Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks on Pakistan sparked a political row on Friday, with his party quick to dissociate itself from the comments while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party latched on to them, accusing the Congress of being an apologist for Pakistan and the terrorism emanating from its soil.
The National Conference leader remained unfazed and continued with his prayers, saying the jeering and booing were by his 'own people' who were misguided.
'If you post on social media on an issue like power cuts in Tral, the police will come to your home and tell you to remove your social media post.' 'If you don't, then the local police threaten you that they will book you under PSA.' 'This is happening all the time in Kashmir.'
Farooq Abdullah and Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday sparred in public with the former chief minister asking him to give up his "movement of violence" in Jammu and Kashmir and telling him secession can never be accepted.
Meanwhile, police did not allow journalists to gather near National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah and vice-president Omar Abdullah's residence at Gupkar here, officials said.
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
The courts in Pakistan have been flooded with petitions as candidates, mostly backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), challenged the results of Thursday's general elections, alleging rigging.
"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence in Srinagar.
Refuting reports about his remark over people of Kashmir, whom he allegedly dubbed as 'maha chor', Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Monday said he was misquoted by the media.
The action, announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a response to the group's involvement in fomenting terrorism and spreading anti-India sentiment within the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
'There is no link between Article 370 abrogation and a rise in voting percentage.'
With 19 border polling stations along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch, a contingency plan has been worked out to deal with cross-border shelling though chances are negligible given the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan that came into effect in February 2021, officials said.
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.
The vehicle, a Tavera, was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar and it fell into a 300-foot gorge at the Battery Cheshma area of the district around 1.15 am, they said.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
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 Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
The woman has lodged a complaint in Damoh on Thursday evening against one Omar Farooq and a police team from Damoh is leaving for Karnataka immediately to probe the case, MP home minister Narottam Mishra told reporters in Bhopal.
Nine people including three women were killed and 33 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on Sunday evening, police said, as political leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemn the dastardly attack.
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The ruling National Conference on Tuesday named patron Farooq Abdullah as the party's President, replacing his son Omar Abdullah, who became the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister on January 5 following assembly elections in the state.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
The apex court asked Vaiko to challenge the NC leader's detention order under the Public Safety Act.
A boat carrying mostly school children capsized in the Jhelum river on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, leaving six people dead, officials said.
This was the first general election in the valley after the abrogation of Article 370 and the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the EC said in a statement.
'It seems that Modi ji has some hand in the EVMs'
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
Supporting Omar Abdullah's demand for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said the chief minister is "the boss" in the state and the Centre should take his views on the controversial Act.
All parties in Jammu and Kashmir said the assembly election should be held with the parliamentary polls, but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously
"India cannot be run on the basis of one religion. And there is more threat from the enemy within. We know about the enemy which is outside," Abdullah said.
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.
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
'And the old war horse has left nothing to chance. He campaigned vigorously in the by-election defying his age,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.
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.
Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday asked Union Minister Farooq Abdullah to take "rest" following his suggestion for reopening of cinemas and liquor shops in Jammu and Kashmir to provide more options for tourists.
Union Minister and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that Pakistan might disrupt the fragile peace process in Jammu and Kashmir. "The turbulent days are slowly getting over. But I want to tell you that we are very scared. I am still scared of my neighbour (Pakistan) and it is not wrong because a very dangerous situation is developing. May God bless them with wisdom and strengthen democracy (in Pakistan)," Farooq told the media at an event in Delhi.
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