Around 15,000 people, including women and children from all over the troubled Kashmir valley, assembled at the Bakshi stadium, which used to be mostly empty during I-Day celebrations.
The SOS Children's Villages of India plans to establish a school and a children's village in the valley.
Congress called the new J-K CM's statement anti-national.
Blackwill is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, political leaders and some prominent residents, the sources said.
Seventeen-year-old Mushtaq Wani died when the police opened fire at people protesting the alleged beating of some civilians by the army.
All security arrangements are in place for the rally, which will be the centrepiece of Vajpayee's two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.
'Let me urge introspection: can any country take us seriously as an ally given India's record of appeasing terrorists?' asks TVR Shenoy.
'We had to respect the sentiments of the people of Jammu as our party was elected from Jammu.'
Major portfolios like home, finance and education were on Tuesday allocated to People's Democratic Party ministers by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who will himself hold the charge of home ministry.
People's Democratic Partypatron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will head a 25-member cabinet, half of it from Bharatiya Janata Party, in Jammu and Kashmir and the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday in Jammu will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Malik began his indefinite hunger strike on Friday morning after the Centre did not respond to his plea that he be allowed to physically appear in a Jammu court hearing the Rubaiya Sayeed abduction case, in which he is an accused.
Notwithstanding protests by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, he said the first session of the newly elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is "short in duration but historic in terms of agenda".
'The ISI wanted to create internal disruption in the Valley by the killing of the security forces.'
Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time on February 27 after which a swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on March 1, two months after the results for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls were announced.
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.
J&K CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Monday asked his ministers to work to rebuild the system and to restore credibility.
The Centre said it did not endorse the controversial statement of Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
60-year-old Mehbooba Mufti had been under preventive detention since August 5 last year, when the Centre announced abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution granting a special status and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
The People's Democratic Party which has emerged as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir appears to be in the pole position to form the government in the 87 member Assembly. Rediff.com brings you images from the ground.
Malik began his indefinite strike on Friday as he had threatened to earlier this month.
Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday said it is in a "difficult" situation over choosing a post-poll ally as election trends show that it won't be able to form government on its own.
Putting an end to speculations on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Saturday said "track two" dialogue with the Bharatiya Janata Party is in progress.
Gandhi's flying into Srinagar to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that the PDP and the BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
Mufti, who reached New Delhi on Monday for talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership, has called for a legislature party meeting on March 24.
The 2 sides are trying to iron out differences over Article 370 and AFSPA.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday condoled the death of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and said his contribution to public service will always be remembered.
As indicated earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend the get together at the Rashtrapati Bhawan like last year.
The sources said consultations with some of the ministries have been undertaken and the state may soon witness the end of governor's rule.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's message is loud and clear that anyone acting against the unity, sovereignty, and integrity of the nation will not be spared and face the full wrath of the law.
Congress on Sunday took a dig at the PDP-BJP alliance, saying that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed should be "careful" about the conversion agenda being pursued by the saffron party.
Efforts to revive the Bharatiya Janata Party-People's Democratic Party coalition in Jammu and Kashmir have hit a roadblock with BJP making it clear that government cannot be formed on the basis of conditions.
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
Major opposition political parties and separatists groups in J&K on Wednesday slammed the move of the government to create separate townships for Kashmiri pandit migrants.
Mehbooba Mufti will be CM while Nirmal Singh will again be the deputy chief minister in the new cabinet, a post he had held in the Mufti Mohammed Syeed's dispensation.
The letter claims that the order for Alam's release was sent in February
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