Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said no prime minister can revoke Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to the state "without calling into question" its accession to India.
Indian Army sources said Pakistan Army is using Kashmiris in PoK as cannon fodder and Indian security forces are ready to deal with any eventualities along the LoC.
With the completion of this third extension, Rajiv Gauba will become the longest serving cabinet secretary of the country. Till now, B D Pande had been the longest serving cabinet secretary from November 2, 1972, to March 31, 1977.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday launched a veiled attack on Congress leaders and said he gave sweat and blood for the party unlike those who are spreading 'falsehood' through social media.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court over alleged "blatant hate speeches" calling for killing Muslims and their social and economic boycott delivered at rallies in different states, including Haryana where recent communal clashes claimed six lives.
'I owe India an apology, as when she suffered the Mumbai Terror attack on November 26, 2008, when Jews and Americans were singled out for death by Pakistan based Terrorists, I joined in arguing for restraint. I was wrong'
'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.
Writing in the United Kingdom's 'Financial Times' newspaper on Tuesday, the minister sought to counter criticism over Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's announcement over the "anachronistic provision" last month, which he said had resulted in socio-economic injustice due to the inability to apply national laws in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We are doing it because we want Allah to be happy with us," he said.
In a remarkable display of resilience and commitment to democracy, the residents of villages that had long been deprived of polling due to terrorist threats and separatist-sponsored boycott calls turned out in large numbers to cast ballots in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
The European Parliament has urged India and Pakistan to resume dialogue in pursuit of a peaceful solution in Kashmir, while urging for 'normalcy' in the region.
"This is all about distraction, basic issue is of caste census and participation, in whose hands is the money of the country going. They (BJP) don't want to discuss this issue, they are afraid of it and run away from it," Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Himachal Pradesh is making efforts to mollify party leaders who are disgruntled over distribution of tickets to six Congress rebels for the assembly bypolls, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Tuesday.
Addressing a Defence Research and Development Organisation event in Leh, Singh asked how can India talk to Pakistan when it keeps trying to destabilise India using terror.
The SC defers the case after Centre informs the court that interlocutor appointed for dialogue in J&K.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday warned that Bihar's areas close to the borders (seemant) will become 'infested with infiltrators' if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not voted back to power.
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 blast was reported in Lalian village in Bishnan belt.
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.
"Its time for India to lift these restrictions and afford Kashmiris the same rights and privileges as any other Indian citizen," it said.
'It is not about trusting the governor but the ground situation not matching with what he has said,' Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement chief Shah Faesal, who was one of the leaders to meet the governor tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
Tral, the former hotbed of terrorism, rocks to the music of democracy.
The former chief minister said his party was not running away from polls, but wanted the Centre to do justice with the people of Jammu and Kashmir first and take effective steps for the protection of the state's special position.
"There are clearly two sides. On one side, there is an organisation of patriots in the form of BJP and on the other side, tukde-tukde gang have come together under the leadership of the Congress. It is for the people of Karnataka to decide now whether they are with the patriots or those who support people who want to divide this country," he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to bring Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country but only after following all democratic processes and discussions on it.
'A threatened people should not be forcibly held in a place where their lives may be at risk.'
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray has again asked Union minister Nitin Gadkari to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party if he is being 'insulted', saying the opposition in Maharashtra would ensure his victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"Last time I stood, I was not allowed to speak. The ruling party paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP," she said, referring to her suspension in the last session.
Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, the general officer commanding-in-chief of the Northern Command, said five of the seven friction points in eastern Ladakh, where the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA are locked in a standoff since May 2020, have been resolved and talks are underway for the remaining areas.
The prime minister touched upon many issues including scrapping of Article 370, triple talaq and many more.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Tuesday remarked that once judges demit office whatever they say is just opinion and is not binding, after former CJI Ranjan Gogoi's comments that the basic structure doctrine was debatable was flagged in the Supreme Court.
'My chants in praise of BJP and RSS stalwarts were a reaction to what MPs like Owaisi did.'
Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state.
A photograph of Omar Abdullah surfaced on Twitter on January 25 in which he seemed almost unrecognisable sporting a salt and pepper beard, triggering reactions of awe and anger from netizens, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
For the longest time, the court did not even hear important matters that the government did not want it to. Of late, it has begun to form benches. Meanwhile a lot of the damage has been done and continues to be done, asserts Aakar Patel.
The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Secular Force (CISF), showing priority on internal security and border guarding.
The BJP leader linked his claim to the beginning of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya following a Supreme Court judgment, and the abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan conveyed their appreciation to the team, and congratulated the nation on the feat.
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
Abdullah was among a host of leaders and activists who were detained on August 5 when the centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the state into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
