A lot of the factors towards which the government has pointed to justify its moves on Jammu and Kashmir are in fact valid. Only, most of them have little to do with Article 370, says David Devadas.
Indian sportsman has been arrested here on charges of sexually abusing a minor girl, days after he arrived in the US from Kashmir for a snowshoe competition.
Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the PDP, formed the Gupkar alliance on October 15 for restoration of special status of the erstwhile state and also to initiate a dialogue between all the stakeholders on the issue.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Centre and state governments have shied away from highlighting the ISI's attempts to displace Hindus and create corridors of sympathetic demography to further their designs especially along the communication arteries from Jammu to the Kashmir Valley.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
'The ideal thing that should be done in Kashmir is call for an election -- before the end of the year.'
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
The resolution said that any changes to the status of Jammu and Kashmir must be made with the direct consultation of the Kashmiri people, who must play a central role in the determination of their future.
Shahid Azmi, the defence lawyer in the 11/7 blasts case, defends the accused while damning the police and the investigation.
Paramilitary force personnel and state police force will be deployed and drone cameras will be used to ensure security on Friday.
AMU spokesman Shafay Kidwai said that show cause notices have been issued to nine students for trying to hold an unauthorised gathering Thursday.
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It was suspected that the scholar from Tikipora in Lolab area might have joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.
Top Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JuH) on Thursday passed a resolution stating that Kashmir is an 'integral part' of the country and said the welfare of the people in the valley lies in their integration with India.
Shehla doesn't and has never shied away from talking the tough talk and walking the tough walk, says Gurmehar Kaur.
Alia has connections with several places about the globe -- Gujarat, Kashmir, UP, Germany, England -- and hails from a splendidly multi-cultural family.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
Opposing a dialogue with Pakistan till it stops 'exporting' terror into Jammu and Kashmir, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina at an all-party meet in New Delhi on Thursday said those seeking engagement with the neighbouring country should meet the victims of violence to understand their pain.
Projecting BJP as a fresh option in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Congress "sneaks" into every government that is formed in the state but attacks these dispensations just before elections.
The protest outside the NRG stadium against Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's visit at the NRG Stadium was seemingly irrepressible, displaying signs saying 'Free Kashmir', '8 million people caged', 'Go back Modi' -- and worse.
'For a country that has successfully maintained its democracy for more than seventy years now, this sudden storm of hate is highly surprising.' 'My worry is that if the debate continues like that for some more time you will have an entire generation of Indians permanently inoculated with this germ of hatred.'
With logistical support from the government, outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed on Friday told his supporters that Pakistanis should come forward and help the Kashmiris in getting "freedom" from India.
The founder of Lashkar-e-Tayiba also vowed to continue supporting Kashmiris.
'See how much they lie, father is a Muslim, mother a Christian, son is Brahmin. How did it come?'
In the Kashmir Valley, we need to begin to make a distinction between an insurgent who fights the security forces and a terrorist who murders unarmed civilians, suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Shehbaz, the 70-year-old younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has served as chief minister of the country's most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
'If Modi had followed Vajpayee in Kashmir, then there would have been absolutely no problem in Kashmir.'
'The Kashmiri identity and its unique blend of Sufi Islam, its culture and language can best survive in a plural and secular India.' 'Neither independence nor merger with Pakistan can achieve that objective.' 'Peace will return to Kashmir only when Kashmiris realise this, else they will be part of the 1,000- year war,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
It may well be possible to defeat Modi. But nobody seems to know how, points out Vir Sanghvi.
The Shahbaz Sharif family (his two wives and their children) invested PkRs 277 crore in 13 companies without having known sources of income.
The UPA's failure to reach out to Kashmiris and the NDA's 'anti-Muslim' stance has fuelled anger in the Kashmir valley.
'They know it can embarrass them, as this surely isn't 1962.' 'They also know the moment they fire the first shot, all insecure powers in their front-yard, Australia to Japan and all the way westwards to India, will be brought together overnight, not something the deputy superpower wants,' says Shekhar Gupta.
As and when the pandemic recedes from these shores, rebuilding the economy will be the biggest challenge for Modi in the remaining three years of his term, observes Virendra Kapoor.
According to a National Crime Records Bureau report, a total of 356 cases of sedition -- as defined under section 124A of the IPC -- were registered and 548 people arrested between 2015 and 2020, out of which only six were convicted.
A PDP-BJP alliance would have been formed on the evening of December 28 had the BJP agreed to let Mufti Mohammad Sayeed become chief minister for the first three years and allow the BJP to nominate its chief minister for the next three years.
Saeed accused Rajnath Singh of being "responsible for the killings of innocent Kashmiris".
India's action is unacceptable, says US Senator Bernie Sanders.
'Modi has missed the bus in Kashmir.'