US noted that India has described the actions in J&K as "strictly an internal matter".
National Conference leader Mohammed Akbar Lone on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court reiterating his oath as Lok Sabha MP, saying he will preserve and uphold the Constitution and protect the country's territorial integrity, an undertaking that irked the Centre which claimed it added "insult to injury to the nation".
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.
'I'm sure those few terrorists who are continuing to operate in the Valley are not reading books.' 'Are they trying to tell us that there are certain people who first intellectualise themselves and then go about picking up guns?' 'It is absolutely absurd.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asserted that the Narendra Modi government has "almost all" completed its ideological tasks, including the abrogation of Article 370, and will continue on the same path in its third tenure. Shah, a senior BJP leader, was speaking at the Hindu Spiritual & Service Fair in Gujarat, where he highlighted the government's achievements in areas such as the Ram Temple construction, abolition of triple talaq, and the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand. He also emphasized the government's success in promoting Yoga internationally and repatriating stolen idols of Hindu deities. Shah lauded Hindu temples and organizations for their service to society, especially their contributions to education and healthcare for the poor.
The Centre also justified the abrogation of Article 35A of the Constitution which "enabled the then State to make laws giving special rights and privileges to permanent residents, while imposing restrictions upon others".
With its verdict, the Supreme Court has strengthened the spirit of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' and has reminded us that what define us are bonds of unity and a shared commitment to good governance.
'If democracy does not exist, if there are no political spaces, there is no media, there is no civil society, what do we rejoice?'
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country wants to resolve all issues, including Kashmir, with India through talks. He reiterated his "unwavering " support for the Kashmiri people during a speech in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of "Kashmir Solidarity Day. "
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
The Union Budget 2025-26 had allocated Rs 2,33,210.68 crore (BE) to the ministry helmed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The statement comes after political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, claimed they were put under house arrest.
The clarification was issued through an advertisement in local dailies after facing political backlash, including from parties perceived close to the government.
For the last four years since abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir-based political parties have been struggling to forge an alternate narrative to the one forcibly snatched from them. The BJP is bound to go hammer and tongs at them now that their armoury is reinforced with the Supreme Court judgment, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
No PM ever dared to take the decision. It was Modi with his 56-inch chest who made the move, said Shah.
Defending the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed an "unprecedented" era of peace, progress and prosperity, with street violence, orchestrated by terrorists and secessionist networks, becoming "a thing of the past."
Continuing his tirade against the Congress leaders, he said that like others, he never compromises when it comes to patriotism and self-respect.
'I hope we can move towards peace, stability, and national unity.' 'I believe most Kashmiris want that too.'
'The government, through the media, is saying that everything is normal in Kashmir, but I just want them to give this in writing and let a judicial commission see it.
Highlights of the judgment pronounced by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court that on Monday unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution bestowing special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah said the present Lok Sabha elections are about "choosing between corrupt leaders of INDI alliance and honest politician Narendra Modi, who despite being Chief Minister and then Prime Minister never had an allegation of single paisa against him."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the passage of bills as a "momentous occasion" in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the "shackles" of vested interest groups.
The Opposition party also attacked Azad, saying "Mr. GNA himself gives new evidence of his DNA mutation by saying 'those opposing Article 370 abrogation ignorant of the situation on the ground'."
Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked that the figures are not high enough to know whether the people are happy or angry with the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, Mehbooba Mufti said it is a message that the people have not accepted the Centre's decisions.
'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.'
Justice Surya Kant, who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019, would have a tenure of over 1.2 years as the CJI. He is due to retire on February 9, 2027.
'Ladakh has become a hollow UT.' 'Bureaucrats from Delhi rule Ladakh and there is no attention paid to the grievances of the people.'
'You don't have to lose your identity to be part of Congress. You can be who you are, as long as you believe in the core principle of strong citizenry and nation-building through that concept'
Justice Sanjiv Khanna 'belongs to that school of legal luminaries who give the highest primacy to facts.'
Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai was on Wednesday sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India.
Visuals of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah scaling the gate of the Naqshband Sahib graveyard and jostling with securitymen deployed there have gone viral.
A special bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, will hear the petitions.
India has slammed Pakistan at the United Nations, accusing the country of illegally occupying the territory of Jammu and Kashmir and demanding its immediate vacation. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, made these remarks during a UN Security Council Open Debate on Advancing Adaptability in UN Peace Operations. He asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will always be an integral part of India. Harish's statement came after Pakistan raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during the UNSC open debate, prompting a strong retort from India. He further stated that Pakistan's repeated references to the issue neither validate their illegal claims nor justify their state-sponsored cross-border terrorism. India, however, said it will refrain from exercising a more elaborate Right of Reply, suggesting a measured approach to the situation. Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained since India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019, revoking Jammu and Kashmir's special status.
'This bitterness will be more in Jammu area than in Kashmir.'
Lashing out at Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Rashid on Wednesday alleged that they have "destroyed" Kashmir.
In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
In his first address to National Democratic Alliance MPs in over a year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday emphasised its collective identity as a natural and organic alliance, asserting that its journey since its foundation in 1998 is dotted with successes and has many more achievements in store.
'I would say it is not going to be days and weeks. It is going to be months and years, over which we would make an assessment on the decisions taken by the Parliament at this point of time. 'We are in for a long haul is what I would say.' It was a very diverse India, which was coming together, politically, in a very cohesive, democratically-resilient way." Professor Navnita Behera examines the wisdom of the exit of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The central government's response was conveyed to the court by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, after a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, hearing the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370, asked it to set a specific time frame for restoration of electoral democracy in the erstwhile state.
