A massive controversy is raging in Jammu and Kashmir after a plaque with the Ashoka emblem was vandalised in the Hazratbal shrine as parties on Saturday accused Waqf Board chief Darakshan Andrabi of hurting religious sentiments by using the national emblem in the mosque and demanded registration of a criminal case and her immediate removal.
The PDP said the party will take a call on government formation in the state as and when it is confident that it can fulfill the vision and mission of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday appealed to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to remove the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Gagran in Shopian district where four persons were killed in firing by the force personnel on Saturday.
'The Congress backstabbed us and the BJP frontstabbed us.' 'This is the only difference between the two parties.'
The PDP elected the 56 year old unanimously to succeed her father.
In an open letter to Mehbooba Mufti, the National Conference leader said "to dilly-dally is the biggest disservice you can do" to people of the state as they should not be denied an elected government.
Since Sunday, a total of eight leaders have been released from preventive custody.
In a bid to control the damage over continuing protests, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said the security forces were not aware of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani's presence during the raid at his hideout in which he was killed.
Gupkar Alliance, which includes mainstream political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, has accepted the invitation of the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24.
The alleged torture of five civilians by Army personnel in Kishtwar has triggered angry reactions from various political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, notably from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has demanded a transparent investigation and court martial for those found guilty.
Kashmiri girl Zaira Wasim, who played the younger version of Indian wrestler Geeta Phogat in Aamir Khan-led Bollywood blockbuster "Dangal", on Monday apologised for "offending" and "unintentionally hurting" people after her meeting with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti kicked up a row.
Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, set to be the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is likely to be sworn-in on April four.
"The charge that the two ministers were pro-rapist is absolutely wrong. It was sheer indiscretion on their part," Madhav said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday slammed the government for invoking the Public Safety Act against former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah and said detention without charges is the worst abomination in a democracy.
The announcement came after PAGD leaders met at Abdullah's Gupkar Road residence in Srinagar to discuss the Centre's invitation.
She said the prime minister who resolves the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and ends bloodshed in the state will have his name written in "golden letters" in the history.
Speaking to rediff.com from Kolkata airport, Sitaram Yechuri said that his party's stand is that if the AFSPA could be withdrawn in some areas of North East, why can't the the same be done in Kashmir. "For instance the AFSPA is now implemented in Tripura and some other states, which goes to shows that different strategy could be adopted for different situations," he said.
The biggest electoral upset in the state was witnessed in Anantnag with National Conference candidate and former high court judge Hasnain Masoodi defeating former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
She also advised people not to watch debates on television channels which only foment hatred between the two warring nations as well as the Muslims of Kashmir and the rest of the country.
My head hangs in shame, says Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
"There is a need to apply balm to the wounds of Kashmiri people," she said.
'You have to fight a lot of forces. To fight these forces and ensure control of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, it is important the central government should fully stand behind us.'
In first signs of ending the over a month-long impasse with regard to government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav on Wednesday held formal talks with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti during a brief visit in Srinagar.
Abdullah said if the gap between the communities is to be bridged, the hateful campaigns like The Kashmir Files film and incessant Hindu-Muslim debates on the media have to be stopped.
The former J-K CM said Shardapeeth in Pak-administered Kashmir is an outstanding relic of Kashmir's glowing history.
"It (JK) is not a political issue as far as I can see. They have been barking up the wrong tree for the last 50 or 70 years by talking about the politics of it, that the political situation has never improved. We seriously need to look at in terms of how it is a society that is in search for itself," Drabu had said at an event organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on Friday.
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (both of separate Hurriyat Conference factions) and Yasin Malik of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front issued a joint statement here, rubbishing her and her offer.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that 'unless a congenial atmosphere was created in the state, well meaning initiatives like the internal dialogue or resumption of Indo-Pak talks will fail to takeoff.'
"We are the people, especially in the Kashmir Valley, who upheld the tricolour high over the years at the cost of thousands of our workers who were martyred," Mufti told reporters in Jammu at the end of her five-day visit to Jammu -- her first after release from over one-year-long detention under the Pubic Safety Act (PSA).
While pitching for better ties between India and Pakistan, she called for immediate peace on the borders.
'I am committing suicide because I was subject to torture and humiliation in the police station.'
The statement comes after political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, claimed they were put under house arrest.
Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
The decision came after the PDP's core group met for the first time on Sunday following the demise of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
The sources said consultations with some of the ministries have been undertaken and the state may soon witness the end of governor's rule.
Delhi is set to get its third woman chief minister, after Congress' Sheila Dikshit and Bharatiya Janata Party's Sushma Swaraj, as Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has been chosen to succeed Arvind Kejriwal.
Deadlock over government formation in J&K seems to have ended with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday calling on PM Narendra Modi, a meeting which she described as "very positive" and "good" in addressing issues pertaining to the people of the state.
'They keep issuing statements to win a few rounds of applause.'
