A total of 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
'They keep issuing statements to win a few rounds of applause.'
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.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
'Right now, we have no relationship with Pakistan. And the relationship with China is not great.'
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.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread -- their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles.
'Often people outside paint a wrong picture of us of Kashmiris. We are not like that. We are cool and bindaas,' said the lady, a teacher, caressing my cheeks in the pressing crowds.
"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said. "How long can you have a confrontation?"
Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir assure Mehbooba Mufti of the Centre's support.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Peoples Democratic Party seem set to form the new government in Jammu and Kashmir.
The bypoll assumes significance as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is seeking her election to the assembly from the constituency.
'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.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
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".
Several politicians, including the former J-K chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, have condemned the action by police, alleging that it will disaffect the youths with such an extreme punishment.
She also sought confidence building measures to be undertaken on the lines of those initiated in 2002.
They said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle at Botapathri near Nagin post.
The security forces, however, reserve the right to retaliate if attacked or if essential to protect the lives of innocent people.
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.
'If you post on social media on an issue like power cuts in Tral, the police will come to your home and tell you to remove your social media post.' 'If you don't, then the local police threaten you that they will book you under PSA.' 'This is happening all the time in Kashmir.'
Their leader is now Lalu Prasad Yadav, a convict in several corruption cases, he added.
A terror attack on tourists in the Pahalgam area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district has left several injured. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha condemned the attack and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack, calling it an abomination. Several political leaders from the region have denounced the attack and called for a thorough investigation. The attack has raised serious questions about the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, with the incident being described as the most unfortunate and shameful act by the JKPCC.
PDP said the coalition will move forward on the basis of last year's 'Agenda of Alliance' which encompasses all issues -- political and economic.
She termed the unilateral ceasefire and the offer of dialogue by the Centre as an opportunity that does not come every day.
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".
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.
They said police parties fanned out to find them amid reports that they had been abducted and killed by terrorists.
Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday accused the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party of taking support from ex-militants for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the two parties want to take the Union territory back to its 'trouble-filled days'.
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.
The Jammu Development Authority (JDA) demolished a dozen shops belonging to displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu city, allegedly without issuing notices, sparking protests from various sections demanding action against the officials. The shops were located on JDA land and had been built by displaced Kashmiri Pandits near the Muthi camp three decades ago. The demolition drive sparked outrage from political parties, including the BJP, PDP and Apni Party, and several Kashmir Pandit organisations, who condemned the JDA's action and called for the construction of new shops to help the displaced community sustain their livelihood.
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 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.
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.
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.
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
See what they have made up of Syria, see the situation of Afghanistan and Iraq. God forbid, does Farooq (Abdullah) want our situation similar to them? Or he wants our state to prosper?" the chief minister asked.
