His statement comes two days after the Congress Working Committee deplored the manner in which the government stripped J&K of its special status by scrapping provisions of Article 370, and bifurcated the state.
The terrorists attacked a police station in Handwara area of Kupwara by resorting to firing and also lobbed a grenade, a police officer said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday denied revoking permission to Kousar Nag yatra, saying no permission had been sought or granted in the first place.
It will be for the first time in nearly nine years India's external affairs minister will travel to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Independence or accession to Pakistan is not a viable option for the people of Kashmir, says National Conference chief Omar Abdullah while noting that essentially a political solution needs to be worked out for the ills plaguing Jammu and Kashmir.
Was the decision taken by the Centre on August 5, 2019 to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, constitutionally valid? The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Monday on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.
'I could have never imagined any other prime minister giving time to a separatist leader.' 'I think the Hurriyat should not be ignored. I think like Pakistan, they are being unnecessarily ignored.' A S Dulat, the former RA&W chief who visited Kashmir recently, speaks to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The Jammu and Kashmir government has rubbished allegations by the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party about the death of a worker of the ruling National Conference allegedly in police custody. PDP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani so that the "judicial probe can proceed impartially'.
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.
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.
Parties like the NC and Peoples Democratic Party claimed the administration has not addressed their main concern on whether ''outsiders'' ordinarily residing in J-K will be allowed to enroll as voters.
With no agenda announced for the meeting, the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir said they have come with an open mind.
"We intend to talk to individuals and groups who want peace and normalcy in Kashmir Valley," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said before the departure of delegation comprising 30 members from 20 parties.
National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in a money laundering case in Delhi on May 31, official sources said on Friday.
A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court by two Kashmir residents challenging the Centre's decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior police officer was on Wednesday transferred and attached with police headquarters, a step that followed an outcry over halting of fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir valley to outside markets.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
The National Conference called the meeting after remarks related to the addition of voters in the revised rolls by the Union Territory's chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar raised hackles of the regional parties.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
The area has been cordoned off and a hunt launched to nab the attackers.
Criticising both the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference as Kashmir-centric parties which discriminate against the Jammu region, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah's statement that there is a BJP-PDP alliance as "totally irresponsible and politically motivated".
'Americans have their fingers in so many pies. For it to be focussed on Kashmir would be perhaps impossible,' says Omar Abdullah.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) on Monday said assembly elections should be held only after restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to honour its commitment made on the floor of Parliament.
Four persons, including a Pakistani terrorist and his accomplice, were killed in a gunfight in Hyderpora locality of Srinagar late Monday evening. The dead also included the house owner and a doctor, whom police dubbed as 'terror associates'.
The BJP accused Congress leaders of colluding with foreign forces to destabilize India and demanded Sonia Gandhi to disclose her role in a George Soros Foundation-funded organization's activities. The ruling party also attacked Rahul Gandhi, calling him a "pawn" for his protests against the Adani issue.
'Knowing him personally, I can safely say that the usually soft-spoken, qualified medical doctor would not have said what he was 'caught' saying if only he had realised that he was stepping on a political landmine across the emotional LoC, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
He will take oath on November 11, a day after incumbent Justice DY Chandrachud demits office on attaining the age of 65.
The action, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a response to the group's involvement in fomenting terrorism and spreading anti-India sentiment within the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
This is the third killing of a local elected representative by militants in Jammu and Kashmir this month.
On Thursday, several people from all walks of life protested demanding the return of Dr Mudasir Gul and Altaf Bhat's bodies for a proper burial by their families.
Carrying placards, the opposition members tried to disrupt the governor's address thrice.
The sectarian killings by hit-and-run groups have revived and sharpened communal fears among the victims while the Poonch encounter reveals how deep the terrorists have dug in without getting noticed in the porous border area, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Classes were not held in most schools across Kashmir as students did not turn up due to the prevailing situation, they said.
It is the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
'I am not afraid of BJP. I am not armed with lathi or stone, let them come to me and reply to my questions which they will not'
Another soldier was seriously injured in the incident and was evacuated immediately to the Army Hospital at Rajouri, they said.
The 68-year-old Bindroo, who ran Bindroo Medicate, was shot at by the assailants point blank at his pharmacy, a police official said, adding he was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has convened an all-party meeting in Srinagar on Monday to discuss ways to contain the violence that has engulfed the valley, according to an official spokesman. The chief minister will hold a meeting of legislators of the coalition partners on Sunday. The ruling coalition comprises Abdullah's National Conference and the Congress. The decision to hold an all-party meeting is part of the chief minister's initiative to reach out.
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.
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