Police feared a clash between their supporters in Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah on Thursday asked the leaders of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference group to hold talks with the government of India as well, after their return from Pakistan.
Onkar Singh, a valuable member of the Rediff.com team over the years, breathed his last on January 13. Syed Firdaus Ashraf, who knew him intimately, remembers the ultimate newsman.
Talks to resolve the Kashmir issue should be held by India and Pakistan before modifying visa rules or trade policies, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq tells Tahir Ali
Separatists on Friday extended the shutdown call in Kashmir till July 18 to protest against the killing of civilians and demanding lifting of curfew in the valley.
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.
Separatists from Kashmir valley on Tuesday met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Gilani and were divided on the dialogue process between India and Pakistan with moderates terming it as necessary for building 'mutual trust' while hardliners dubbed it as a 'futile exercise'.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani arrives in New Delhi on Tuesday to hold talks on Wednesday with his Indian counterpart Ranjan Mathai during which arrest of LeT terrorist Zabiuddin Ansari, who revealed Pakistan's involvement in November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to be raised by New Delhi.
Normal life in Kashmir was disrupted on Monday with shops and business establishments remaining closed in many places due to a strike called by separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
Normal life was disrupted in the Kashmir valley on Tuesday due to a strike called by several organisations to protest against an anti-Islam film.
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.
"It will take time," Sayeed told media persons.
In a break from past, there was no function at the martyrs' graveyard in Srinagar after the government dropped July 13 from the list of gazetted holidays last year, officials said.
Questioning Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik's recent decision to share the stage with Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, in Islamabad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ram Madhav on Tuesday said the Centre should take due note of this act and take very strong measures to send a message to him and persons of his ilk.
Both sides will discuss the ongoing incidents of ceasefire violations at the border, the resolution of which will be given topmost priority
Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation after Eid against the plans to construct a road to Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir.
Vohra said he would first meet important people in the legislature and based on those interactions, drwa up a programme for future talks.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a press conference, during which she cleverly drew the red lines for Pakistan over the NSA-level talks without unilaterally calling off the meeting
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."
Demanding that Jammu and Kashmir be considered a "disputed territory", hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday said that people there should be given the right to "self determination".
Andrabi, the founder of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an Islamist separatist organisation is also a member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
The Opposition on Tuesday slammed Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) V K Singh for his tweets of 'duty' and 'disgust' after attending the Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi.
The Congress on Saturday said that twin attacks were the direct fall out of Mufti playing footsie with Pakistan
The Centre does not want to keep the military in Kashmir 'for long' but a decision on removing the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act will be taken only after some time, says Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
The first all-girl band of Kashmir on Monday decided to call it quits in the wake of a fatwa issued by Grand Mufti terming singing as un-islamic, a remark that came under all round attack.
People, security forces and Election Commission should be the ones who should get the credit for the polls, said the Centre.
The detentions come ahead of a crucial hearing on Article 35-A in Supreme Court which is likely to take place on Monday. The article, incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954, grants special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq rejected the report saying 'it is wastage of time'.
An aerial survey of the Baltal-Amarnath holy cave route does not reveal any road widening or construction work being undertaken by the Jammu and Kashmir government in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region as alleged by hardline Hurriyat Conference.
Pakistan tonight said it was "deeply disappointed" at India putting forth "pre-conditions" for National Security Advisors-level talks, accusing it of going back on the decision mutually agreed at the highest level by coming up with "frivolous pretexts".
Stone-pelting broke out in Baramulla town of north Kashmir soon after hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday addressed a gathering there, police said.
Militants shot at and killed a shopkeeper in north Kashmir apple rich Sopore town late Friday evening.
Life across Kashmir was disrupted on Tuesday due to a strike called by separatists over gutting of the 200-year-old Dastageer Sahib shrine in Khanyar area of the city.
Restrictions imposed on people's movement and communication links in the Kashmir Valley are being eased out in a phased manner and the normal situation in the Jammu division has been restored after assessment by relevant local authorities.
Rubbishing the interlocutors' report on Kashmir, hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Friday said their boycott by separatists has been vindicated as the document is like a "dead mouse" found after digging a mountain.
It is imperative that we deconstruct the current narrative and rewrite the storyline. To this end we need to alter the basic premise of the controversy, eliminate the obstructionists, home in on the true stakeholders and redefine the rules of engagement, says Vivek Gumaste.
Separatists and mainstream Peoples Democratic Party have been dismissive of the report submitted by Kashmir interlocutors to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday.
'Despite Modi's high-flown rhetoric about good-neighbourly relationships in South Asia, he lacks a road map how to proceed -- be it with Bangladesh or with Sri Lanka and Pakistan... But a deeper question arises here: Did he duck on his own accord or under the diktat from the RSS, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Jammu and Kashmir government ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of a youth in firing by security forces during a protest demonstration in Budgam district on Saturday.
