Security forces were on Sunday deployed in strength in parts of Srinagar in the wake of fresh violence following death of a teenager, even as normal life remained affected elsewhere in the Valley for the 121st consecutive day due to separatist-sponsored strike.
Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.
Life across Kashmir Valley remained disrupted for the fifth day on Friday due to a strike called by Grand Mufti of the state over gutting of the 200-year-old Dastageer Sahib shrine even as restrictions continued on movement of people in the old city.
He also said in the Rajya Sabha that the people of the country have a predominant wish of retrieving the parts of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan since 1948.
'No Musharraf or Vajpayee can solve this problem till the people of Kashmir are involved,' JKLF leader Yasin Malik tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
'The Nagas want a flag of their own, to share the Kohima skyline with the national tricolour.' 'The the government says you can have a flag for cultural and ethnic occasions.' 'The Nagas say that will be a bit like an NGO having its own flag,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A driver by profession and a resident of Thandipora, was injured in a firing incident in the Thandipora area of Kupwara on Saturday.
In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio broadcast, Modi wished people on Dussehra and said that with various festivals coming up, they need to show patience and follow health guidelines in celebrating these auspicious occasions during the COVID times.
Kashmir was indeed in need of a messiah that summer; 70 per cent of its population aged below 31 were up in arms against the Indian State. Every nook and corner of the land brought forth stories of youngsters with crushed bodies and an unfaltering spirit.
Curfew was imposed in the Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley a day after four people were killed and 40 others wounded in security force firing at Gool in Ramban district of Jammu region.
The young couple defied the odds and came together in holy matrimony at a time of unrest.
This is the first time Chinese official media referred to Modi's remarks about PoK and Balochistan.
'They don't have a political strategy so they are going to try to deal with it purely as a law and order problem.' 'They will try to use the same strategy they have repeatedly used since 2014 in Kashmir.' 'Mr Modi has landed in a situation where he faces the possible prospect of not only being unable to Indianise Kashmir, but his actions may end up making the rest of India a virtual carbon copy of Kashmir.'
Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed led Jamat-ud-Dawah has set up various new fronts and established camps all over Pakistan to collect donations and sacrificial animals in the name of helping Kashmiris in India.
A magnificent display of India's cultural diversity through colourful parades across the length and breadth of the country marked the 71st Republic Day celebrations on Sunday which passed off peacefully, barring in Upper Assam, which was rocked by four explosions within a span of 10 minutes.
The district administration has also ordered closure of all colleges and higher secondary schools in Srinagar for Monday.
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
He said there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state.
The PM said there was a need to 'fight' rumours that the lockdown could be reimposed.
'By annoying the Arabs and cozying up to Iran, Pakistan may end up losing Arab economic support, annoying the Americans and increase Shia-Sunni tensions domestically,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) points out.
'The separatist resurgence in Balochistan is thwarting Pakistan's plans to build CPEC projects to optimally utilise Balochistan's energy reserves,' points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Pakistani Rangers and BSF troops exchanged fire along the International Border in Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior BSF officer said.
B D Pande was Punjab's governor during Operation Bluestar. In this excerpt from his memoir, In the Service of Free India: Memoir of a Civil Servant, Pande reveals what really went on behind the scenes during those dark days in India's history.
India on Monday told Bahrain that terrorism emanating from Pakistan remains its most important concern and support from across the border has incited the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a blow to Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's government, key partner Muttahida Quami Movement on Monday quit his government at the centre and also made an exit from the ruling coalition in the Sindh province, citing Pakistan Peoples Party's "undemocratic and dictatorial" attitude."
Did Xi deliver a message to Modi at Mamallapuram, which though couched in a velvet glove was time-bound? What was that message? It is clear Indian/Israeli/US spy satellites would not have missed detecting Chinese troop movements towards the Ladakh-Tibet frontier. Then why did some important functionaries in the Government of India choose to only ask the Russians about this in April 2020? Was Russian reassurance of Chinese troop movements being part of a routine exercise the reason that the Leh-based XIV Corps did not mobilise itself for its annual summer exercises near the LAC? A fascinating excerpt from Iqbal Chand Malhotra's new book Red Fear: The China Threat.
Security was strengthened in Pathankot and Gurdaspur especially Batala town with police along with army and Border Security Forces conducting massive checking operation.
Addressing a massive public rally to celebrate the signing of the accord on January 27 that is expected to bring lasting peace to the troubled state, Modi said now the time was to work together for peace and development of the North-East.
Pulwama must become the defining moment in our fight against terror, effecting a sea change in our mindset. The erratic, blow hot blow cold approach, the hallmark of our anti-terror-Pak-Kashmir policy must end. In its place is required a pragmatic, comprehensive, robust hard line course that is relentlessly pursued even in times of relative calm until the final objective is met, namely the eradication of separatism and the total annihilation of terror, says Vivek Gumaste.
Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links. Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi. Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Here are their brief profiles:
The move took place late last month and involved hardware being moved simultaneously by road and rail from across the entire region.
Curfew was clamped in Baramulla town of north Kashmir on Wednesday, which witnessed protests over the drowning of a student, even as authorities terminated the services of a policeman accused by locals of pushing him into the river.
The Jammu and Kashmir police placed several Hurriyat leaders under house arrest and imposed restrictions on the movement of people on Monday to foil separatists' plan to take out a march to express solidarity with the family of a teenager killed during a clash between demonstrators and security personnel last week.
A massive operation has been launched to track down the attackers, who fled the spot.
Pakistan Air Force Chief Marshal Sohail Aman said it is better if India showed restraint and solved the Kashmir issue to prevent escalation of tension.
The Padma Vibhushan for this year has been awarded to a total of seven prominent personalities, while 16 have been given the Padma Bhushan, 118 have been given the Padma Shri on the 71st Republic Day this year, they said.
Authorities today the curfew from Sopore town and restriction on movement of people across Kashmir Valley but life continued to remain disrupted due to a week-long shutdown called by the separatists. The situation in Batmaloo in central Srinagar was, however, tense following death of a youth in a road mishap involving a police vehicle in the locality on Monday morning.
The separatist leaders were told that "restrictions have been imposed on their movement in the national capital" ahead a possible talks between NSA Sartaj Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.