It is time we pre-empt Pakistan and the separatists by fast tracking normalcy, advises Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Though markets and commercial establishments remained shut and students stayed away from schools.
A moderate intensity earthquake rocked Kashmir valley on Saturday afternoon, triggering panic among the residents.
A woman, who was injured when security forces opened fire in Handwara town of north Kashmir to quell a stone-pelting mob, succumbed at a hospital in Srinagar on Wednesday.
The processions stand banned in Kashmir since 1990 when armed insurgency began.
The strike affected attendance in government offices and banks, the officials said.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.
"Azad saab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) had spoken on behalf of all of us that we don't accept this timeline -- we don't accept delimitation, election, statehood, we want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you'll have to restore statehood first," said Omar Abdullah.
After a series of raids by the National Investigative Agency on kashmiri separatists over the last two days, the authorities today prevented separatists from holding a meeting at residence of hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani, placing several leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest.
Raising slogans against Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and the administration, the demonstrators, mostly government employees posted in the troubled valley and their kin, demanded that they be provided adequate security or be transferred to Jammu. The employees also threatened en masse resignation from their jobs.
Five militants were killed in a day-long fierce gunfight in frontier north Kashmir Kupwara district on Saturday.
Amidst Covid scare, hundreds of pilgrims paid obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Friday for the annual Kheer Bhawani mela, praying for peace in the union territory and for the pandemic to end.
The incident comes two days after Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists attacked an army camp in Sunjuwan area of Jammu, killing six people including five soldiers.
Shops, business establishments and fuel stations were open and markets witnessed huge rush.
The alarming incident occurred during the funeral of Fayaz Ahmed alias Setha, a resident of Qaimoh area of Kulgam, who was killed in retaliation on Saturday after terrorists had fired upon a police party which had gone to Mir Bazaar area to investigate a road accident.
The Hizbul Mujahideen outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least eight persons were injured in a grenade explosion triggered by suspected militants at the busy Lal Chowk in the heart of the city on Saturday afternoon.
In Tral in south Kashmir, villagers hurled stones at a Central Reserve Police Force camp and this led to clashes.
Constable Bijender Bahadur was on duty at forward point along the fence in Arnia sector along the IB when Pakistani Rangers resorted to mortar shelling and small arms fire at about 0020 hours on Friday.
Hundreds others were wounded many of whom received bullet and pellet injuries and are undergoing treatment in various hospitals.
In a veiled reference to separatists and hardline Hurriyat Conference leaders, Singh also said the security given to people getting funds from Pakistan and its snooping agency Inter-Services Intelligence should be reviewed.
Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function in Srinagar where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.
Friday prayers have not been allowed at Jamia Masjid - the grand mosque of Kashmir in downtown (old city area) - for the past over two months now.
One terrorist was also killed in the gunfight.
The listed terrorists have been identified as Ashiq Hussain Ganaie of Panjran Pulwama and Imran Ahmad Bhat of Arihal Pulwama.
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
A Swiss skier was killed and two others wounded by an avalanche in the north Kashmir's ski resort Gulmarg on Friday afternoon.
A top militant commander of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba outfit was killed in a fierce encounter in north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Wednesday.
A 22-year-old youth Wasim Ahmad Lone died when security forces opened fire to disperse a stone-pelting mob in Nadihal area in Baramulla district.
The encounter began in the afternoon at a village in Kulgam as Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with the Central Reserve Police Force and the army, were carrying out operations to clear a national highway ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, beginning June 28, a senior police official said.
Tourist hot spots like Gulmarg and Pahalgam woke up on Friday morning under a thick blanket of snow.
The terrorists, however, managed to escape after the gunbattle and security forces were making efforts to track them down.
The slain policemen were identified as Ghulam Hassan and Ghulam Rasool. The injured personnel was taken to a hospital for treatment and his condition is stated to be stable, the official said.
Officials said more than five inches of snow has accumulated in the main Gulmarg bowl so far.
2 other terrorists who were killed in the encounter include Divisional Commander Muhammad Bhai, a non-local Waseem, a resident of Drubgam, Pulwama.
More than 100 people have died in rain-hit Jammu and Kashmir, which is witnessing its worst flood in 50 years.
'Jaish looked to creating regional mayhem, at a time when peace appeared more likely, and when that peace would have threatened Jaish's existence.'
A young man was killed and two others injured in firing by the Central Reserve Police Force on Saturday during protests in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir where a strike has been called by the hardline Hurriyat faction against the killing of two youths in Tral earlier this week.
Earlier, only access to white-listed sites was allowed as the service was restored for a week on January 25 and subsequently extended from time to time, after being snapped on August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status to the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories.
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