"It does worry me. These trends are the outcome of unfortunate things happened in July and August. The question is that secularism is getting shrunk at the cost of development," Azad said, adding that it should be 'a worry for each and every Indian'.
Azad has been making clear that the proposals needed to be discussed thoroughly and there should be synchronisation between public posturing and the stand taken at the negotiating table.
The minister also appealed to the people of Kashmir to hoist the national flag in their homes on August 15.
"PM Narendra Modi yesterday in his broadcast to the nation claimed that there is normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and people are happy with the decision of abolition of article 370 and 35A.
Qazi had submitted his resignation on Tuesday after he was stripped of forest portfolio on Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, who was on the flight, ordered the marshal's arrest
The Hajjis were carried in luxury buses owned by the State Road Transport Corporation from the Tourist Reception Centre.
"I am optimistic of some tangible movement forward on these crucial issues in the coming days," Mufti told PDP functionaries in Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed that custodial deaths and disappearances in the state have been at its lowest during the past one year.
Addressing the two-day summer session of the state legislature, Azad quoted extensively from figures to prove that stern action had been taken against those found guilty of rights abuses among the security personnel.
Several MPs came to the Upper House wearing masks and demanded curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, which is due to end on April 3, in view of the novel coronavirus scare, but the government seemed unwilling.
Ajit Singh represented a bridge between a constituency that represented a more traditional era in politics and a modern, forward-looking, India, remembers Aditi Phadnis.
Azad said the "discussion of election strategy was the main purpose."
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said he was ready for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into allegations of wanton forest destruction, wherein his brother has been named by a news channel.
These days, the chief minister said, various political parties and the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders had been holding public meetings in the Valley.
The all parties' meeting was convened by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to arrive at a consensus with regard to the grant of citizenship rights to refugees who poured into the state from neighbouring Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1971.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party of weakening the country by spreading fear and hatred, and said only the Congress can unite the country and take it to the path of progress.
Official sources said that the informal discussions also included fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies with the intended 25% increase over the existing seats in the Assembly.
The Centre will provide a close proximity cover of elite "Black Cat" commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the wake of threat perception from Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
This was the second such plot foiled by security agencies in a month. Earlier, terrorists had planned to target Azad at Ramban in Jammu region but the three possible attackers were nabbed before they could act.
'What led to the present crisis was an action taken by my government in good faith. Nobody realised then that things would come to such a stage. I feel that had it not been for the coming elections in the state, the cabinet decision (to allot land to the Amarnath shrine board) would not have been even noticed. It was the timing of the decision that resulted in a bad situation,' says Azad.
In key organisational changes, the Congress on Wednesday appointed young face Anil Chaudhary as its Delhi unit chief and named D K Shivakumar, known to be the party's chief troubleshooter in crisis situations, as the head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday demanded that the strength of its police be "tripled" in order to take complete control of militancy in the state, which has become a gateway for terrorists to carry out attacks in other parts of the country.
Azad, while condemning the brutal murder of five civilians by militants, said the incident is an eye opener and a lesson.
important financial and economic bills, including the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2003, the Cost and Works Accountants (Amendment) Bill, 2003 and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill did not come up.
This is the third time the party is boycotting a meeting, amid rumours that all is not well with the coalition.
Ansari, who is on a two-day visit to the state, is scheduled to attend the fourth convocation of the the Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agriculture and Technology on Sunday. Ansari visited the famous Nishat Garden on the banks of the Dal Lake on Saturday. He also paid obeisance at the Hazrtabal shrine which houses the relic of the Holy Prophet of Islam.
This follows the withdrawal of support to the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government by the People's Democratic Party last month, which has 17 members in the assembly, while as the Congress has 21 legislators. The largest party in state assembly is the opposition National Conference with 24 members and the Panthers Party has four members. There are 16 independent MLA's in the House.
This comes in the wake of the PDP demand for phased withdrawal of security forces from civilian areas of the state.
Addressing a public meeting at Uri, about 100 km from Srinagar in north Kashmir on Saturday, Azad said once peace was visible on the ground in the state, withdrawal of troops will automatically follow.
The chief minister said that the present situation was not ripe enough for withdrawal and any hasty step in this direction could be exploited by the militants that can result in loss of gains made over the years and can also lead to loss of lives.
The opposition parties did not yield, and the Chairman adjourned proceedings for the day
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra told Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that the Amarnath Shrine Board would not pursue the transfer of land.
Ahmed Patel, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh will be part of the Rajya Sabha Committee, which will also include Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and party's deputy leader Anand Sharma. Azad and Sharma are signatories to the letter that demanded an overhaul of the Congress party and a new 'full-time and visible' party president.
The army in Jammu and Kashmir will vacate schools and hospital buildings under its use in the state by the end of November.
Hours after the verdict was announced, Azad visited the dam site in the mountainous Doda district and met the engineers and workers who were jubilant at the verdict by the World Bank appointed arbitrator Prof Raymond Lafitte.
