While they were invited with protests at Geelani's home, they were turned away by Yasin Malik, who was lodged in jail.
What the ceasefire does is to show the supporters of violence in the Kashmir valley an alternative to militancy, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A youth was killed and three others injured as security forces opened fire in Kupwara district of Kashmir to disperse protesters who were pelting stones on an army camp.
Pakistan selectors will have no surprises in store when they announce the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka on the next 48 hours apart from recalling talented opener Ahmed Shehzad.
Jolted by the shock loss to New Zealand in the opening game, India will be fighting a survival battle quite early in the tournament when they take on arch foes Pakistan in what is being seen as the marquee clash of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata on Saturday. The hosts, who started clear title-favourites, were in for a blow in the first match itself when New Zealand's spinners bamboozled their famed batting line-up on a turning Nagpur track. As a result, the world No.1 side is staring at an early elimination should it lose to Pakistan in the high-voltage game at the Eden Gardens. As is the case with most India-Pakistan contests, this game too has been preceded by its share of drama. The match was originally scheduled to be held in Dharamsala but was shifted here after the Himachal Pradesh government expressed inability to provide security to the Pakistan team owing to protests by ex-servicemen and their families.
Pakistan will be desperately looking to ensure the painful defeat to India becomes a distant past when they run into an in-form New Zealand in Mohali on Tuesday with an aim to bounce back into the World Twenty20 and pacify their bitter fans back home. Pakistan are coming into the Group 2 Super 10 game having suffered their 11th defeat to the arch-rivals in ICC's world events. The 2009 champions entered the tournament after an early elimination in the Asia Cup. On the other hand, the New Zealanders are on a roll with two massive wins over hosts India and Australia, making them one of the strong contenders to lift the coveted trophy on April 3. Another win and they will be in the knockout stages of the mega-event. New Zealand have emerged as the team to beat after the stunned tournament favourites India first up, before getting the better of traditional rivals Australia in a trans-Tasman battle.
There will be a strong focus on buying uncapped Indian players with eight franchises gearing up to pick a maximum of 76 out of the 350 plus, who will go under the hammer at the auction for the 10th Indian Premier League.
Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength across the Valley for strict implementation of the prohibitory orders.
"My appeal is for calm. We have to sit down, put our heads together and see if we can find a way out of this situation. So everybody, who is in anyway involved in Jammu-Kashmir, needs to introspect and see what we can do to stop it. It is not person or one organisation which can do it (alone)," the top army commander said.
Australia enter their World Cup quarter-final as runaway favourites against Pakistan in Adelaide on Friday, but will be wary of an enigmatic team that have proved a major thorn in their side at past tournaments.
Robin Uthappa's 16th first-class century helped Karnataka take a big first-innings lead of 263 to take the home side to a strong position on second day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul Gandhi has not erred by not engaging with Muslim conservatives. After all, they had misled his father in 1986 to legislate a misogynistic law after the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, which helped the BJP rise at the cost of the Congress, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Before the selectors meet to finalise the squad, you can take on their role and pick 15 players you feel can deliver the World T20 Cup to India.
Jamida K is the first Indian Muslim woman to lead the Friday prayer.
Normal life has been paralysed due to curfew-like restrictions and separatists-sponsored strike since Saturday.
A summary of Wednesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
World cricket's most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammad Aamir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Saturday.
'Just this week, the Indians killed a Kashmiri terrorist, who is a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.' 'This is a nasty terrorist organisation, and did Pakistan welcome this killing?' 'No, in fact, they denounced it and referred to him as a Kashmiri separatist.' 'These Kashmiri terrorist groups have been aided by the Pakistani State.'
'India should be more confident and let Pakistanis meet Hurriyat leaders. India's main concern is terrorism, and India should talk terrorism. If that means talking Kashmir, so be it. India can't answer terror with terror because we don't have terror factories. India can't answer terrorism with war because we both have nuclear weapons. That leaves talks as the only option,' says Shivam Vij.
Two suicide bombers rammed into the All Saints Church in the Kohati Gate area of Peshawar, Pakistan, when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on his way to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
As the top 10 teams prepare to battle for the World T20 crown, Rajneesh Gupta breaks down each squad's T20 performance and their showing in previous editions of the event.
After four centuries on the trot with a strike rate of nearly 120, Sri Lanka's run machine Kumar Sangakkara (MVPI: 686) has raced to the top of the most valuable player standing at the ICC World Cup.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's stand that AMU is not a minority university reveals the anti-minority stand of the political party now in power, says Mohammad Sajjad, outlining the long history behind one of India's premier universities.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji figure out who are the most valuable players after the league phase of the World Cup intheir latest update.
Mitchell Starc was the Player of the Tournament, but he ranks only 5th on Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings list, revealing how this World Cup was so much in the batsmen's favour.
'Burhan Wani's killing served as a spark for the anti-establishment fire that has been raging in the minds of Kashmiris ever since the Centre stopped engaging them for their political future,' says Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak in an interview with Rediff.com
A B de Villiers still heads Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
A B de Villiers may have made some big mistakes in the semi-final: Choosing to bat first in spite of the rain threat, batting too low at No 5, not hogging the strike after David Miller departed, fielding badly, asking Dale Steyn to bowl the last over ... but he is still best placed to be adjudged the most valuable player of the 2015 World Cup.
It looks highly unlikely if anyone will catch the South African captain in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup.
Although A B de Villiers is still the front-runner for the MVP crown of the 2015 World Cup, a new and serious challenger has suddenly appeared out of the blue -- New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
Meet Randeep Hooda, the man with a great sense of humour, an actor who loves his craft, an animal lover and, over and above all that, a Jat lad in touch with his roots...
A summary of Tuesday's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
Strangely, despite four wins on the trot, none of India's players have even figured in the top 20 of the MVPI table.
Defending champions Mumbai needed just 22 minutes and 31 balls to wrap up a massive 338-run victory over minnows Vidarbha and log six points to shoot to the top of the Ranji Trophy Group A table at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.