"I can tell you that I understand you, my family must have drank water from the river Jhelum. Kashmiriyat, the culture and thought process must be in me too. When I come here, I feel like I am coming home," he said, while referring to his family ties to Kashmir and added that he had come with a message of love and respect.
Out of the 280 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 43 are going to polls in the second phase with 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu division.
'Based upon the circumstances, the Board decided with heavy heart that it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year's Shri Amarnathji Yatra and expressed its regret to announce the cancellation of Yatra 2020,' the SASB said in a statement.
The authorities sealed most of the roads and market places, including the business hub of Lal Chowk in Srinagar, and sought cooperation of the public to make the lockdown a success.
Police have started tracking down the Internet Protocol addresses of the 26 users whose comments, out of the total 900 posts on the band's Facebook page, were found abusive, officials said.
Zojila Pass, at a height of 11,516 feet above sea level, connects the picturesque Kashmir Valley with the cold Indus valley desert through the 434-km long Srinagar-Leh road.
Exchange of heavy fire between holed-up militants and security forces in the forest area of Chattergul in north Kashmir Ganderbal district continued for the second day on Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's "make-up kit" remark on Friday led to a protest by state's women panchayat members, who termed the statement as an "insult" to women.
The actor may set his next film in the dream destination.
The authorities on Sunday seized a helicopter belonging to a private operator for allegedly making unauthorised sorties between Srinagar and Baltal, the base camp of the Amarnath yatra, in Ganderbal district of Kashmir.
Five pilgrims, including two women, died enroute the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas, taking the toll during the ongoing yatra to six, police said on Wednesday.
Sixteen army personnel, including five officers, were killed and nine others injured in two avalanches in Ganderbal and Bandipora districts of Kashmir Valley.
There are intelligence inputs which suggest threat of terrorist attacks on Amarnath pilgrims, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Four Amarnath pilgrims died due to cardiac arrest en route to the cave shrine in Kashmir Himalayas over the past three days, taking the death toll in this year's pilgrimage to 15, officials said in Srinagar on Sunday.
Mukhtar Ahmad meets Abdul Rafique Lone who miraculously survived a deadly avalanche at Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir, all thanks to timely rescue operations by Indian army paratroopers.
Sixteen army personnel, including five officers, were killed and nine others injured in two avalanches in Ganderbal and Bandipora districts of Kashmir Valley.
In order to consider giving mobile Internet connectivity on such SIM cards, the telecom service providers will have to verify the credentials of the subscribers.
Two 'foreign' militants were killed in a daylong encounter in Chattergul village of north Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Sunday.
A 26-year-old youth was on Friday electrocuted and two others critically injured after they came in contact with a live wire at a base camp en route to the Amarnath cave shrine of Amarnath, the police has said.
Officials said on condition of anonymity that the situation could be slipping out of their hands.
Police on Wednesday gunned down two militants, one of whom was the longest surviving militant in Kashmir valley.
An army major was killed Saturday in an accidental hand grenade explosion in north Kashmir's Kangan area of Ganderbal district.
Curfew remained in force in the five districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian and Baramulla.
Mobs defied curfew to indulge in stone-pelting leaving 15 people, including eight security personnel, injured in the incidents.
The sources also said another round of military talks between the two sides on Wednesday to defuse tensions in the area remained inconclusive. The talks lasted nearly seven hours.
A junior commissioned officer of the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles committed suicide in a camp in central Kashmir Budgam district by shooting himself with his automatic service rifle on Friday evening.
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The Jammu and Kashmir police has decided to train its personnel in riot control following the over four-month-long unrest that has so far claimed 111 lives and left hundreds wounded. The state police chief Kuldeep Khuda had recently admitted that 'some mistakes' had been made in handling the situation.
The death toll in the unrest in Kashmir rose to 44.
Intense clashes had rocked Kashmir Valley in 2016 following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July that year, resulting in the death of over 85 people.
Life in Kashmir Valley on Saturday returned to normal as authorities lifted the curfew and the hard-line Hurriyat Conference exempted the day from its schedule of protests and strikes. Curfew was lifted from the entire Valley, except Kangan town in Ganderbal district, on Friday night as the law and order situation across the region remained peaceful, official sources said. The sources said restrictions were not eased in Kangan town.
The poll process for the second tier of the Panchayati Raj system will be completed by November 5, he said.
A group of primary school students on Wednesday protested against the 80-day-long agitation in the Kashmir Valley, saying it was denying them the right to education.
In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda, one SHO, one sub-inspector and two other police personnel were injured.
Ignoring the boycott call by separatist groups and braving cold weather, nearly 70 per cent polling was on Tuesday, in most of the 15 constituencies going to polls in first of the five-phased polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Surface and air links between Kashmir and rest of the country were cut off on Wednesday due to snowfall in the valley as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was closed for traffic and all flights to Srinagar Airport cancelled.
Anantnag, Kulgam and Pulwama are already under curfew following the death of three youths on Monday in clashes between the Central Reserve Police Force and stone-pelters. Anantnag and Pahalgam towns fall on the Jammu-Pahalgam pilgrimage route. But those taking the North Kashmir Baltal route to reach the cave shrine have to pass through Bijbehara, Awantipore and Pampore towns in the south.
"Though, for a student, receiving a master's degree is no less than any prestigious award. But on October 19, (the Convocation Day) I Sameer Gojwari won't accept it," said the student.
More than 11000 pilgrims left from the two base camps for the yatra. Officials said that over 6000 pilgrims left for the cave shrine from north Kashmir Baltel base camp while 5000 left from the south Kashmir Nunwan base camp early Thursday morning.
Omar had lost the seat to People's Democratic Party candidate Qazi Mohammad Afzal during 2002 assembly polls, which proved crucial in the formation of the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP Congress coalition government that ruled the state for nearly six years.
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