'This election was the first opportunity where Kashmiris told the world they do not agree with the Centre's policies and are unhappy about their disempowerment.'
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
His statement comes two days after the Congress Working Committee deplored the manner in which the government stripped J&K of its special status by scrapping provisions of Article 370, and bifurcated the state.
After multiple attacks in Kashmir Valley, a ruling National Conference leader on Tuesday night kicked up a controversy alleging that army may have had a hand but later sought to defuse the row saying he has not accused any security agency of involvement.
The parties reiterated that they are bound, wholly, by the contents of the 'Gupkar Declaration', a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019 at the Gupkar residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah.
The notification of the Act comes just a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was asked when the legislation would be implemented. The minister had said the law ministry was framing the rules.
The National Conference, the People's Democratic Party and the Congress on Saturday said they will take a call on attending a meeting with the prime minister in Delhi after deliberations within their respective parties, while the Bharatiya Janata Party expressed hope that all invitees will take part in the all-party deliberations.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended Kashmiri Pandit businessman Makhan Lal Bindroo's funeral on Wednesday.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has indicated that the Congress party is in alignment with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on major foreign policy issues like the relationship with the United States, no talks with Pakistan unless the flow of terrorism is stopped, concerns over extremist elements in Bangladesh and Israel.
Congress sources said party president Rahul Gandhi met Lt Gen Hooda and discussed the modalities of the panel.
An unidentified militant shot and critically wounded a prominent member of the National Conference in south Kashmir's Tral town on Friday afternoon. "The militant fired pistol rounds from a close range at Abdul Salam Bhat, the block president of NC, at Tral market on Friday afternoon," a senior police officer said. "Bhat was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. A search to find the militant is going on in the area," he said.
This is the third killing of a local elected representative by militants in Jammu and Kashmir this month.
National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a money laundering case in Delhi on May 31, official sources said on Friday.
Militants on Friday evening shot at and killed an activist of the ruling National Conference in the Hajin town of north Kashmir's Bandipore district.
Militants shot at and wounded an activist of the ruling National Conference in Koil village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday evening.
The United Nations General Assembly, heeding to a call by Prime Minister Modi, had made a declaration in December 2014 to observe June 21 every year as IDY.
"Several innocent people have been killed and I strongly feel violence should come to an end," Abdullah said.
The National Conference called the meeting after remarks related to the addition of voters in the revised rolls by the Union Territory's chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar raised hackles of the regional parties.
Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi, All India Congress Committee general secretary organisation K C Venugopal and AICC general secretary, communications Jairam Ramesh, said the Bharat Jodo Yatra has so far covered 3,122 km from Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari to the Red Fort in Delhi.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has convened an all-party meeting in Srinagar on Monday to discuss ways to contain the violence that has engulfed the valley, according to an official spokesman. The chief minister will hold a meeting of legislators of the coalition partners on Sunday. The ruling coalition comprises Abdullah's National Conference and the Congress. The decision to hold an all-party meeting is part of the chief minister's initiative to reach out.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Carrying placards, the opposition members tried to disrupt the governor's address thrice.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was on Friday caught on camera talking on his mobile phone when the national anthem was being played.
On Thursday, several people from all walks of life protested demanding the return of Dr Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat's bodies for a proper burial by their families.
Gandhi donned a black raincoat over a white T-shirt. The yatra was scheduled to start at 7 am but was delayed by an hour and fifteen minutes apparently due to the inclement weather.
The former Congress president is currently on a tour of Ladakh -- his first since the region was made a Union territory after being carved out of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 -- and is likely to visit Kargil next week.
It added that there had been several reminders from the club to the government for freeing the communication of newspaper offices, journalists and the club itself.
Was the decision taken by the Centre on August 5, 2019 to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, constitutionally valid? The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Monday on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.
"Through dialogue, our (Kashmir) issue will also be resolved. War is not a solution," National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir can be held "anytime from now" as the work on updation of voters list is almost over, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday but remained non-committal about setting a time-frame for restoration of statehood to the Union territory (UT).
Union Minister and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that Pakistan might disrupt the fragile peace process in Jammu and Kashmir. "The turbulent days are slowly getting over. But I want to tell you that we are very scared. I am still scared of my neighbour (Pakistan) and it is not wrong because a very dangerous situation is developing. May God bless them with wisdom and strengthen democracy (in Pakistan)," Farooq told the media at an event in Delhi.
'It is not about trusting the governor but the ground situation not matching with what he has said,' Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement chief Shah Faesal, who was one of the leaders to meet the governor tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
But he maintained that the cases against his son for attacking officials was as conspiracy against him.
Throwing his party's weight behind the Congress to ensure an Opposition win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said arguments by some favouring a front without the grand old party should be rejected.
The president and other office-bearers of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement, a political outfit floated by IAS officer Shah Faesal in 2019, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi on Thursday.
Four persons, including a Pakistani terrorist and his accomplice, were killed in a gunfight in Hyderpora locality of Srinagar late Monday evening. The dead also included the house owner and a doctor, whom police dubbed as 'terror associates'.
"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."
Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by terrorists in Eidgah area of Srinagar amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
For the first time in 25 years since the start of militancy in Kashmir, the separatists have not called for a general strike on Martyrs' Day on Monday in view of the fasting month of Ramzan.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday dismissed National Conference leader Omar Abdullah's plea seeking divorce from his estranged wife on grounds of cruelty, saying there was no merit in his appeal.
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