It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday accused it of bringing in supporters from other parts of the state for Prime Mister Narendra Modi's rally in Srinagar.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Srinagar on Thursday on a six-day private visit to Kashmir during which he is scheduled to meet Tibetan refugees living in the valley.
A two-member team of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met Rohingya Muslims at a slum in Jammu amid a heated debate whether the illegally settled immigrants be provided water and electricity.
The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years.
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah for his dynastic politics jibe, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday termed it as "hypocrisy," saying the party should first "lecture" its friends in Maharashtra and Punjab.
Referring to Abdullah's comments, Saamana claimed that Congress actively contributed to AAP's defeat in at least 14 seats in Delhi, which could have been avoided.
A senior Jammu and Kashmir officer was allegedly slapped by a minister and later thrashed by his supporters for being late to an official function just by two minutes.
Because Indian Kashmiris have not allowed peace a chance in 60-plus years despite thousands of crores of taxpayers' money wasted on mollycoddling them and despite their being accorded a special status under Article 370, the time may have come to totally overhaul our Kashmir policy, suggests Virendra Kapoor.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday lambasted a particular category of the national leadership for 'discriminating' against the state.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata on Friday met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and expressed his desire to expand his group's activities in the state.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk called off his hunger strike as protests for Ladakh statehood and Sixth Schedule extension turned violent. The BJP office was set on fire, vehicles were torched, and clashes erupted, leading to the imposition of prohibitory orders.
For the second time in a week, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asserted that he would complete the full six-year term.
In the petition, Congress activist Tehseen Poonawalla ought withdrawal of 'curfew/restrictions' and release of leaders like former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed his support for Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been criticised for his inability to control the spiraling violence in the state.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance on Friday expressed concern in Parliament over reported threats to Sikhs from militants to convert to Islam or vacate Kashmir, prompting government to give an assurance that nobody would be allowed to harm the minority community.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the efforts of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are to denotify the Disturbed Areas from some places in the state, a move which will pave way for removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Anurag Thakur, chief of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has vowed to go ahead with the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra and hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day, despite strong objections from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.Omar had told newsmen on Wednesday that the BJP should not go ahead with the planned yatra and try to unfurl the tricolour in Srinagar, as it may disrupt the fragile peace in the state after months of protests.
Opposition People's Democratic Party on Thursday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of dragging the state assembly into the Afzal Guru issue and refusing to take a stand when the clemency resolution came up for discussion in the House.
Rejecting Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's warning, the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it would go head with its proposed 'Tiranga Yatra' from Kolkata to Kashmir on Wednesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the tension at the Line of Control and International Border across the state directly impacts the tranquillity and development process.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
In a virtual snub to separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, United States Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer on Friday said he met only Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his two-day visit to the state as he was the elected representative of the people. "The purpose of the visit is that he (chief minister) is the elected leader. The chief minister is the person who represents the people here in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
The statement comes after political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, claimed they were put under house arrest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that he would keep promises he had made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, a statement seen as an oblique reference to the demand for restoration of statehood voiced strongly by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has rubbished allegations by the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party about the death of a worker of the ruling National Conference allegedly in police custody. PDP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani so that the "judicial probe can proceed impartially'.
An enraged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the media for raking up only the case of hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and said law would take its own course.
India and Pakistan's decision to carry on with the dialogue process drew mixed response in Kashmir on Friday with mainstream parties welcoming it and separatists insisting that the Sharm-el-Sheikh meeting was "inconclusive" without the participation of Kashmiris.
The terrorists opened fire on the camp housing labourers of a private company working on construction of a tunnel Gund area in the district, officials said.
The people of Kashmir just get a tantalising glimpse of all the wonderful things the Centre and the state government have in store for them, only if they would just behave. But nothing sees the light of day.
The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the 'humane' projection of the perpetrators.
Barring Sopore and Pulwama, curfew was relaxed across Kashmir to allow people to offer special prayers on the occasion of a festival.The four-day-old curfew was relaxed in the entire valley on Friday night after a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to enable people to offer special prayers overnight at the Hazratbal shrine for Shab-e-Mehraj, an important occasion on the religious calendar.Some protestors came out in the streets in Qamarwari.
The Delhi High Court has ordered Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, alias Engineer Rashid, to deposit Rs 4 lakh with the prison authorities as travel expenses for attending Parliament. The court allowed Rashid to attend the ongoing Parliament session "in-custody" till April 4, but the NIA had raised concerns about him being a flight risk. Rashid has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him in a 2017 terror-funding case.
Clashes erupted in Srinagar on Sunday between the youth and security forces near the venue of the first-ever international half marathon in Kashmir valley.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday reiterated that he will not resign over the present crisis engulfing his state. "I know most of the media has been running stories about my resignation. I have no intention to resign," he told a TV channel during an interview. Abdullah refused to answer when asked if he enjoyed the confidence of the people and his coalition partner Congress.
'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.
Congress sources say this has become necessary in view of the reports originating from the valley that Mufti Mohammad Sayeed may refuse to hand over the chief minister's post
They said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle at Botapathri near Nagin post.
The ruling National Conference as well as the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir have welcomed the Delhi high court's decision granting bail to Liyaqat Shah who was arrested by police on charges of planning a terror strike in the national capital.
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
