Threats were often communicated to Pandit homes through notes tied to stones chucked through a window, or a notice pasted on a wall. Those sometimes came from neighbours eyeing that Pandit family's property. Those threats often worked in the atmosphere of terror during that awful season of vacuous exercise of State authority, writes David Devadas, longtime Kashmir watcher and author of two books on the Valley.
The final supermoon of 2020 made an appearance in the night sky on Thursday night and stunned stargazers with its sheer size and brightness. The full moon will appear about six per cent larger than a typical full moon.
Shehbaz, the younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, received 174 votes -- two more than the simple majority of 172.
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.
'In both places the minority was disproportionately powerful.' 'Few people acknowledge it but at its core the Tamil Nadu problem between the Brahmins and the rest was one of power.' 'In Kashmir the Hindus held most of the land and the accompanying political power, while the Muslims were the peasants and powerless,' notes T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters including outsiders after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, an official said on Wednesday.
Opposing a dialogue with Pakistan till it stops 'exporting' terror into Jammu and Kashmir, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina at an all-party meet in New Delhi on Thursday said those seeking engagement with the neighbouring country should meet the victims of violence to understand their pain.
The people in both places have lived in a state of denial, refusing to accept the bald fact that resorting to violence against an infinitely superior force is suicidal, observes T N Ninan.
'We do not want Kashmiri Pandits to migrate from Kashmir.'
'As of now, this one move seems to have precariously altered the balance of forces on the volatile ground, between separatists and the mainstream. 'The landscape today presents a fearsome picture of the future of mainstream politics in Kashmir. 'Conversely, the separatist ideology looks to have got an unearned boost,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs
A mix of grief and terror has engulfed this nondescript village in central Bihar which has lost one of its residents, a 30-year-old street vendor, to militants' bullets in Jammu and Kashmir.
The EU ambassador to India hoped the principle of equality will be upheld in the CAB. He also said that Pak must take action against terror groups.
'The ideal thing that should be done in Kashmir is call for an election -- before the end of the year.'
Though the BJP is running too close for comfort, populist schemes and support among Muslims may help Mamata Banerjee overcome the challenge, observes Aditi Phadnis.
'Is he one who defends individual liberty at all costs, or is he one who allows some give and take that recognises the primacy of the social contract, our coming together to live in a society?'
BJP's stated position is that Article 370 should be scrapped for total integration of J&K with India.
The former union home and finance minister also alleged that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government would not have taken the bold decision had Jammu and Kashmir been a "Hindu-dominated" state.
If this trend continues, 2018 may end up as the worst year in terms of number of youths joining various terror groups, according to the officials.
'Nehru's hegemonic politics has been responsible for many ills, which undoubtedly includes Kashmir'
The statement of Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John Aquilino on Wednesday came ahead of the 15th round of high-level military talks between India and China on March 11.
Thinning out of the counter infiltration and counter terrorism grid is fraught with the danger of revival of terrorism in the Poonch-Rajouri area, cautions Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd), the counter-insurgency expert.
'Jesus is the way' was spray-painted on the building, prompting the police and the FBI to investigate the vandalism as hate crimes.
The Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Monday passed a bill that penalises religious conversion through marriage or any other fraudulent means and provides for a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
'India is a strange place.' 'On the one hand we have the most advanced science working on our origins and our ancestry.' 'On the other we are at war with ourselves over a temple to a god whom our first ancestors knew nothing of,' says Aakar Patel.
'.. if the cost is its own survival,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
"They (those who celebrated the win) don't have anything to do with them (Pakistanis)... It was done to provoke the BJP. They were children and young boys and this should serve as an eye-opener for the BJP," Abdullah said at a public meeting in Surankote in Poonch district.
'As demonetisation showed us, the Shah-Modi duo can take big risks.' 'Risking economic damage for political benefit, however, is one thing, stoking old fires in complicated Assam is another', warns Shekhar Gupta.
Terrorism has to be fought at its root of origination. Today we are just removing cobwebs but not killing the spider, asserts counter-insurgency expert Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
In the video, Zawahari, who took over the reins of Al Qaeda after the death of Osama bin Laden, said, "I am of the view that the Mujahideen (armed terrorists) in Kashmir -- at this stage at least -- should focus with a single mind on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment."
Major opposition political parties and separatists groups in J&K on Wednesday slammed the move of the government to create separate townships for Kashmiri pandit migrants.
Awan, a resident of Mohalla Miana in Mianwali area of Punjab in Pakistan, was indoctrinated by Lakhvi at his residence in Rawalpindi, officials said.
There is a great danger of the government getting stampeded into actions in Kashmir that could result in long lasting damage, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Bommai's predicament is pathetic right now because deep inside he is not like this, but to remain in power he has to talk and speak against his own conscience.'
The grenade blast which killed a protester took place at Brakpora village in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
'The idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra' only emerged in the 1920s and 1930s.' 'The context at that time was the clear British attempt at 'divide and rule' between Hindus and Muslims and within Hindus on caste lines,' argues military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Groups of youth took to the streets at Press Colony and Khanyar in support of Naik.
Nearly 2.5 million Muslims, including 1,23,790 Indians have arrived for the world's largest annual human assembly, Hajj pilgrimage, as Saudi Arabia stepped up preparation for the event which peaks on Saturday.
A delegation of Imams on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and urged him to help restore calm in the Kashmir Valley which is witnessing turmoil following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.
