Normal life in Kashmir was affected on Friday due to a strike called by a group of separatists in the Valley, demanding return of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru's body to his family.
The terror outfit carried out Wednesday's attack following a directive from the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to possibly avenge the execution of Afzal Guru, according to the Intelligence Bureau. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Two days before the Hyderabad blasts, the Centre had alerted all states that Pakistan-based terrorist groups may carry out attacks in a major city to avenge the hanging of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru.
There are three angles of investigations being taken by the Intelligence Bureau and the Hyderabad police in the twin blasts that have killed at least16 people in a busy market in Hyderabad.
A strict curfew blanket spread across Kashmir valley ensured a peaceful Friday and stymied the call for a march to the Eidgah ground in Srinagar to attend a rally against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru at Tihar Jail in Delhi last Saturday.
Authorities have mounted a severe security bandobast to maintain law and order on Friday, even as the curfew continued for the sixth day in the old city and some major areas of the valley.
Days after the execution of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy petitions of four associates of slain forest brigand Veerappan, who were given a death sentence in a landmine blast case.
A day after approaching the authorities at Tihar Jail, seeking handing over of Afzal Guru's body to his family, two lawyers representing them on Wednesday withdrew as their counsel, citing "unseemly controversies" and "suspicion" by certain political groups in Kashmir.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief and 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was executed merely to satisfy the "ijtimai zameer" (collective conscious) of the Indian nation that can only be satisfied with blood.
The impression in the valley that Kashmir is not only 'expendable' for buttressing New Delhi's partisan interests, but also a preferred choice to do so, is getting strengthened, feels veteran Kashmir commentator Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
'Special police told me that if I speak according to their wishes they will not harm my family and also gave me false assurance that they will make my case weak so that after sometime I will get released...'
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley shares his thoughts on the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru
Chiefs of both factions of Hurriyat Conference -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq -- were on Saturday placed under house arrest in the national capital as a preventive measure following the hanging of Afzal Guru in the Parliament attack case.
Congress on Saturday said the message of 'zero tolerance' against terrorism has been sent through the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, close on the heels of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab's hanging. Party spokesman Rashid Alvi said, "After Independence, two major acts of terror have taken place in the country -- the attack on Parliament and the Mumbai terror strikes -- and those who were responsible for both have been hanged."
The All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference on Monday threatened to stage a sit-in outside the prime minister's residence if the state government failed to provide security to panches and sarpanches who are facing threats.
With the Supreme Court on Friday dismissing death row convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar's plea that he should not be sent to the gallows, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance government are hoping the verdict will stem the raging debate over the hanging of 2001 Parliament House attack accused Afzal Guru.
In a major relief for Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Election Commission on Tuesday decided not to disqualify him as a legislator, weeks after the Supreme Court had said that he may lose membership of the Senate for making a false declaration about his citizenship.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN's Senior Editor Suhasini Haider, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah admits the lapses in the rehabilitation policy for surrendered militants following the fiasco over the arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Liaqat Ali Shah.
In an "important breakthrough", three men have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the near-fatal attack on teenage rights activist Malala Yousufzai in Swat, a former stronghold of the Taliban in northwest Pakistan, police said on Friday.
Seven charity workers including six women involved in vaccinations and teaching were today killed in Pakistan by unidentified gunmen who ambushed a car carrying them in the country's restive northwest.
The families of eight security personnel who died in the 2001 Parliament attack will now take back the gallantry medals which they had returned in protest against the delay in the execution of Afzal Guru.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of outsourcing the handling of the state to security agencies and is treating it as law and order situation than a political one.
Slamming Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his rape remarks, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that he should immediately apologise and take back his words.
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik on Monday accused the Delhi police of making a murderous assault on him in the national capital where he had proposed to hold a hunger strike to press for the return of Afzal Guru's mortal remains.
Curfew was on Saturday lifted from Kashmir Valley, a week after it was imposed following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru. "Curfew has been lifted from all the ten districts in the Valley," a police spokesman said.
From rejecting the mercy petition of Afzal Guru to allegedly disapproving of the suggestion to send former West Bengal governor Gopal Gandhi as India's next ambassador to Myanmar, President Pranab Mukherjee continues to assert himself as a notable player in Delhi's political parlour.
Against the backdrop of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah voicing anger over the hanging of Afzal Guru, Union Minister Manish Tewari on Monday said that there was need for being "circumspect and responsible" as delicate scrutiny was involved in such cases.
Pakistan on Monday reacted cautiously to the execution of Afzal Guru, who was hanged on Saturday for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack, saying it did not want to "go into details" of his trial.
As many as 14 companies of the Border Security fOrce were rushed to Kashmir Valley to tackle law and order trouble, if any, even as the region remained under curfew for the third day following the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Fourteen companies of Border Security Force have been rushed to Srinagar for law and order duty and to ensure peace and tranquility, said security officials.
A controversy erupted on Sunday over the purported communication from the Centre to the family of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru about the decision to hang him on Saturday with the family alleging they had come to know about his hanging from TV channels and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah joining the criticism.
An angry Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Sunday slammed the execution of Afzal Guru and said this would reinforce a sense of alienation and injustice among generations of youth in the Valley.
'It shows the signs of a weak government to avoid the heat from Afzal Guru that they carried out Ajmal Kasab's hanging in secrecy,' says IPS officer-turned-activist Y P Singh.
Nearly seven years after they returned the gallantry medals protesting delay in hanging of Afzal Guru, family members of Parliament attack martyrs today said they were now ready to accept the honour.
The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat -- an umbrella body of several Muslim Organisations -- has condemned the hanging of Afzal Guru.
Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday condemned the hanging of Afzal Guru, saying the latter was not involved in the 2001 Parliament attack and was also not given a chance to defend himself in connection with this case. Geelani said Guru's hanging at the Tihar Jail this morning is a matter of sorrow and pain for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday declared that the government has taken every possible precaution in all districts of the state to deal with the fallout of the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Abdullah confirmed that he had been informed by the Centre on Friday evening about Guru's execution.
Delhi Police Special Prosecutor D P Agarwal has sought death sentence for S A R Geelani, Mohammed Afzal and Shaukat Hussain.
Kashmir's famous tulip garden on the shores of the world famous Dal Lake is yet again in bloom with the advent of spring
Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Gilani was on Saturday granted bail by a Delhi court in a sedition case related to an event conducted at the Press Club last month.
