The party has always advocated abrogation of Article 370 and has also been speaking against Article 35A, but its renewed pitch during elections assumes significance.
National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah Friday challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest Lok Sabha polls in the Kashmir Valley, saying he will quit politics if the national party's candidates do not lose their security deposits.
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".
'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.
Terrorists have stepped up attacks in the Kashmir valley over the past week.
Terrorists on Saturday shot dead a policeman in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said, evoking condemnations from mainstream political parties in the Valley.
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.
The injured were rushed to the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital, where a civilian succumbed to his injuries, the official added.
The police officials stated that Mir, who retired as a senior superintendent of police in 2012, was shot inside the mosque located in the Gantmulla locality of Sheeri area.
The area has been cordoned off and a hunt launched to nab the attackers.
Restoration of peace and the normal routine of daily life, compared to the past, stands out as its most significant achievement, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs, four years after the abrogation of Article 370.
An altercation broke out between worshippers, who were coming out of a mosque in Handwara town of Kupwara district, and Army personnel, who were recording videos.
Rajni Bala (36) of Samba in Jammu region sustained injuries when terrorists fired at her in Gopalpora area of Kulgam where she was posted as a teacher
Any decision to include "non-locals" in electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and would be contested by all means, including in court, Nation Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Monday after a meeting of nine parties over the issue.
The victim was identified as Sanjay Sharma, a resident of the Achan area in the south Kashmir district, they said, adding that the incident took place at around 11 am.
A local 'hybrid terrorist' of proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested for the attack during a search and cordon operation, police said.
According to separate orders issued by the Home Department of the Union Territory, the PSA against Faesal, who was a 2010-batch IAS officer, Sartaj Madani, uncle of Mufti, and Peer Mansoor, her political advisor during her tenure as chief minister, was revoked 'with immediate effect'.
Geelani, who was a member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami and chairman of hardline Hurriyat Conference, had been suffering from various ailments for nearly last two decades.
The parties reiterated that they are bound, wholly, by the contents of the 'Gupkar Declaration', a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019 at the Gupkar residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah.
he Centre on this day in 2019 had revoked Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The protesting families were on a sit-in since Wednesday morning and held a candlelight vigil after the daylong protest.
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.
Asked whether the three men were indeed labourers, as claimed by their families, and not involved in terrorist activities, the J-K Police said it is a matter of further investigation. On July 18, the Army had claimed three terrorists were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir's Shopian.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.
A government employee belonging to the Kashmir Pandit community was shot dead by suspected militants at his office in the Chadoora area of Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said in Srinagar.
Briefing reporters after the nearly two-hour meeting, Abdullah said the leaders decided to formalise the alliance, that has been named 'Peoples' Alliance for Gupkar Declaration'.
People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) leaders, including three former chief ministers, were put under house arrest on Saturday before a protest against the proposals of Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, prompting angry reactions from political parties which said such steps will only 'incentivise and facilitate' violent agitations.
With the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) scheduled to meet Tuesday, intra-party consultations in Jammu and Kashmir continued for a second day Monday to discuss the Centre's invitation for an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24.
The incident took place at Sirnoo village in the morning when the security forces laid siege to a locality based on intelligence reports about the presence of three terrorists, including an army deserter - Zahoor Ahmad Thoker, in the area, police officials said.
The police spokesman said the LeT terrorist has been identified as Sajad Ahmad Shah, a resident of Gund in Chogul area in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by terrorists in Eidgah area of Srinagar amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The detentions come ahead of a crucial hearing on Article 35-A in Supreme Court which is likely to take place on Monday. The article, incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954, grants special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah, who turned 50 on March 10, had spent 232 days in custody since the government announced abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5 last year.
The decision comes in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, besides another attempt to target a Central Reserve Police Force convoy with a car bomb on the highway near Banihal in Ramban district on March 30.
'The Army must always be balanced in response.' 'Rabble rousers will demand that it be given a free hand against anti-national elements in the streets. That is exactly what the adversaries want.' 'Burning the Kashmir Valley through the summer is their desire; the Army will never contribute to enhancing their aim,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who served as the General Officer Commanding 15 Corps in Kashmir.
Mehbooba Mufti said that incidents like the ones at Handwara and Nathnusa are "unacceptable" and come as a major setback to the efforts of the state government in consolidating peace dividends in the state.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances