Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, has denied news reports that appeared in a leading national paper saying that he did not want travel documents to be issued to rival APHC group chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani when an AHPC delegation visited Pakistan in 2005.
All Party Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has claimed that he was placed under house arrest minutes after his meeting with the all-party delegation at his residence in downtown Srinagar.
On a mission to understand the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the all party delegation on Monday began its two-day exercise with Home Minister P Chidambaram promising the people of the state that their future, honour and dignity are secure as part of India.
'The lack of opportunities here remains the biggest worry.' 'We have seen investment summits, but if you look around, much of it is only on paper and not on the ground.'
Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani evening issued a call for Shopian march and a week-long protest programme against the alleged rape and murder of two women last week.
Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, of Srinagar's Bagh-e-Mehtab locality and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, of Hakripora village in Pulwama district were arrested by the NIA, the official said.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, has denied newspaper reports that he met Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt General Shuja Pasha during his Europe visit.
Separatist groups in Kashmir on Thursday reacted angrily to the death sentence awarded to two locals, who were held guilty by a Delhi court in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case, in which 13 persons were killed.The moderate and hard-line groups of the separatist conglomerate All Parties Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani respectively, have called for a protest shutdown on Friday against the death sentence.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is poised to form the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir, having secured a victory in the assembly elections by securing 49 out of 90 seats on which polls were held for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago.
Condemning the attack on separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi, Hurriyat Conference on Saturday said it will not be cowed down by such acts and will pursue the path of dialogue for resolving the Kashmir problem.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday deplored the attacks on moderate Huriryat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq saying it was against the democratic traditions of the country.
"India should understand that it cannot resolve the Kashmir issue by keeping pro-freedom groups away from the dialogue process."
At least six people were killed and 27 tankers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation were set on fire during an attack by suspected militants on an oil depot close to Islamabad. According to the BBC, dozens of tankers were being filled with fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan when the attack took place on Monday morning."Between 10 to 12 men armed with automatic weapons stormed the depot from two sides. They opened indiscriminate fire on the tankers," said an official.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have registered a case against Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, over burning of government properties by a mob during a protest rally in Srinagar, official sources said. An FIR was registered against the Mirwaiz at Shergarhi police station in Srinagar city under sections 121, 121-A, 153, 153-A, 336 and 446 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), the sources said.
"My decision to join the moderate group is aimed at strengthening the separatist voice in Kashmir," Aziz said. "Kashmiris are the basic party to the dispute, and must be included in the ongoing peace process to make it meaningful and result-oriented," he added.
Akbar said around 30 members belonging to various constituents of the Geelani's faction have been invited by the Pakistan High Commission. They include Geelani, Ashraf Sehrai, Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan.
One person was killed in Srinagar on Friday when the vehicle he was traveling in was targeted by a stone-pelting mob, which was protesting against the state government's decision to put senior separatist leaders Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani under house arrest."A stone hit Sheikh on the head. He was rushed to Soura medical institute, where he succumbed to the injury," the officer said.
Cutting across ideological differences, political parties and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday welcomed the unilateral three-day ceasefire announced by the United Jehad Council, saying the Centre should reciprocate the gesture. "It is a good move which should have come earlier," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference. UJC chief Syed Salahuddin had announced the unilateral ceasefire from Oct 12 for Eid-ul-Fitr.
Today, you give away Kashmir, tomorrow you will have to give away Hyderabad and then Coimbatore and then Moradabad and so on.
Chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Moulvi Omar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammad Yaseen Malik have been put under house arrest to prevent them from leading the Friday demonstrations in the valley.
"Holding of religious processions is linked with the belief and, therefore, the stand of the government on the issue is unrealistic and undemocratic," he said.
The Hurriyat leader, who is visiting Pakistan with a three-member delegation.
"The government of India should come up with its roadmap to Kashmir. We would welcome its proposals on the resolution of the long-standing dispute of Kashmir," the Hurriyat chief said.
Asked if the party would approach the court for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood, the NC leader said, "I do not want to get into that right now."
The junior Abdullah would be banking heavily on Shia support as the constituency has many Shia dominated areas that include Budgam, Beerwah, Pattan, Sonawari and Bandipora, among other pockets.
This will be the first interaction between Jammu and Kashmir's moderate separatist group and the United Progressive Alliance dispensation as part of the dialogue process.
The leaders returned after a fortnight-long visit to Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.\n
I do not think that Delhi is doing enough to push the peace process as is being done by Pakistan.
"But you have to be careful because the Indian government will never like a solution where it has to totally compromise on Kashmir," Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
The Hizbul Mujahideen chief said he could not back their peace moves or any future Kashmir solution unless hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken on board, local media reported.
Wearing black arm bands and holding placards, the women protesters were not allowed by the police personnel to assemble and were asked to disperse peacefully.
In his first public appearance following his release from four-year house arrest on Friday, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq reiterated the stand of his separatist amalgam that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.
The JKSM activists might have drawn inspiration from the mashaal (torch) rally of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front as part of its safar-e-azadi (journey to freedom).
The new civilian government in Pakistan has to take the Army on board before implementing its ideas on the Kashmir issue, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said.
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