The political script for pre-2019 politics has gone with the wind and the writers of the new script seem in no great hurry to oblige the tormented, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Normal life was disrupted in the Kashmir valley on Tuesday due to a strike called by several organisations to protest against an anti-Islam film.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday and discussed the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir besides other issues.
'The terrorists will allow only those who practice their tenets to live in Kashmir,' argues Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The daughter of a businessman from Pune, who was killed in the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, has alleged that the terrorists specifically targeted male tourists after asking them to identify their religion. Asavari Jagdale, whose father Santosh Jagdale was killed in the attack, said the terrorists fired at her father and uncle after they failed to recite an Islamic verse. She also alleged that the terrorists blamed her family for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kashmir witnessed the season's heaviest snowfall.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Saturday met Home Minister P Chidambaram and discussed the prevailing situation in Kashmir. Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and patron of the ruling National Conference in the state, discussed with Chidambaram the steps being taken by the Centre and the state government to bring back normalcy in the state. Barring Sopore and Pulwama, curfew was lifted temporarily in the Kashmir valley.
The minimum temperature in Kashmir Valley dropped again after a day's respite, while the mercury appreciated in Ladakh region by over a degree, even as dry weather continues to prevail over the state.
There has been a decline in incidents of stone pelting, but it must stop altogether, he said.
A moderate intensity earthquake rocked Kashmir valley on Saturday afternoon, triggering panic among the residents.
While shops and business establishments remained closed for the ninth day as traders are on an indefinite strike against the implementation of value added tax, all modes of transport went off the roads on Thursday, the sources said.
Firmly backing the state government in dealing with the violence in the Kashmir valley, the Centre today said that anti-national forces that were fomenting trouble were clearly linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
Separatists and their wide network must be neutralized for peace in the Valley
Curfew-like situation prevailed in Kashmir Valley today, as authorities imposed stringent restrictions on the movement of people to prevent separatists from staging protest rallies during the day.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Rijiju complimented Rahul for promoting the excellent roads built in the Himalayan region under Modi's leadership.
An Amnesty International team, on a week-long visit to Kashmir valley to assess the situation on the human rights front, on Tuesday met a number of separatist leaders.
Since its release, the film has sparked a debate among the various political parties of India as well as the audiences.
Militant outfit Lasker-e-Tayiba plans to trigger blasts using trained women terrorists who will intermingle with protesters to carry out attacks as part of a strategy to intensify violence in Kashmir Valley, according to intelligence intercepts.
It is time we buried the mantra of 'peaceful and stable Pakistan is in our interest'. It is not, simply because Pakistan's existence -- that is synonymous with its army -- means peace has no chance, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd). It is time we buried the mantra of 'peaceful and stable Pakistan is in our interest' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd).
Police on Wednesday gunned down two militants, one of whom was the longest surviving militant in Kashmir valley.
The weekly flea market opened in Srinagar on Sunday as several vendors put up their stalls on the TRC Chowk-Polo View axis, the officials said.
A list of lesser-travelled destinations in India that you must explore this year!
'We called him Sher-e-Kashmir but we realised he was no lion but a pussycat who surrendered.'
Barring a clash between protesters and security forces which left one person injured in Sopore, situation in strike-hit Kashmir Valley remained calm though restrictions were imposed in parts of interior city where Hurriyat Conference had planned to hold a meeting.
Intercepts of communication between terrorist groups have suggested this.
Ahead of the all-party delegation's visit to Kashmir Valley next week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi held deliberations with senior party leaders on the strategy for the troubled state.
'If the National Conference and PDP make handsome electoral gains in the valley and call for the restoration of the former state's lost status, how will the rulers in Delhi respond?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
"Its time for India to lift these restrictions and afford Kashmiris the same rights and privileges as any other Indian citizen," it said.
Most of the public transport on inter-district and intra-city routes remained suspended but some private vehicles were seen plying on the roads, the sources said, adding no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the valley so far.
The ban will be in place for a month or till further orders, whichever is earlier, said an order issued by Principal Secretary Home R K Goyal.
Curfew was on Wednesday clamped in four districts of Kashmir Valley to foil a march by the separatists to the United Nations office in Srinagar demanding withdrawal of troops from Jammu and Kashmir.
The Kashmir Valley received fresh snow Sunday that blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway yet again. The blockade of the highway stranded hundreds of vehicles at various points on the highway.
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
Fourteen youths from Kashmir Valley have reportedly joined militant groups this year, the government told Parliament on Wednesday.
On August 5, the Narendra Modi-led government abrogated Article 370, which gave the state of Kashmir special powers, and decided to transform the state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Since then phone networks have been cut off and curfew-like restrictions have been imposed, leaving residents in a state of despair. On September 29, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attacked the Opposition for spreading "misinformation" about Kashmir. There were no "restrictions", he said -- they were "only in your mind". Sixty one days later, this is what normalcy looks like in the former state, particularly the Kashmir Valley.
Kashmir is reeling from a heat wave after the valley earlier this week witnessed the second-hottest September day in recorded history, causing hardships to locals and tourists alike.
The intensifying cold wave sweeping the Kashmir valley froze parts of the d famous Dal Lake located in the heart of Srinagar. This has made rowing difficult for fishermen and boatmen.
Rejecting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's statement that Kashmiri militants are terrorists, separatist leaders in the Kashmir Valley said he was 'ignorant about the sub-continent's history'.
