The Jammu and Kashmir assembly, which was in suspended animation, was abruptly dissolved by the governor on November 21, hours after the People's Democratic Party staked claim to form a government with the backing of rival National Conference and the Congress.
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
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.
The Union Home ministry has ruled out the possibility of handing over the mortal remains of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family
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 post of the speaker of Jammu and Kashmir assembly will go to the Bharatiya Janata Party with its MLA Kavinder Gupta likely to be the ruling People's Democratic Party-BJP alliance's choice for the chair.
Contours of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir appeared hazy on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the People's Democratic Party trying hard to hammer out a workable arrangement with various stakeholders.
The suspense over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir following the hung verdict in the assembly elections continued on Wednesday as the People's Democratic Party, the single largest party, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the next big outfit, kept their cards close to the chest.
The BJP has already cobbled up 28 seats to counter-bargain with the PDP's 28 seats in future talks. It is up to the Kashmir-based parties like the National Conference and PDP to assess the damage of going with the BJP which is perceived as the 'Hindu' party in the state. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's takeways from a historic but fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir.
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'.
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.
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.
'From what I know of her,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik -- the distinguished doyen of Kashmir commentators -- 'Mehbooba will not take too long to recover.' 'How much room she can then find to maneuver in the valley's extremely harsh political climate only time can tell.'
The former CM of the state also lashed out at the state government saying the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party ruling alliance was a failure.
Prasad asserted that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state a special status and was revoked last year, will not be restored.
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party held "unbridled use of force" responsible for the present unrest in Jammu and Kashmir which has claimed so many lives saying the crisis had worsened with the guilty troops going unpunished.
After nearly a week, curfew was lifted on Sunday in the entire Kashmir Valley in view of the situation remaining generally peaceful but prohibitory orders have been imposed in Baramulla, Anantnag and Pulwama districts besides some parts of Srinagar, officials said.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Saturday invited People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti to form the government in the state,
A private school teacher in Rajasthan's Udaipur was arrested on Wednesday while three engineering students from Kashmir were held in Agra in Uttar Pradesh for posting messages on WhatsApp celebrating Pakistan's victory over India in the T20 World Cup cricket match three days ago.
An article published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, said that Mehbboba's links with separatists in Kashmir have always remained a debatable issue.
'If there is any possibility, then the BJP has to accept our conditions. There should be caste census in the country, the report of the social justice committee should be implemented, the CM should be from backward caste and also the poor must be provided a uniform, mandatory and free education as well as free medical treatment.'
Nearly two years after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs and revocation of its special status, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held talks with top political leaders from the erstwhile state, and said the Centre's priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy there for which delimitation has to happen quickly so that polls can be held.
The police on Tuesday said businessman Mohammad Altaf Bhat was killed in the "cross-firing" between militants and security forces at Hyderpora on Monday, but he would be counted as a "harbourer of terrorists" as he did not inform authorities about the tenants in his building.
The BJP will focus on the dozen constituencies that eluded it in the 2014 assembly elections. A better performance in these seats could help it reach as close as possible to the halfway mark of 44 seats by the time the next elections are held and have its own chief minister.
'You have to fight a lot of forces. To fight these forces and ensure control of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, it is important the central government should fully stand behind us.'
The arrest came after the Kerala High Court rejected an anticipatory bail plea moved by Sufiya. Sufiya was named as the 10th accused by the Kerala Police recently after the interrogation of suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Thadiyantavida Naseer, who was picked up by the Bangladesh Rifles along with an associate and handed over to Indian security agencies.
Omar said that the NC has been telling them time and again that if they are not ready to form the government, they should be bold enough to break the alliance.
Malik believes he can solve the problems of farmers and is sending signals to the government to give him a chance.
Election campaigning has picked up steam in Jammu and Kashmir which goes to polls on November 25.
'And the old war horse has left nothing to chance. He campaigned vigorously in the by-election defying his age,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.
Two weeks after the assembly polls threw up a fractured verdict, Jammu and Kashmir continued to see a stalemate over government formation with the People's Democratic Party on Tuesday saying there is no progress in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said. This is the first time that seats have been proposed for STs in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
He said it would have been impossible for parties with 'opposing political ideologies' to form a stable government.
National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Mohammed Sagar, who wields a support base in downtown city, was served with a PSA notice public order by the authorities.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said the name of Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah never figured in the 2006 sex scandal case in which two ministers of the then Peoples Democratic Party regime were arrested.
The entry to the graveyard inside Naqshband sahib Shrine in Khawaja Bazaar near Nowhatta was sealed and security forces were deployed around the area to prevent anyone going inside, officials said.
Heading a PDP-BJP government formed with an alliance between two ideological extremes, Mehbooba faces a challenging task ahead as she will strive to carry forward her father's 'healing touch' legacy.
Supporters of opposition Peoples Democratic Party member of legislative assembly Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari on Tuesday staged a protest outside the assembly complex and demanded the resignation of Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone for allegedly using abusive language against the legislator.
Users well-versed in privacy laws or those concerned with their data would be worried; it could well be that many of us have already accepted the end user agreement without ado, points out Ashish Narsale.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances