'Article 370 is now dug 70 feet deep in the ground. It cannot come out.'
A scuffle broke out between the workers of National Conference and Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday ahead of Amit Shah's arrival at the border migrant camp in R S Pura forward area of Jammu district.
Those familiar with intricate Kashmir politics do not rule out further delay in the assembly elections. Primarily, because the BJP having 'invested' so much for so long in Kashmir would try its best to wait a little longer if only to secure the 'gains' it believes to have achieved after its deafening action on August 5, 2019, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
'I've been illegally detained yet again. Since two days, J-K admin has refused to allow me to visit @parawahid's family in Pulwama. BJP Ministers and their puppets are allowed to move around in every corner of Kashmir but security is a problem only in my case,' Mufti tweeted in English and Urdu.
If Rashid cannot be the king, he could be the kingmaker after October 8 when the results to the J&K assembly are declared.
People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and several other regional party leaders on Monday claimed that they have been placed under house arrest on the fifth anniversary of the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Film folk celebrate International Yoga Day with pictures of them doing, well, yoga!
The petition has been filed by Mohammad AKbar Lone and Justice (rtd) Hasnain Masoodi, both Lok Sabha members belonging to the NC.
'INDIA will easily cross 50 seats out of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir.'
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
Two police personnel were on Sunday killed when militants opened fire at the house of a ruling National Conference youth leader in Pulwama, the first terror attack targeting election activities in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
In a major setback to ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday shared the six Lok Sabha seats in the state as two Union ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, bit the dust.
The main opposition party in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference, on Wednesday decided to suspend its participation in any future round table conferences or working groups till there was significant improvement in the human rights situation.
What difference would raising Pakistani flags make? Now the government of India is getting restless, getting more perturbed. It is being done deliberately," said Kamal.
The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
'It is sad and unfortunate. But we have to accept it'
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.
National Conference on Friday urged the Election Commission to postpone the state assembly polls till March next year, in view of the Valley being cut off by heavy snowfall.In a statement, NC chief Omar Abdullah said, "The vagaries of the weather will not permit the poll process to be conducted smoothly."
The actor looked like a sweet winter treat in a pista coloured sari with lace borders.
'All through the making of Dil Daulat Aur Duniya, Rajesh Khanna never acknowledged me.' 'Dev Anand couldn't carry off a dhoti in Insaaniyat. He told me that he would never wear one again.' 'Shammi Kapoor and I began on an icy note during Raajkumar, but once the cold vibes thawed, we became the best of buddies.'
Opposition National Conference on Thursday termed the statement of union home minister on the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir as "unfortunate and counter-productive
The row broke out after a private television news agency attributed the excerpts of the article shared by the NC leader to him.
Several female students of Vishwa Bharti Higher Secondary School in Srinagar staged a protest against its administration on Thursday, alleging that they were denied entry to the institute for wearing abaya.
'With all outlets of public expression virtually choked for the last five years, suppressed anger and frustration is looking for an opening via the ballot box.' 'There is no escape from the inevitability of the 'Engineer Rashid' factor surfacing in a big enough way to upset everyone's applecart,' alerts Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
At a press conference held in Jammu, the senior Congress leaders announced the party's decision to end its six year alliance with the National Conference, headed by Farooq Abdullah.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
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.
Omar also said he would never prefer horse trading to end the stalemate.
'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.'
'We are only saying that we will peacefully fight for its restoration. We will fight for it under the ambit of the Constitution, and legally as well'
Lone, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla constituency, said one of the reasons he wants to go to Parliament is to strive and advocate for the same set of laws for the children of Kashmir and the rest of the country.
Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather's record run in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly ended on Tuesday when he lost from Charar-e-Sharief while his National Conference colleague Ali Mohammad Sagar equalled his feat of sixth consecutive victories by winning Khanyar seat.
All parties in Jammu and Kashmir said the assembly election should be held with the parliamentary polls, but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously
She said on one hand, giant hoardings calling upon Kashmiris to "celebrate" the abrogation of Article 370 have been put up across Srinagar, whereas "brute force is being used to choke the actual sentiment of the people".
A worker from Punjab who was injured in Wednesday's terror attack in Srinagar's Habba Kadal area died at the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar on Thursday morning, taking the toll to two in the first targeted killing of the year by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Nine people including three women were killed and 33 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on Sunday evening, police said, as political leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemn the dastardly attack.
The Omar-Abdullah led party said continuation of the Act was not in sync with the "significant" decrease in violence in the past six years.
