'Often people outside paint a wrong picture of us of Kashmiris. We are not like that. We are cool and bindaas,' said the lady, a teacher, caressing my cheeks in the pressing crowds.
'The problem with such ill-considered remarks is that they give the BJP an opportunity to push ahead with its nationalist agenda which includes depicting its opponents as seditionists,' observes Amulya Ganguli.
Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy and president of the ruling National Conference Dr Farooq Abdullah filed his nomination papers from the prestigious Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Monday. The constituency goes to polls on April 30.
The order comes into force with immediate effect.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday late night met Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu at the latter's residence in Hyderabad.
In its chargesheet filed in a special court in Srinagar, the CBI alleged that Abdullah as the association president at that time had connived with the treasurer of JKCA and others for undue siphoning off and misappropriation of funds, a CBI spokesperson said in New Delhi.
The opposition Peoples' Democratic Party and Peoples' Conference targeted the ruling National Conference over the meeting, and accused it of surrendering to the Bharatiya Janata Party without even a pretence over the passage of the Waqf act.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday termed the provisional attachment order of properties belonging to his father by the Enforcement Directorate as "baseless" and wondered how an ancestral property could be seen as proceeds of "crime".
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the 'unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives' of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs in Srinagar.
Abdullah, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, is the first Jammu and Kashmir chief minister to be booked under the PSA.
To accommodate the huge number of devotees, a high-tech kitchen has been established at Baba Satyapal Maharaj's pandal, ensuring seamless food preparation and distribution.
Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday said Article 370 has "eroded" and Jammu and Kashmir should be given autonomy within framework of the Indian constitution.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Saturday met Home Minister P Chidambaram and discussed the prevailing situation in Kashmir. Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and patron of the ruling National Conference in the state, discussed with Chidambaram the steps being taken by the Centre and the state government to bring back normalcy in the state. Barring Sopore and Pulwama, curfew was lifted temporarily in the Kashmir valley.
A chance meeting between Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union minister Kiren Rijiju at the Tulip Garden in Srinagar has sparked a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the National Conference of laying out a red carpet for the BJP leader in the aftermath of the Waqf Amendment Act. While NC sources termed the interaction as a purely coincidental encounter, opposition parties like the PDP and Peoples' Conference condemned the meeting, accusing the NC of surrendering to the BJP. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, passed by Parliament last week, aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare.
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.
The constituency had recorded an abysmal 7.13 per cent voter turnout, the lowest ever in its history.
National Conference patron and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah will contest the forthcoming assembly election from the Hazratbal constituency, according to the list of candidates released by the party on Thursday.The party has repeated almost all its earlier candidates. There are very few new names in the electoral list.
According to the returning officer, former chief minister and NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah polled 27 votes while as Mohammad Shafi Uri got 25 votes in the third and final round of elections, held through Single Transferable Vote System.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, reading out a resolution adopted at the meeting, said the parties have decided to send delegations to meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of political parties to apprise them about the consequences of any attempt to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution, or carry out delimitation of constituencies or trifurcating the state.
The octogenarian leader, who was candid and witty in his nearly-35-minute speech, said one is even afraid of a handshake or a hug in the current situation.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said the time has come for India to have a "controlled democracy" on the lines of Malaysia to get quicker results of long-pending issues.
The Enforcement Directorate had filed the money laundering case after taking cognisance of a Central Bureau of Investigation FIR and chargesheet.
Board of Control for Cricket in India's chief N Srinivasan on Tuesday got support from Union minister Farooq Abdullah, who said it makes no sense in demanding his resignation as it has not been proved that he was involved in any wrongdoing. "Why should he resign," asked Abdulla, who is also president of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association.
Panic gripped Khanyar area of Srinagar on Sunday after an explosion was heard during an election rally of Union Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.
The incident took place at Bhatindi on Saturday morning when the man, hailing from Mendhar in Poonch district, drove at a high speed and banged his car against the main gate, they said.
If the only superpower, which calls India an ally, sees the region through an India-Pakistan prism, it is unacceptable. Rather than endorse India's sphere of influence, this undermines it, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has praised Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his governance, Union Minister and President of National Conference Farooq Abdullah said on Thursday.
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah asked his younger brother Mustafa Kamal to step down as the chief spokesman of the party on Thursday evening for his controversial remarks on Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
The National Conference leader remained unfazed and continued with his prayers, saying the jeering and booing were by his 'own people' who were misguided.
National Conference (NC) patron and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah has decided to contest the state assembly polls from two constituencies in summer capital Srinagar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday flayed Dr Farooq Abdullah, who claimed that the media had distorted his son Omar Abdullah's comments on the Amarnath yatra issue.
Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the Samba gunbattle in which nine people including civilians were killed on May 11
The Union minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah on Monday favoured reopening of cinemas and liquor shops in Kashmir Valley for expanding recreational facilities for visiting tourists.
'I am not afraid of BJP. I am not armed with lathi or stone, let them come to me and reply to my questions which they will not'
Dr Abdullah has said his party is open to other suggestions.
"Trust is something that has been missing from both sides (Delhi and Srinagar). Successive prime ministers -- Jawaharlal Nehru, Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- made promises but the trust deficit has persisted," he added.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah is taking over as the president of the ruling National Conference this week.Dr Abdullah, who won the state assembly polls from two constituencies, will replace his son and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the party's president.National Conference, which emerged as a single largest party in the state assembly elections, is ruling the state in coalition with the Congress.
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