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.
A huge cache of incriminating material and explosive substances, including gelatin sticks, explosives, detonators, arms, explosive body vests, batteries and nitric acid, were recovered following searches based on their disclosures.
'In times to come this will be considered a watershed event, but only if the establishment can see the flag which is up and the straws in the wind which are flying,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
42 terrorists, 7 civilians and 15 security personnel have lost their lives since May 15.
There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in these clashes.
'There is a huge wait in Kashmir for compassion from the prime minister of India.'
Kashmir is reeling from a heat wave after the valley earlier this week witnessed the second-hottest September day in recorded history, causing hardships to locals and tourists alike.
Minimum temperatures have plummeted below the freezing point across the Kashmir Valley, but pilgrims from all over India can be seen taking a dip at Shadipora located at the confluence of the Jhelum river and Sindh stream in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir these days.
A local court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against former Jammu and Kashmir junior health minister Shabir Ahmad Khan allegedly involved in sexual assault on a doctor in Srinagar.
A woman, who was injured when security forces opened fire in Handwara town of north Kashmir to quell a stone-pelting mob, succumbed at a hospital in Srinagar on Wednesday.
Authorities on Thursday placed the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq under house arrest to scuttle a rally called by the separatist group.
Rediff.com's Umar Ganie talked to some of the protesting students in Srinagar.
More than 100 people have died in rain-hit Jammu and Kashmir, which is witnessing its worst flood in 50 years.
Concerned over the development, the security agencies reworked their strategy, especially keeping in mind the Amarnath Yatra beginning June 30.
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.
Police said unknown number of terrorists barged into the Jammu and Kashmir Bank branch at Rantipora in Pulwama district.
Among those abducted included brother of a deputy superintendent of police.
Nine people, including two government school teachers, were arrested on Tuesday in Reasi district in connection with an alleged attack on a police party which had arrested a criminal wanted in a rape case, police said.
There has been firing by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Nowshera sector since 8:45 am, a senior army officer said.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is also a honorary Lt. Col in the Indian Army, appreciated the school's contribution for the visually impaired children.
The services were stopped last evening as a precautionary measure.
Authorities imposed restrictions in several downtown localities early Saturday, as separatists called bandh against the beef ban hit life in Srinagar and elsewhere.
"Militants in combat uniform barged into the guard room of TV tower at Dalvash in Dooru area of Anantnag district around 12.30 am and overpowered the cops guarding the installation," the police official said.
The people behind the killing of a police sub-inspector in Khanyar locality in Srinagar have been identified and will be brought to justice soon, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh said on Sunday.
Refuting rumours allegedly being floated from across the border, the Jammu and Kashmir Police also released four videos through its Twitter handle to show that 91-year-old Geelani was laid to rest as per the rituals in the intervening night of September 1 and 2.
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is in the community transmission stage in India and it has also become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially, said Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium.
It is learnt that the sympathisers of the Taliban who are targeting India are now active.
The team originally comprised 27 parliamentarians, mostly from extreme right or right wing parties, but four did not travel to Kashmir and have reportedly returned to their respective countries, officials said.
Clashes between protesters and law enforcing agencies were reported from Sopore, Anantnag, Rajpora, Shopian towns and Safakadal area of the city.
The strike affected attendance in government offices and banks, the officials said.
Nine people including three women were killed and 33 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on Sunday evening, police said, as political leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemn the dastardly attack.
The slain man was identified as Mohammed Shabbir Malik, a Pakistani national, equipped with weapons, ammunition and warlike stores.
General Bipin Rawat was appreciative of the measures and standard operating procedures instituted by the units and formations to meet the challenges posed by the inimical elements.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Yousuf Kantroo, one of the longest surviving terrorists in the Kashmir Valley, was among three terrorists killed in Baramulla district on Thursday.
Five militants were killed in a day-long fierce gunfight in frontier north Kashmir Kupwara district on Saturday.
The terrorist, identified as LeT's Asif Maqbool Bhatt, was killed in a brief encounter in Sopore in the valley's Baramulla district, police said.
This was the lowest minimum temperature recorded in the city since 1991, when the mercury had fallen to minus 11.4 degree Celsius.
On a specific input, the security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Reban area of south Kashmir district, a police spokesperson said.
Three-time chief minister Farooq Abdullah is under house arrest at his Gupkar Road residence while his son Omar is confined to Hari Niwas, a state guesthouse-turned into a jail, barely 500 metres away. Mehbooba is in detention in a hut at Chashmeshahi near the governor's residence Raj Bhavan.
A militant ambush near the highway of Qazigund town in south Kashmir's Kulgam district left 4 Central Reserve Police Force troopers injured on Saturday evening.
