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.
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.
'The visit of the honourable PM with the workable strategy towards conflict resolution will help greatly.' 'But visiting the state without concrete proposals may not bring the desired outcome at this stage.'
The protesters assembled under the banner of the newly-formed Kashmiri Pandits United Front in front of the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh, near the Tawi bridge in the heart of Jammu.
India agreed to give up the Poonch salient as well as Uri. To the north India also proposed to give up land in the Gurez sector giving the entire Neelam/Kinshanganga valley to Pakistan. In return India sought control of the post dominating Kargil town, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
If the government is able to deliver the promised projects, the large number of youth will be taken off the streets and that is not acceptable to the Pakistan army nor the terrorists hiding in Pakistan, notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
The meeting came after terrorists carried out a series of targeted killings in the Kashmir Valley that include non-Muslims, security personnel, an artist and local civilians.
The mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community changed the very cultural ethos of Kashmir and there has been little turnback despite three decades having gone by since it got triggered by growing fundamentalism fuelled from across the border, Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said on Monday.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday gave its consent for jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, to take oath as MP on July 5. Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh will pass an order on the plea on Tuesday.
'If you are in a position to give employment to local people, you will find no terror attacks in your area.'
The Kashmir Files has done a commendable job in highlighting the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, but has dealt only with the local factors. The cover-up has multiple reasons and it is time that a debate is begun to unmask the culprits who hid the truth, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The first phase of polling, held on September 18, saw an estimated 61.38 per cent voter turnout, while the final phase is set to take place on October 1 in the crucial elections being held after 10 years.
As many as 14,091 civilians and 5,356 security force personnel lost their lives to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir between the 1990s, when militancy first reared its head in the valley, and 2020.
Ram Sagar were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists while they were asleep in their rented accommodation in Shopian.
Authorities on Monday attached a house belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin's son in the city's Ram Bagh area, officials said.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com comes across a Ganesh temple in Kashmir's summer capital that remains a well kept secret.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The order led to panic in Kashmir which has remained tense for the past few days after the Centre ordered deployment of 100 companies of additional troops in the valley.
The Kashmir Files, which polarised opinions following its release in March and went on to become a blockbuster hit, was screened at IFFI on November 22 as part of the Indian panorama section.
The Kashmir Files, a Bollywood movie on the exodus of Hindus from the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, will be banned in multi-racial Singapore as the film has been assessed to be 'beyond' the city-state's film classification guidelines, a media report said on Monday.
The anti-encroachment drive by Jammu and Kashmir administration intensified on Saturday as the land illegally occupied by 'influential persons' was retrieved at many places in the valley, officials said.
The Kashmiri Pandit Sabha threatened to intensify its agitation, if the government did not stop threatening to withhold the salaries of KP employees and forcing them to come back to the valley, where they are under mortal threat from terrorists.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted two-hour custody parole to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid to take oath as a Lok Sabha MP on July 5.
Far away from the daily stress of living in the Kashmir Valley, young men in Srinagar took part in the Mr Kashmir bodybuilding competition on Sunday, November 14, 2021.
Pakistan criticised the laying of foundation stones for the construction of the Rattle and Kwar Hydroelectric Projects on the Chenab River in Kashmir.
It is learnt that the sympathisers of the Taliban who are targeting India are now active.
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.
'We should give azaadi to Jammu and Ladakh from the domination of Kashmir valley politics,' suggests Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
This was the first encounter between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in more than three months.
'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.
Sachin Tendulkar meets Jammu and Kashmir para cricket team captain, differently-abled sportsman, Amir Hussain Lone, calls him a 'real hero, an inspiration, during his trip to the Kashmir Valley.
People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and several other regional party leaders on Monday claimed that they have been placed under house arrest on the fifth anniversary of the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
'Heinous murder case of TV artist Amreen Bhat solved in 24 hours...10 terrorists including three from Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and seven from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfits killed in three days in Kashmir Valley,' said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.
The upper reaches of Kashmir valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season. The weather department has predicted bad weather for a few days. Snowfall at hill stations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam also brings the hope of revival of tourism in the area which has been severely hit for most of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
'It is time to not merely assert that Kashmir is an internal problem, but begin to act on it,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Article 370 offered very important protections that were related to people's day to day lives.'