Omar urged everyone who came in contact with his father recently to get tested.
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.
The former chief minister had on Tuesday alleged that Army personnel had thrashed a family in Tral town of Pulwama and injured a female member. Mufti said she was going to meet the family on Wednesday.
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 polling was slated for March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and March 20.
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.
The manifesto claims that while the BJP has unified the country by abrogating provisions of Article 370 and Article 35A that provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration -- an amalgam of several mainstream political parties, including the Ntional Conference and the People's Democratic Party -- was working against the national interest for vote bank politics.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lone was released days ahead of the first anniversary of the Centre's move to revoke Article 370 of the Constitution in August last year, the officials said. The JKPC chairman was moved to his residence in Srinagar in February this year and placed under house arrest, the officials said.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has convened a meeting at his residence on Thursday for chalking out the future course of action on 'Gupkar Declaration' with regard to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir which was revoked by the Centre last year.
The Delhi police on Sunday registered a case based on a complaint filed by a woman journalist alleging that she was being targetted by an unidentified group of people on a mobile application named 'Bulli Bai' created on GitHub platform.
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.
'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.'
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Saturday invited People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti to form the government in the state,
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.
An article published in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, said that Mehbboba's links with separatists in Kashmir have always remained a debatable issue.
'As I have been released, all other persons (from Kashmir) who are detained in various jails across the country should also be released'
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.'
'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.'
Election campaigning has picked up steam in Jammu and Kashmir which goes to polls on November 25.
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.
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.
She also hit out at the Centre alleging that while the Government of India was expressing concern for the rights of people in Afghanistan, the same were denied to Kashmiris.
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.
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.
'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.
The Thursday's meeting will be the first between the Centre and mainstream Jammu and Kashmir politicians after the abrogation of Article 370 and the divisions of the erstwhile state into two union territories in 2019.
"There have been no talks about supporting or not supporting....We have left the decision to the Congress since we do not make the numbers together (to form a government)," party chief Mehbooba Mufti said. Replying to questions, she said, "we are ready to sit in the opposition...We have a party, we have an agenda, we have our programmes to follow.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
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.
Prasad asserted that Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state a special status and was revoked last year, will not be restored.
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has urged the Union government to return the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to his family for burial 'to retrieve trust of the people of Kashmir'.
He said it would have been impossible for parties with 'opposing political ideologies' to form a stable government.
With talks between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Peoples Democratic Party on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir making no headway, the state seems to be headed for a spell of governor's rule.
