Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Hindus of Jammu and the Buddhists of Leh find themselves in precisely the same position as did supporters of the Muslim League in pre-Partition India, only now the actors have reversed their roles.'
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday made serious allegations against the Congress and said the grand old party has in its election manifesto expressed its intention to implement the 'Sharia law' in the country and redistribute people's property.
Three terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag.
The external affairs minister also said that Pakistan openly practises terrorism and there is no scope for negotiations until Islamabad reins in its financing and recruitment of militant groups.
Kashmir has a deep resonance inside Pakistan and the tense situation in the Valley acts as bait and encourages radical elements 'to wage jihad to liberate fellow Muslims', says former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.
A Kashmiri Pandit himself, Kaul feels, it is time now for the people to move forward, after more than 30 years of unbridled violence.
In an emphatic victory for the Modi government, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld its decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution that bestowed special status upon the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, ordered restoration of statehood "at the earliest" and set a September 30, 2024, deadline for holding the assembly elections.
"We reaffirm that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India," spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said.
"Last time I stood, I was not allowed to speak. The ruling party paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP," she said, referring to her suspension in the last session.
RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya has accused Vice President Hamid of speaking like a "communal Muslim leader".
Muslim population in India has grown by 24 per cent between 2001 and 2011 against national average of 18 per cent with the community's representation rising to 14.2 per cent from 13.4 percent of total population.
The Pakistani president also said Islamic countries should grapple with terrorism, which causes 'more loss of life within the Muslim world'.
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.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
It was an emotional reunion of Kashmiri Pandits visiting the valley for the first time since their migration about two decades ago, and local Muslims on the occasion of annual Khir Bhawani mela at Tulmulla in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
'The political environment makes it extremely difficult for youngsters to be hopeful about their lives, and focus on their dreams.'
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
'They have the same pet peeves, the same ruse, the same beliefs, the same justifications.' 'All terrorists thrive on the premise that by perpetuating violence and bloodshed on innocents, they are justifying the injustices done to their community.'
PoK PM Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan supported the division of the state between Hindu and Muslim majority areas.
'For the women of a community whose seclusion has been a byword of their lifestyle to take to the streets as a means of protest is an unprecedented event,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
There is a great danger of the government getting stampeded into actions in Kashmir that could result in long lasting damage, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Monday recommended setting up of an 'impartial truth and reconciliation commission' to probe and report on human rights violations by both state and non-state actors in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1980s, saying the 'wounds need healing'.
The mood was subdued with roads deserted across large swathes of the Valley, the silence broken only by police sirens and Indian Air Force helicopters hovering overhead.
The army should refrain from interfering in religious places and instead focus on developmental activities, grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Bashiruddin said.
Former JNU student Umar Khalid on Wednesday withdrew his bail plea from the Supreme Court in a case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
A People's Democratic Party member of Legislative Assembly has stoked controversy by saying that only a Muslim can become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, a view from which his party quickly distanced itself.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack begins by asking why the hijack lasted seven days and ends in wondering if the good guys fought the bad ones hard enough, observes Sukanya Verma.
'This is not a cricket match where one side lost and the other side won! Kashmiris are our own.'
His slogan-chanting comes in the wake of Peoples Democratic Party chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's criticism that Shah was "daydreaming" about abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution that provides special status to the state.
'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).
While visiting the injured in a hospital in Anantnag on Monday, she said the head of every Kashmiri hangs in shame over the incident.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
'All the big production houses are making superhero films, so I thought I should make one too. So I have made a genuine superhero film,' Vivek Agnihotri says about his new film, The Vaccine War.
The Gandhi siblings first drove from their hotel in Srinagar to the shrine of Ragnya Devi, popularly known as Mata Kheer Bhawani temple, in Tullamula area of the central Kashmir's Ganderbal district, the officials said.
'There is a design of fundamentalists that the north east must become an Islamic country.'
Army personnel on Sunday recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from a militant hideout in a forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla District.
The three humble Muslim entrepreneurs that the prime minister is mightily impressed by.
Pakistan's ruling party PML-N has swept the PoK's legislative assembly elections, bagging 30 of 41 directly elected seats, with a two-thirds majority to form the new government.
