Terming the bi-annual shifting of state capital as a "necessary evil", Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday advocated a reverse 'darbar move' so that the government stays with the people when they are facing hardships due to extreme weather.
Having defied convention, Kashmir's first all-girls rock band is facing a challenge of online threats and abuses from conservative sections of the society.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, alleges that the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to capitalise on the Kishtwar violence for electoral gains. He rejects any role of his Home Minister Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, who was forced to resign, in the Kishtwar violence, while coming down heavily on BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Narendra Modi.
They said police parties fanned out to find them amid reports that they had been abducted and killed by terrorists.
'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.'
The casualties were reported hours before India and Pakistan agreed to end hostilities, which soared after the Indian Armed Forces hit terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir earlier this week in response to the Pahalgam attack.
"We saw missiles in the sky and heard bombs in our neighbourhood... We were petrified," said MBBS student Mir Khalif, his voice still trembling with fear, as he stepped out of the Delhi airport after being evacuated from war-hit Iran under Operation Sindhu.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday said that 'the fear of gun would be removed for ever when the basic political issues of the state are addressed and resolved amicably'.
More than 40 per cent of the 908 candidates contesting the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Independents, leading to claims that a large number of them have been propped up by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide votes.
Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh granted the relief to Rashid, who had moved the court seeking interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
"Yes, if the current trends of leads in 27 seats hold momentum, we will approach the Congress which is a like-minded party. We will approach the Congress to form the government," party President Omar Abdullah said. Asked earlier as to whom the National Conference would like to see as a coalition partner in future government, Omar, 38, said: "Personally, I will prefer to have an alliance with the Congress.
Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah categorically said on Thursday night that there was "no deal" or any "discussion" going on between his National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday clinched a stunning hat-trick win in Haryana overcoming anti-incumbency and dashing Congress' hopes of a comeback while the National Conference-Congress combine pulled off a spectacular victory in maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday made it clear that he will complete his full term of five years, as per the agreement between the top leaders of the National Conference and the Congress.Addressing a media conference in Jammu, the CM said, "I, as the then president of National Conference and Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, discussed the issue threadbare and made it clear that there will be no rotational chief minister."
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's recent announcement on limited withdrawal of the Disturbed Areas Act from Jammu and Kashmir has led to "utter confusion" and its price is being paid by ordinary civilians, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said that the tension at the Line of Control and International Border across the state directly impacts the tranquillity and development process.
Strongly critical of the dilution of Article 370 of the Constitution, Omar said many reasons had been given to justify abrogation of the provision that granted special status, and claimed that none of those stand any scrutiny.
'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.
It was a candle light dinner for Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday night as he directed disconnection of power supply to the VIP grid including his residence to divert the scarce electricity for maintaining essential services.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act will be revoked from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir within the next few days, Chief Minster Omar Abdullah said on Friday. While assuring the people that revocation of these laws will not have any adverse affects, he said the measure will put an added responsibility on the shoulders of state police and paramilitary forces.
Heavy Pakistani shelling in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir left nine people dead and 28 injured. The shelling, described by residents and officials as "barbaric and cowardly", started around 2 am, damaging dozens of residential houses, shops, vehicles, and heritage sites. The incident comes after India launched "Operation Sindoor" in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India condemned the act, calling it a cowardly attack on civilians, and reaffirmed that civilian safety remains its top priority.
Even though state health minister on Monday ruled out outbreak of swine flu in Jammu and Kashmir, the state chief minister took stock of the preparedness to deal with the pandemic.
The officials said the SSG will be "right-sized" by reducing the number of the elite force to the "bare minimum".
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made a fresh appeal to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party to attend the all party meet on Monday to discuss the present situation in the Kashmir valley.
Refuting speculations of split in the alliance between Congress and National Conference, Omar Abdullah said his party has no intention of leaving the alliance.
A two-member team of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met Rohingya Muslims at a slum in Jammu amid a heated debate whether the illegally settled immigrants be provided water and electricity.
Stung by the death of a student in north Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday directed the power development department to put in all efforts to mitigate the hardships faced by the people in the valley owing to power shortage.
Days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, intelligence agencies had flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially those staying in hotels on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, officials in the know said Saturday.
The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the 'humane' projection of the perpetrators.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday distanced himself from the WikiLeaks cable emanating from the United States embassy in Delhi relating to alleged human rights violations in Kashmir in 2005 and indirectly blamed the then government led by opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
'It is sad and unfortunate. But we have to accept it'
'I feel bad for those idiots who threw their Chinese made TVs off their balconies only to see this happen'
For the second time in a week, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday asserted that he would complete the full six-year term.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the efforts of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah are to denotify the Disturbed Areas from some places in the state, a move which will pave way for removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Hitting back at Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah for his dynastic politics jibe, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday termed it as "hypocrisy," saying the party should first "lecture" its friends in Maharashtra and Punjab.
Opposition People's Democratic Party on Thursday accused Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of dragging the state assembly into the Afzal Guru issue and refusing to take a stand when the clemency resolution came up for discussion in the House.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday announced a judicial probe into the September 7 Shopian incident in which four youth were allegedly killed in paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force firing.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kashmir on Saturday as most areas of the valley received snowfall, disrupting flight and railway operations and also leading to the closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, officials said.
Although Omar Abdullah has survived as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister he has been unable to govern, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti tells Sheela Bhatt in an exclusive interview.
INDIA bloc parties are set to raise issues such as the Pahalgam attack, US President Trump's claims of brokering a ceasefire, and concerns over electoral roll revisions in Bihar during the Parliament's Monsoon session.
