Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has ordered a probe after a fashion show in the ski resort of Gulmarg during the holy month of Ramzan sparked widespread criticism. The event, which featured semi-nude models, was widely condemned by religious leaders and activists who accused the organizers of disregarding local sensitivities and disrespecting religious values. The Chief Minister has promised to take appropriate action once the report is submitted within 24 hours. The incident has sparked a debate about the balance between tourism promotion and the preservation of cultural and religious values in the region.
'Dr Abdullah is the oldest and tallest leader in our current political landscape and it was very kind of him to come and see us.'
Farooq Abdullah requested the PM to consider the proposal, supported by opposition parties, reports Archis Mohan.
Criticising both the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference as Kashmir-centric parties which discriminate against the Jammu region, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's statement that there is a BJP-PDP alliance as "totally irresponsible and politically motivated".
"If the defence minister thinks that by examination and change in currency (demonetisation), the storm, which has erupted here, will die down, then he has a misconception. This storm will not die down. Whatever they do, this storm is there and after exams, they will see that the storm will rise once again."
The administration of the union territory as directed by the Jammu and Kashmir high court to make public land given under the controversial Roshni land scheme, since scrapped by a court, came out with the list of beneficiaries.
Restrictions under Section 144 CrPc have been imposed in few areas of the valley to maintain law and order, the officials said.
If the only superpower, which calls India an ally, sees the region through an India-Pakistan prism, it is unacceptable. Rather than endorse India's sphere of influence, this undermines it, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Security deployment remained in vulnerable areas and mobile and internet services were yet to be restored in most parts of the Valley 48 days after the Centre abrogated Article 370 provisions of the Constitution.
Normal life remained disrupted across the Kashmir Valley for the 26th consecutive day, with markets closed and public transport off the roads.
Omar Abdullah said that if The Kashmir Files was a commercial movie, no one has an issue, but if the film makers claim that it is based on reality, then the facts are the other way round.
The assailants believed to be Pakistani terrorists, meticulously studied the site layout before executing their plan.
In a major setback to ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday shared the six Lok Sabha seats in the state as two Union ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, bit the dust.
She also hit out at the government for posting retired bureaucrats, who she alleged were its 'yes men', as head of institutions.
"For a solution to the Kashmir issue, we can look at Switzerland where people of different ethnicities live in an autonomous and proper democratic set-up. Kashmiris may like to have such a system," he said.
There is a limit to ignoring genuine aspirations of the people and suppressing their legitimate voice in running the affairs of the state, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday accused the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party of taking support from ex-militants for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the two parties want to take the Union territory back to its 'trouble-filled days'.
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.
The Thursday's meeting will be the first between the Centre and mainstream Jammu and Kashmir politicians after the abrogation of Article 370 and the divisions of the erstwhile state into two union territories in 2019.
"India cannot be run on the basis of one religion. And there is more threat from the enemy within. We know about the enemy which is outside," Abdullah said.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's power to nominate five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was at the centre of a political and legal debate on the eve of vote count, with the Congress and regional parties the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party on Monday opposing any such move during government formation.
Despite his Rs 13 crore assets, former Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has applied for a LPG cylinder subsidy.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended Kashmiri Pandit businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo's funeral on Wednesday.
Shah said "three families" are answerable to the people for their failure to develop Jammu and Kashmir over the past seven decades.
Since Sunday, a total of eight leaders have been released from preventive custody.
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
With the government planning to initiate a 'quiet dialogue, quiet diplomacy' to find a political solution to the Kashmir problem, Union minister and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday expressed hope that the process will give results.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti Friday sent a legal notice to former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik seeking Rs 10 crore compensation for his alleged "defamatory" remarks against her.
The tragedy struck the family on May 7 when they found themselves in the middle of intense Pakistani shelling at their rented accommodation in Poonch which was badly hit by the cross-border shelling.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
The top court was hearing a plea which referred to his statement on restoring Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and contended it clearly amounts to a seditious act and therefore he is liable to be punished under section 124-A of the IPC.
Amid controversy over the Gulmarg fashion show held during the month of Ramzan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said his government would have never given permission for such an event in any month of the year.
Private cars have come under stone-pelting at many places as the miscreants want to enforce shutdown.
On the Opposition's poll promise of statehood restoration, Shah said, "I want to ask Farooq Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi, who is going to restore the statehood. You cannot give it back. Why are you misleading the public?"
The Lok Sabha member from Srinagar was elected chairman of the PAGD after the first meeting of the amalgam at the residence of Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti.
A squad from the Jammu and Kashmir Resident Commissioner's office broke the outer gate of the bungalow and were taking out her belongings.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
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