The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday flayed Dr Farooq Abdullah, who claimed that the media had distorted his son Omar Abdullah's comments on the Amarnath yatra issue.
Although the curfew was lifted on Tuesday from Jammu and the adjoining areas, the region witnessed protest rallies yet again, demanding the removal of Governor N N Vohra and the restoration of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.
'Kashmiris are very adaptable people. They will wait. From India's point of view, I think we have lost a great opportunity. I don't think we should keep talking to Pakistan. We should talk to the Kashmiris. Ultimately, this matter has to be settled between New Delhi and Srinagar,' says A S Dulat, expert on Kashmir.
Curfew was lifted in Kathua and Samba towns in Jammu on Tuesday following the return of normalcy in the areas that were rocked by violence over the Amarnath land row.
Fresh violence erupted in Indore on Friday, leading to the imposition of curfew in the entire city, a day after four persons were killed in clashes during the Bharatiya Janata Party Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored bandh against the revocation of land to Amarnath shrine board.
Lt Gen (retd) S K Sinha, till recently Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday launched a frontal attack on the state's main political parties, especially PDP and its patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, accusing him of being "hand in glove" with separatists and fundamentalists. At the centre of controversy over the land for Amarnath yatra which paralysed the valley in recent days, Sinha denounced PDP as "anti-national".
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal on Wednesday warned that they will not allow pilgrims to reach the Ajmer Dargah, where the annual Urs has begun, unless the Jammu and Kashmir government withdraws its latest order revoking the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.Bajrang Dal Rajasthan unit's convenor Mahendra Singh Meena said that Hindu activists of the saffron outfits would block buses carrying pilgrims in Rajasthan during the two-day bandh.
Due to the volatile situation that erupted on Tuesday in the entire Jammu city after the state government revoked the land allotment order to the SASB, the authorities have now deployed more units of paramilitary and police forces in Jammu city. The police were seen asking people to return to their homes in view of the indefinite curfew. The administration is worried about the the deterioration of the situation in Jammu city despite round the clock curfew.
Two BJP activists were injured in skirmishes with the police as demonstrators burnt tyres and torched effigies of the governor, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the police said.
A Central Reserve Police Force jawan was injured in fresh clashes between security forces and protesters here over the controversial land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board even as life in the city and other major towns of the Kashmir valley remained crippled for the fifth day on Friday.
About half a dozen senior leaders of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference were on Monday put under house arrest to prevent them from participating in the scheduled demonstrations against the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. However, police raided the Hyderpora residence of chairman of the breakaway HC Syed Ali Shah Geelani several times, who had already left for some undisclosed place.
A naval officer and his girlfriend, a Kannada film actress, were arrested in connection with the murder of creative head of a television production house.
This Kannada movie is absolute nonsense from start to finish. Murali, Sharmila Mandre have been wasted. Technical values are good, though the script is a let down. It is neither entertaining or logical.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday briefed President Pratibha Patil on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Amarnath land row. During the 45-minute meeting, Dr Singh apprised her of the steps taken by the Centre to restore normalcy in the state, official sources said.
Hindu pilgrims from Pakistan called on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu on Wednesday, after completing their pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.The chief minister said that he would like to see pilgrims from Pakistan visiting the Amarnath shrine in Kashmir also. "The peace process initiated by the two countries had resulted in closing the mouths of guns and mortars on the border and opening of up a new phase of friendship," Azad said.
Agitations in Kashmir are no more about the Amarnath land row or the alleged economic blockade imposed on the Valley, hitting the fruit industry. From the silent merchant, who sports a black flag on the counter, to the slogan-shouting masked youth driving around town with green flags, the protests are all about freedom now.
The All Party Sangharsh Samiti has rejected the government's decision not to recall Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, according to Dr Ajay Churangu, one of the Punan Kashmir leaders.Churangu could not attend the all-party meeting in Delhi because of the traffic blockade on the highway.The members of the coordination committee of the All Party Sangharsh Samiti met late on Wednesday evening and discussed the press statement issued by the Centre.
Curfew was imposed in three more towns of Jammu region on Sunday as clashes over Amarnath Shrine land row spread even as it continued without any break in Jammu city and adjoining Samba district. Army troops enforced strict curfew restrictions in the Jammu city on Sunday where the authorities closed two local news channels this morning.
The government on Thursday said it sincerely wants to have friendly relations with all its neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, but Islamabad will also have to think about its approach.
Chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani was again put under house arrest on Thursday to prevent him from taking part in the Friday congregation at the holy Hazratbal shrine.Geelani had given a 'Hazratbal chalo' call to offer special prayers for the 'victory' in the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board forest land issue. A spokesman of the HC, Aiyaz Akbar, told UNI that a large number of police personnel were deployed outside his residence.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has toned down its nationwide protest against the cancellation of allotment of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board and has termed it as an aam hartal. BJP leaders on Wednesday assured that the nation-wide hartal on Thursday would not affect essential services."We are calling it a national strike and not Bharat Bandh," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told rediff.com in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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