Sheikh Abdullah’s ‘Role’ in J&K’s accession to India: CIA Report

Asserting that Sheikh Abdullah, founder of the National Conference (NC), the oldest political party in Kashmir, played an instrumental role in accession of Kashmir to India, a declassified report of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) states that a fair election in Kashmir at that time (1947) would have reversed the accession in favour of Pakistan. The CIA special report, titled “Sheikh Abdullah and The Kashmir Issue”, sent to the spy agency’s headquarters in 1964, stated that it was the Indian union which made much of Abdullah’s role so as to…

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Youth killed after forces open fire on protesters in Gusoo village Pulwama

A youth was killed after the government forces fired live ammunition into protesters in Gusoo village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday. Reports said that youth hurled stones on the forces’ vehicles during a cordon-and-search-operation in the village. The forces, they said, responded by firing tear gas, pellets and live ammunition. A youth, identified as Fayaz Ahmad Wani, son of Muhammad Ahsan Wani of Chewa-Kalan, sustained a firearm injury during the clashes. Reports said that the injured has been shifted to district hospital Pulwama where from he was referred…

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Pellet terror continues, scores injured during Shopian Operation

Seven protestors suffered pellet wounds when government forces fired into them while they were attempting to distract the attention of forces from acting against two to three militants caught in a house in Shopian on Sunday morning. A police official said that army men of 34 RR, CRPF and SOG personnel laid a siege around the Laddi Imamsahab village– some 8 Kms towards the east from the Shopian town. During the search operation, militants believed to be 2-3 in number fired a volley of bullets on the forces from a…

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Nirmala Sitharaman, Bipin Rawat to meet new JK Governor in Srinagar today

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Army chief General Bipin Rawat will be flying to Srinagar on Monday to call on newly appointed State Governor Satyapal Malik to exchange notes on the security situation in the state and the forthcoming Panchayat elections. This will be the first meeting between the defence minister, Army chief and the Jammu and Kashmir Governor. South Block officials said that the visit of Sitharaman and Rawat comes at a time when indigenous militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen, has been pushed to the forefront of action by…

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Ex CM Farooq Abdullah says ASG’s stand shows J&K govt has ‘Virtually Conceded’ before SC

National Conference president Sunday has denounced the Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG) for saying in the Supreme Court that “there is an aspect of gender discrimination” in Article 35A of the Constitution. The Lok Sabha member from Srinagar was reacting to the stand taken by the ASG Tushar Mehta in the apex court last Friday. During the hearing, the ASG had agreed to the contention that Article 35A and certain aspects needed to be debated and said, “It can’t be denied that there is an aspect of gender discrimination…

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Massive search operation on in Pulwama

Security forces started a massive search operation on Monday in around two dozen villages of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said. The operation began following reports about the presence of militants in the villages of Putrigam, Rohmu, Rajpora, Matrigam, Goosu, Frasipora and others. “So far, there has been no reports of any exchange of fire in any of the villages included in the search,” a police officer said. This is not the first such operation in the south Kashmir area undertaken by the security forces. These operations known as…

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Spike in fuel price continues, Petrol price goes up 30 paise, Diesel rises 40 paise

Petrol prices in Delhi breached Rs 79 a litre on Monday, continuing a rising streak in prices across metros. At Rs 79.15 a litre in the national capital, the price of petrol hit a fresh record high on Monday, more than 31 paise over Sunday’s price of Rs 78.84. Under the dynamic pricing system for transport fuels, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) revises fuel prices based on global crude oil prices every day at 6 am. In Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, petrol prices went up by in the range of…

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