A leader of Shiv Sena, a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, on Monday accused the Narendra Modi government of "compromising" on Hindutva issues and termed BJP's coalition with Peoples Democratic Party in Kashmir as "treason".
"The Kashmiri people, like people everywhere, deserve their fundamental human rights... They should live free of fear and repression," Malala said.
"The way out is through dialogue. Use your friends... Use them for dialogue to resolve the issue," he said.
Security expert A S Dulat suggests that a government of reconciliation with Kashmir's mainstream political parties could help begin a dialogue with New Delhi and later the separatists. The Congress needs to let go of the levers of power in the troubled state.
The official said that US President Trump, during his meeting with Modi in France will likely want to hear how he intends to calm regional tensions in the aftermath of his decisions on Kashmir.
The meeting comes close on the heels of home minister's return from Jammu and Kashmir after wrapping up his two day visit to troubled Kashmir.
Contrary to expectations, Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday did not make a direct offer to the separatists for a dialogue, but said the Central government was working to find a unique and acceptable solution to the Jammu and Kashmir problem.
There are no heroes or villains in No Fathers in Kashmir, but only helpless characters, who perhaps don't have a choice other than learning to live with what they're subjected to, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that a solution to the Kashmir dispute is critical for better ties between Pakistan and India. He also emphasised that there was a dire need to resolve the issue in accordance with the aspirations of Kashmiris. Qureshi further said that the Pakistan government had invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resume the composite dialogue, which was necessary for ensuring peace in the region.
'The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, as recent events suggest, are quite content as New Delhi's collaborators rather than trying to be true representatives of the Kashmiri people,' says Athar Parvaiz.
The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
Violence and militancy were no solution to "political problems," Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday, as he sought an "honourable, equitable and peaceful resolution" of the Kashmir issue.
Dr Abdullah has said his party is open to other suggestions.
'Much as the Palestinian issue remains the core obstacle to peace in the Middle East, the question of Kashmir must be addressed in some meaningful way to bring stability to this region,' he said. He hoped the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan will work towards a 'just and reasonable' solution to the issue.
Schools in the Valley will reopen next week, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam said.
The new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, an event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and watched by lakhs of people on television at their homes and in temples across the country.
'While all would agree on the need to be ready to launch cross-border strikes on terror camps, there is sharp disagreement on how best to do it.' 'Through IAF fighters, or surface-to-surface missiles?' 'Or should army Special Forces be created to do the job?' 'If air strikes are the agreed priority, additional funding must be made available for the purchase of fighters and missiles.' 'If it is to be Special Forces, the army must be facilitated in raising a Special Forces Command,' notes Ajai Shukla.
The valley is under the iron grip of the armed forces and Pakistan does not have the military power or political support to change the status quo, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), after a recent visit to Kashmir.
Musharraf's proposals included demilitarisation, self rule and joint management of Kashmir.
The commanders present in Delhi gathered at the South Block in Raisina Hills area, while many others joined the deliberations virtually.
'Whether it was a habitual expression of post truth or an open offer to India and Pakistan, even Imran Khan could not have believed it,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Terming the report of the Centre's interlocutors as "ambiguous", senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh on Monday said any solution to the complex Jammu and Kashmir issue lay within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. "The report of the interlocutors on Kashmir lacks clarity and is ambiguous," the former BJP president said.
Separatists and mainstream Peoples Democratic Party have been dismissive of the report submitted by Kashmir interlocutors to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram Wednesday.
Former R&AW chief A S Dulat, India's foremost expert on the Kashmir issue, argues that the central government should offer Kashmiri separatists a solution in line with the accord signed by Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah in 1975.
'The heart of the matter is that India is not Israel.'
"The government of India should come up with its roadmap to Kashmir. We would welcome its proposals on the resolution of the long-standing dispute of Kashmir," the Hurriyat chief said.
Tragically, the Congress party is perhaps the only party with the credentials to resolve the Kashmir question. It could have done so in the decade it was in office, and when India was in a position of strength. Now, India seems to be headed for a period of political instability along with an economic downturn. New Delhi's clout is weakening, says Amberish K Diwanji.
The Hizbul Mujahideen chief said he could not back their peace moves or any future Kashmir solution unless hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken on board, local media reported.
'Pakistan had almost disappeared from Kashmir.' 'Now in the last three, four years we have brought Pakistan back again by not handling Kashmir properly.'
Our focus is not on substance, but communicating how we did not shake hands and how we made angry faces. This is what India's foreign policy has become, notes Aakar Patel.
General Rawat, who served extensively in Kashmir through his tenure, said the concept of Kashmiryat had to be brought back in the valley.
Making a fresh demand for a result-oriented dialogue, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front on Monday demanded setting up of Kashmir committees in India and Pakistan to find an everlasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
"Deeply anguished at the loss of precious lives in the incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. I also pray for the speedy recovery of those injured," he said.
Bidyasagar Behera used to sell newspapers for a living. But that did not stop him from pursuing his education.
Stone-pelting youth were not giving up their lives for tourism but for resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the wishes of its people, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said.
'The relationship between Kashmiri Pandits and Article 370 is vexed.' 'Sentiment in Jammu towards Article 370 was largely unfavourable and Jammu resented being lumped with Kashmir and placed on a different footing from the rest of India.'
Chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, deliberately chose the national day of Kashmir on Monday to protest against the Centre -- for not including the people of the state in finding out an amicable solution to the Jammu and Kashmir problem by holding talks with Pakistan.
Observing that the Barack Obama administration is looking at Pakistan through a different lens than its predecessors, a former American diplomat on Wednesday said that the new United States government would quietly focus itself on Kashmir, away from the public gaze. William Milam, the former US Ambassador to Pakistan, identified Kashmir as one of the issues on which the Obama administration would focus on while trying to find a solution to Pakistan.
Those who believe in Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat are welcome to talk, he said.
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