence in Srinagar.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
'Dr Abdullah is the oldest and tallest leader in our current political landscape and it was very kind of him to come and see us.'
Gandhi's flying into Srinagar to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that the PDP and the BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
A thick security blanket has been thrown around Srinagar for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election rally in Kashmir on Monday at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium.
With the National Conference drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha elections, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday sought to know the reasons from the people of the state for the rejection of NC candidates, including party president Farooq Abdullah.
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The outgoing Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday hinted at an intriguing possibility of supporting his party National Conference's bitter political rival PDP in forming a government in the state after the hung verdict in the Assembly polls.
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