The former J-K CM said Shardapeeth in Pak-administered Kashmir is an outstanding relic of Kashmir's glowing history.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ravinder Raina is going to miss voting for his party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the party has not fielded any candidate from his home town which falls in Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency.
"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).
"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.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Nagrota MLA Devender Singh Rana, brother of Union minister Jitendra Singh, died on Thursday at a private hospital in Haryana's Faridabad. He was 59.
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.
Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has included Mishaal Hussain Malik, wife of jailed terrorist and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, in his cabinet.
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.'
While pitching for better ties between India and Pakistan, she called for immediate peace on the borders.
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.
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.
Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir assure Mehbooba Mufti of the Centre's support.
"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said. "How long can you have a confrontation?"
'My mother feels it will be tough and emotional for her to enter an assembly which has essentially been reduced to a municipality now.' 'My opinion is that even if it is a municipality one cannot cede that space to the BJP.'
The bypoll assumes significance as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is seeking her election to the assembly from the constituency.
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
The National Conference-Congress alliance won the recent Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections and is set to form the government. NC vice president Omar Abdullah will be the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Peoples Democratic Party seem set to form the new government in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti acted single-mindedly right from day one of the three month-long crisis.' 'She pursued her chosen administrative course, unmindful of the menacing jingoistic drum beating in the coalition backyard.' 'At one point, I asked her if she was willing to pay the price for taking her line of action to its logical conclusion.' '"Yes," was her spontaneous response,' reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.
'There is no link between Article 370 abrogation and a rise in voting percentage.'
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's all-party meet, People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said peace in the region cannot be restored without undoing the 'illegal' and 'unconstitutional' act of revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Even though her name is familiar to many newspaper readers familiar with the terrorist violence in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s, Dr Rubaiya Sayeed has rarely been seen in public, unlike her father the late Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed or her sister Mehbooba Mufti, another former J&K chief minister.
The chief minister said there is a need to take "bold measures to address the issue as the people of Jammu and Kashmir were our own".
In her maiden speech at a political rally, Sunita also asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as Chief Minister.
The security forces, however, reserve the right to retaliate if attacked or if essential to protect the lives of innocent people.
She also sought confidence building measures to be undertaken on the lines of those initiated in 2002.
She termed the unilateral ceasefire and the offer of dialogue by the Centre as an opportunity that does not come every day.
PDP said the coalition will move forward on the basis of last year's 'Agenda of Alliance' which encompasses all issues -- political and economic.
Amid the 'intolerance' debate, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, a constituent of ruling the NDA, on Friday lashed out at those saying "go to Pakistan", asserting that the "nation owns us and we own the nation".
Addressing the sixth convocation at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the chief minister said the heinous act of the perpetrators "has shocked us as a society" and showed that the value system was facing a crisis.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed ally Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray's MP Sanjay Raut for his remarks on Haryana poll outcome, stressing that accusations against Congress won't be tolerated.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
Officials said the authorities took 20 leaders, including Sartaj Madni, Mansoor Hussain and Naeem Akhtar of the PDP, into preventive custody during the day.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday put the onus on the People's Democratic Party over the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, and said that they do not have any objection to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti becoming the chief mkinister.
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
Mehbooba also became the second Muslim woman to become the chief minister of any state in India.
Holding Pakistan responsible for the violence in the valley, the J-K CM said hat if Islamabad is really concerned then it will try to help in fixing the crisis rather than fanning the flames.
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