'I will give the evidence when the Indian Army constitutes an inquiry. I have given you my statement. Has the army initiated any inquiry?'
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
An eerie silence prevails with concertina wire barricades laid on deserted streets and police and armed forces personnel allowing civilians to move only after thorough checking.
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
'If the National Conference and PDP make handsome electoral gains in the valley and call for the restoration of the former state's lost status, how will the rulers in Delhi respond?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
'Increasing Indian influence meant "people here in Washington DC, in Brussels, in London or other world capitals don't talk about Kashmir".'
The governor's comments drew sharp reaction from former chief minister and senior Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who said Malik should check his own reputation in Delhi.
Please promise, especially those millions who trust you with their hard-earned money, never to let your voting preferences determine your actions on the markets. The most appalling and scary phenomenon was fund houses and brokerages going out on election yatras and writing copious reports promising more than 300 for the BJP. That was your wish as voters. Your investors are paying for it now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Amid a raging debate over AFSPA, a focused internal political dialogue must be launched in Kashmir to reassure the army that yet another hard-won peace will not be squandered by political lethargy, writes Ajai Shukla
The Centre's interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir will submit a document containing the contours of a political settlement of Kashmir issue to the Centre within two weeks.
'Sheikh Abdullah ruled the state with secular values. Post 1953, when he was sacked, corruption took over governance.'
The dialogue with Malik will be the prime minister's second meeting with a separatist group outside the Hurriyat Conference fold.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday the dialogue process initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream leadership can gain credibility by ending what she called an 'era of oppression and suppression' in the union territory and understanding that a dissenting voice is not a criminal act.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi was addressing the AICC session in New Delhi.
As controversy raged over Yati Narsinghanand's objectionable remarks against Prophet Muhammad, his supporters on Sunday alleged that the Dasna temple head priest is being illegally kept in detention by police, which denied the claim.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said 42,000 people lost their lives to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir over the years but the security situation has improved now to such an extent that no one dares to call a hartal or indulge in stone-pelting.
As part of the programme, the 36 ministers are visiting J&K this week to participate in 60 public interactions at various places in the Union territory," Principal Secretary to the J&K government Rohit Kansal told reporters.
'I was emotional when the decision took place on August 5, 2019.' 'I made the film with clear intentions of projecting the truth.'
Former NC minister and leader of opposition Abdul Rahim Rather was addressing a convention of party's youth wing at Akad-Pahalgam.
In his first public appearance following his release from four-year house arrest on Friday, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq reiterated the stand of his separatist amalgam that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir has to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means.
References to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India has friendly ties with both the countries.
The subscribers will have to, however, wait for some more time for Internet services to resume in the Valley
The MEA spokesperson said that New Delhi already received enough of trademark exports like 'international terrorism, cross-border infiltrators, weapons, narcotics and fake currency'.
'They forget that denial of basic rights has helped create a big political void which is adding to a deepening alienation.' 'This creates a fertile ground for extremist elements and targeted killings which we are witness to once again.'
'Terrorists are killing ordinary citizens, huge crowds brave a pandemic to attend militant funerals, and artillery is booming on the LoC.' 'This April seems like a run-of-the-terror-mill Kashmiri spring: Violence is emerging like a prickly new bud,' warns David Devadas.
A five-member civil society delegation led by former Union minister Yashwant Sinha on Monday wrapped up its four-day visit to Kashmir asseted an atmosphere of fear was prevailing in the Valley.
But why is everyone getting so het up over what, after all, is a mere film? If you don't like it, don't watch it. Why create a public spectacle over it? asks Virendra Kapoor.
'I don't want what happened to me should happen to anyone else,' says Shagun Parihar, the BJP candidate from Kishtwar whose father and uncle were killed by terrorists.
The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, which heard their contentions at length, told them they will have to justify the procedure adopted for abrogation as the court cannot postulate a situation "where the ends justify the means".
Pakistan stands alone in a corner over Kashmir issue, says Union home minister Amit Shah.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
"we're talking about Kashmir and the relation to what's going on with Pakistan and India. And if we can help, we certainly will be helping," the President said.
Many Kashmiris termed the removing of that state flag as a "saddest moment for the J&K's history." Umar Ganie/Rediff.com reports from Srinagar.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget on February 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May.
Released on Friday after his detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah drove from his residence to nearby Hari Nivas where his son, also a former chief minister, has been held first under preventive custody since February 5 under the PSA. The two warmly embraced.
The House passed by voice vote the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, to replace an ordinance issued by previous government, extending President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, amidst opposition from the Congress and some other parties.
The valley is under the iron grip of the armed forces and Pakistan does not have the military power or political support to change the status quo, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), after a recent visit to Kashmir.
In the book, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship Between India and Pakistan, Bisaria says this public telecast sounded to observers like a mid-summit report on the talks, where Pakistan's hard views were being inflicted on India, while New Delhi's positions were unclear.
According to the orders of the commission, set up under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, the Union territory will have 90 assembly constituencies -- 43 in Jammu Division and 47 in Kashmir -- with nine of them being reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
