Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone criticizes the Hurriyat Conference for its irrelevance and Pakistan for creating problems in Jammu and Kashmir, urging a new approach for the region's future.
Three men have been arrested in Mussoorie after a video went viral showing them assaulting two Kashmiri shawl vendors. The incident sparked outrage and led to the return of 16 Kashmiri shawl vendors to the Kashmir valley.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the 'unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives' of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs in Srinagar.
Former separatist leader Bilal Gani Lone has entered mainstream politics, aiming to represent his father's legacy and address the issues facing Kashmiri youth.
Police conduct raids at bookshops in Kashmir to seize banned books promoting false narratives and glorifying terrorism, following a government order. The ban and subsequent raids have drawn criticism from authors and political leaders.
The separatist amalgam appealed to the international community to intervene in putting an end to the daily violence and tragic loss of life in Kashmir by "pushing for the resolution of the lingering Kashmir conflict, which is the root cause of all this suffering".
Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the Pahalgam attack, calling it an "act beyond belief" and "totally unacceptable." He also called for unity and condemned the communal narrative surrounding the incident, urging the government to allow him to visit the injured and offer condolences to the families affected.
The protesters assembled outside the office of the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat at Rajbagh in Srinagar and held a protest.
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
Political parties, cutting across affiliations and ideologies, Friday welcomed the Kashmir rail link inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hoping for a boost in trade and tourism in the valley.
Kashmiri Pandit social activist Sandeep Mawa placed two National Flags on the gate of the head office of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference in the Rajbagh area of Srinagar on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.
Hurriyat in touch with Kashmiri Pandits
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
The panel discussion titled 'Kashmir: From Turmoil to Transformation' was held on Thursday. It was moderated by columnist Se Hoon Kim and addressed by president of the Jammu and Kashmir Workers Party Mir Junaid, and Touseef Raina, president of the Municipal Council of Baramulla.
Pakistan on Thursday called Kashmiri separatists "freedom fighters", a day after Defence Minister Arun Jaitley asked the country to draw a red line and decide whether it wants to talk to government or those who want to break India.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of raising questions on sensitive defence matters in Parliament after his marriage to a British citizen. Sarma alleged that Gogoi's wife, Elizabeth Colburn, has links with the Pakistani establishment, including working for an organisation allegedly a front for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Gogoi has rejected the allegations as "baseless" and said the BJP is trying to divert attention from its own failures.
Officials said both the factions of the Hurriyat are likely to be banned under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or the UAPA, under which "if the Central Government is of opinion that any association is, or has become, an unlawful association, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful."
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
None of its candidates won. Most of them lost badly.
Pakistan has summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad to the ministry of foreign affairs and handed over a demarche to him conveying Islamabad's strong condemnation of the framing of "fabricated charges" against Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik.
Puran Krishan was attacked near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir district, they said, adding that doctors declared Krishan brought dead after he was shifted to Shopian hospital.
While Jamaat cannot take part in the elections due to the ban imposed on it by the Union home ministry, it had shown interest in participating in the polls during the Lok Sabha elections if the ban were removed.
'There is no point in just saying, 'hum wapas bhej denge (we will send Kashmiri Pandits back)'.'
While a verified Twitter handle of the Information and Public Relations department of Shopian claimed that the news about leaving of 'Kashmiri non-migrant Hindu population' was 'baseless', Ashwani Kumar Bhat, whose brother Puran Krishan Bhat was gunned down by terrorists on October 16, told reporters in Jammu that he has migrated and will never return to the Valley.
Moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was placed under house arrest on Wednesday, a day ahead of his proposed rally to commemorate the death anniversary of his father who was assassinated by gunmen in 1990, the conglomerate said.
Shah was arrested on July 25, 2017 with six others, facing trial in an alleged terror funding case probed by the NIA.
'We want New Delhi and Islamabad to include Kashmiris in the talks while addressing the Kashmir issue,' Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Abbas Ansari said.
'Article 370 is now dug 70 feet deep in the ground. It cannot come out.'
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.
National Conference President Omar Abdullah on Thursday termed as "unfortunate" the non-participation of Hurriyat Conference in the maiden Kashmiri leadership conference held in Pakistan.
Hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had asked the non-Kashmiri work force to leave the valley after the rape-and-murder of 14-year-old Tabinda Jan in Langate area of Kupwara district in which 2 labourers were allegedly involved.
Geelani also criticised porous borders, self-governance and other formulas being put forth by the Pakistan President, General Parvez Musharraf, to meet India midway in resolving the Kashmir dispute.
As per the Simla Agreement, all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan should be treated as bilateral ones, while the Hurriyat has been insisting that it be made a party to talks to resolve the Kashmir problem.
A visiting delegation of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Sunday met leaders from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. The Hurriyat delegation, led by the group's chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, met the political leadership of PoK in Muzaffarabad.
Hard-line Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has asked Kashmiris to desist from allowing people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to stay with them as tenants.
The Hurriyat leader has initiated some steps for return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley and held talks with their representatives in this regard.
Hurriyat softliners to meet Pandit leaders in Jan
Former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Girish Chandra Saxena has dealt with Hurriyat leaders for many years. Here he paints Hurriyat's profile exclusively for rediff.com.