Azad said it will affect all religions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to achieve a clear majority in Rajya Sabha after bye-elections for 12 seats scheduled next month, which would help the party get the nod for key legislations such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
As Azad ended his decades-old association with the party, leaders across political spectrum praised his contribution to Jammu and Kashmir, with the BJP hailing him as a "towering leader".
The polling was slated for March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and March 20.
With three sarpanchs killed in December, many panchayat members are running scared and quitting their posts. Pervez Majeed reports.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government has no other option but to extend President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir as the Election Commission wants to hold assembly elections in the state by the end of 2019.
Opposing a dialogue with Pakistan till it stops 'exporting' terror into Jammu and Kashmir, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina at an all-party meet in New Delhi on Thursday said those seeking engagement with the neighbouring country should meet the victims of violence to understand their pain.
The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag with National Conference candidate and former high court judge Hasnain Masoodi defeating former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
In the second instance of ceasefire violation within 24 hours, Pakistani troops resorted to small arms firing on a Border Out Post
They said preliminary investigation revealed that terrorists hurled a grenade at a naka (patrol) party near Nishat Park in the district in north Kashmir, causing splinter injuries to five security forces personnel.
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.
Breaking his silence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday disapproved of comments of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed giving credit to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militants for smooth conduct of Assembly polls, saying such a statement cannot be supported.
The mood was subdued with roads deserted across large swathes of the Valley, the silence broken only by police sirens and Indian Air Force helicopters hovering overhead.
The Congress has tried to inflict capital punishment on true secularism, he claimed, asserting that the Waqf law has no place in the Constitution.
What difference would raising Pakistani flags make? Now the government of India is getting restless, getting more perturbed. It is being done deliberately," said Kamal.
A PDP leader said a final decision on the formation of the government in the state is expected after Mehbooba takes the opinion of the legislators.
'Kashmir belongs to us all, even if we differ with each other.' 'Statesmanship demands that we sit together and let the left, right and centre of the political spectrum converge on the solution,' says former MP Tarun Vijay.
'The Election Commission is in the process of updating electoral rolls.' 'Once that is done, the dates for elections will be announced by the ECI at an appropriate time.' 'What can be more democratic than this?'
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
On August 5, the Narendra Modi-led government abrogated Article 370, which gave the state of Kashmir special powers, and decided to transform the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Since then phone networks have been cut off and curfew-like restrictions have been imposed, leaving residents in a state of despair. On September 29, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Opposition for spreading "misinformation" about Kashmir. There were no "restrictions", he said -- they were "only in your mind". Sixty one days later, this is what normalcy looks like in the former state, particularly the Kashmir Valley.
As the deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued, the state unit of Congress on Thursday backed Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to lead the new dispensation to respect the people's verdict in the just-concluded assembly elections.
A fidayeen squad of terrorists in army fatigues stormed a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, killing three security personnel and leaving 11 others, including a deputy superintendent of police injured, in the wee hours on Friday.
As controversy raged over Yati Narsinghanand's objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, his supporters on Sunday alleged that the Dasna temple head priest is being illegally kept in detention by police, which denied the claim.
Arrangements are being made at Bejibehara, the leader's hometown, for his last rites.
Sulking over denial of weighty portfolio to separatist-turned-politican Sajjad Lone, his party People's Conference today issued a veiled threat that it may consider quitting the ruling coalition of Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Eid shopping picked up across Kashmir Valley on Thursday after Tuesday's rains caused a flood scare, subduing the festivities.
'The decision of August will have to be taken back. This is our resolve. When it will happen, how it will happen, the judge of our case are the people of this country.'
The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi.
The repoll will be held on April 13.
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.
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha after a fiery debate on Tuesday, with the opposition terming the move 'dictatorial' and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by states.
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
A worker from Punjab who was injured in Wednesday's terror attack in Srinagar's Habba Kadal area died at the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar on Thursday morning, taking the toll to two in the first targeted killing of the year by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Operations in the Valley would continue as earlier, Rawat said.
Abdul Gani Dar was shot at three times from a close range with an AK assault rifle, he said, adding two bullets hit him in the chest and one in the shoulder.
Militant group Al-Badr has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide attack that rocked Samba sector in Jammu region on Thursday.
The former J-K CM said Shardapeeth in Pak-administered Kashmir is an outstanding relic of Kashmir's glowing history.
Terrorists fired indiscriminately on a police party near Nowgam bypass Friday morning, a police official said, adding three policemen were injured in the attack, two of them later succumbed. They said the terrorists have been identified and will be neutralised soon.
In a significant move, separatists have decided to hold talks with Kashmiri Pandit migrants to discuss their return to the Valley.
The fate of the BJP-PDP alliance may be known on Monday as PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti talks tough.
