The ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir received a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections as the coalition could not win even a single seat of the 6 in the state.
As per the Simla Agreement, all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan should be treated as bilateral ones, while the Hurriyat has been insisting that it be made a party to talks to resolve the Kashmir problem.
The moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference has urged the Narendra Modi government to adopt the path of Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Atal Behari Vajpayee with regard to Kashmir.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
Mehbooba Mufti said she will not contest the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, pointing out that she would not be able to fulfil her party's agenda in the union territory set up even if she were to become the chief minister.
Three Hurriyat Conference leaders were taken into custody, as police foiled the separatists plan to march in connection with Martyrs day on Monday.
The Centre on Wednesday proposed to hold talks with the All Parties Hurriyat Conference at the home minister's level later this month or early next month.
'We expressed our desire that Centre should halt the continued operations against civilians, including cordon and search and other such actions,' he said.
Owaisi said, 'Srinagar is a ghost town. Yeh kya kar diya hai (What have they done)? The people are very angry. It moved us to see that people were searching for milk. We were told that since last three months children were not going to school, medicines or proper food have been in short supply. They said they were being tormented.They can't bear the torture of their youth."
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
Authorities imposed restrictions in certain areas of Srinagar on Saturday to scuttle a protest march called by separatists to coincide with Martyr's Day
Sir Michael lauded the Centre's commitment to enter into a 'genuine dialogue process' with all parties in J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday welcomed the likely Centre-Separatist dialogue to be held away from media glare.
An eight-member delegation of PoK is here to participate in a heart-to-heart between people of Jammu and Kashmir and that of PoK.
Speaking to rediff.com from his residence in Srinagar, Farooq said that the issue would be debated on next Friday during the Hurriyat meeting in the Valley headquarters to take a view on the developments that have taken place since Sunday afternoon.
Rajnath came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
A day after an all party delegation reached out to separatists in Kashmir, moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday accused the Centre of not making a serious effort to address the Kashmir issue saying talks were not possible in a coercive atmosphere.
Mirwaiz Farooq, who is also a Muslim religious head, feels that the Friday meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Lahore has given a fresh hope not only to people of the two nations but to the entire South Asian region.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Omar Farooq has reacted sharply to recommendations made by a high-level committee favouring autonomy for the state. "The agenda of Hurriyat has never been autonomy, our agenda is freedom, so we didn't want to give any comment on it," he added."We accept only that solution in which Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir are involved. Any solution between two parties is not acceptable," he said.
I do not think that Delhi is doing enough to push the peace process as is being done by Pakistan.
Separatists and mainstream Peoples Democratic Party have been dismissive of the report submitted by Kashmir interlocutors to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday.
Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was released from house arrest on Friday, September 22, 2023, four years after he was taken into detention.
Ahead of the meeting with his Indian counterpart, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said New Delhi should engage itself in talks to resolve the Kashmir issue."We hope New Delhi will realise the ground reality and world trends which essentially include negotiations and talks on resolving outstanding issues," he said. Qureshi was addressing a press conference after his meeting with All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Among them are Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Ahmed Shah.
Shabir Shah, senior separatist leader and chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party, on Monday laid down some conditions before the DFP joins a front representing all the moderate separatist parties in Kashmir. Shah was responding to the call for unity by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference. Farooq had asked all separatist parties to unite under the aegis of a common banner.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, condemned the collective punishment being inflicted upon the entire population of valley for pursuing their just cause for the resolution of Kashmir issue.
He is suspected to be suffering from cancer in the kidney.
The hardline faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, however, said it was no permanent solution to the Kashmir issue.
Addressing the congregation at the historic Jamia Masjid in old city Srinagar on Friday afternoon, the Mirwaiz said: "We will oppose all efforts aimed at fanning division of the Kashmiri Muslims on sectarian lines. If need be, we will expose the elements and institutions patronised by the government for the purpose."
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is not the only one to support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 'cricket diplomacy' in inviting Pakistan President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to visit India and watch Wednesday's semi-final game between India and Pakistan at Mohali.
Geelani, who Islamabad's backing, is understood to have impressed upon Kasuri to do more on involving Kashmiris in the dialogue process.
Following recent serious differences that have surfaced in the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference over the issue of 'quiet dialogue' with the Centre, an extraordinary meeting of the conglomerate decided, on Monday, to suspend the party's office bearers and keep the various committees in suspended animation.
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