Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said there was no increased threat perception to this year's Amarnath yatra compared to previous years and fears of attack as reported in the media were "gross exaggeration".
In an exclusive telephonic interview with rediff.com from Srinagar, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the governments of Pakistan and India for the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday expressed his extreme disappointment over army's decision to close the Pathribhal fake encounter case and said the state law authorities will be asked to examine options to address this "serious" matter.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
Pakistan military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told a hurriedly called press conference in Islamabad at around 4 am that th Pakistan air force's Nur Khan (Chaklala, Rawalpindi), Murid (Chakwal) and Rafiqui (Shorkot in Jhang district) airbases were targeted.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the situation in the state was not conducive for holding assembly elections in light of the recent floods.
'We put the seed of BJP's ideology in Jammu, watered it, nurtured it for four decades and when it was time to reap the fruits of those efforts, the fruits are being sold out to the very same people who worked hard to uproot this tree.' 'Shockingly, our own people are letting this happen and nobody from Delhi bothers to even listen to us.'
In the petition, Congress activist Tehseen Poonawalla ought withdrawal of 'curfew/restrictions' and release of leaders like former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Hitting out at Nawaz Sharif over the ceasefire violations, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday maintained that these incidents cannot be without the consent of the Pakistan prime minister.
Leaders from Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday said after attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi's all-party meeting that they will 'continue to struggle' against the abrogation of Article 370 and urged the PM to restore the statehood of J-K at the earliest.
Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti, who is also the media advisor to the PDP president, confirmed that her mother is safe.
The National Conference leader suggested that the CM should take responsibility for the prevailing situation and lead the recovery process from the front.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
A new political party called the 'Jammu and Kashmir Apni (own) Party' (JKAP) will be launched on Sunday and will be led by former state finance minister Syed Altaf Bukhari, with the primary aim of proving "relief to people who have been facing uncertainty since August 5 last year". This will be the first political activity in Jammu and Kashmir after August 5 last year, when the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CMs placed under arrest as they were considered a threat to the law-and-order situation in the state.
Terming the flood situation in the flood-ravaged KashmirValley as "very serious", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said he understood the anger of the people affected by the "unprecedented" catastrophe.
People's Democratic Party MLA Waheed Para on Monday moved a resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly opposing the abrogation of Article 370 and calling for the restoration of special status to the erstwhile state, leading to noisy scenes in the House.
Immediately after Modi delivered his speech, Omar merely tweeted "finally" but, in a subsequent tweet, voiced his disagreement with Modi's view.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday slammed the government for invoking the Public Safety Act against former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah and said detention without charges is the worst abomination in a democracy.
Faesal, who has been under detention after scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, was booked under the PSA on Friday night, according to the sources.
'I feel bad for those idiots who threw their Chinese made TVs off their balconies only to see this happen'
The chief minister, an avid cricket follower, had expressed disappointment that the Jammu and Kashmir cricketer was not given a chance to make his debut in international cricket even though India went into the final match with an unassailable 4-0 lead.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
Terming frequent violations of the ceasefire as a "matter of serious concern", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday expressed hope that the Centre would reconsider its decision of cancelling talks with Pakistan in order to end the border hostilities.
The repoll will be held on April 13.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday warned that any move to abrogate Article 370, which defines relationship between the state and the Centre, will reopen the issue of the state's accession to India.
'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
BJP members, including the Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, opposed the resolution, saying it was not part of the listed business.
Ration supplies will reach all places of Srinagar within 36 hours, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today while noting that his government was addressing a multitude of challenges to ensure quick relief to all hit by the unprecedented flood.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
The absence of Rahul Gandhi at a dinner hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in honour of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised political eyebrows.
With political stalemate continuing in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference's working president Omar Abdullah on Monday held a meeting with top party leaders where it was decided that it will have no tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party but was ready to support the Peoples Democratic Party in the government-formation.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a Rs 745-crore package for renovation of houses and six major hospitals damaged by the recent unprecedented floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Centre on Friday asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to identify "suitable land" for the rehabilitation of some 3 lakh Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the KashmirValley in the early 1990s due to militancy.
The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
"I had no government as the seat of the establishment was wiped out by the worst floods in over a century," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Thursday, recalling the nightmare of the disaster that hit his state six days ago.
'If you post on social media on an issue like power cuts in Tral, the police will come to your home and tell you to remove your social media post.' 'If you don't, then the local police threaten you that they will book you under PSA.' 'This is happening all the time in Kashmir.'