Day: November 22, 2018

For the Authorities there are no civilians in Shopian, only militants

Editor

As the security situation in the Valley remains precarious, restive Shopian in south Kashmir is fast turning into a war zone with nearly 40 militants and at least a dozen civilians killed in the district by government forces this year alone. In the latest counter insurgency operation in the district’s Nadigam village, four militants, all of them local youths affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen outfit, were gunned down by security forces in an encounter in the small hours of yesterday. An army Para commando was also killed while two…

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PDP, Congress, NC ganged up on Pakistan direction to keep BJP at bay: Kavinder Gupta

Editor

Former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta said on Wednesday that the Peoples Democratic Party, Congress and the National Conference were joining hands to form a government in the state at Pakistan’s behest. He made the comments before the dissolution of the Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday evening. “The three parties are ganging up to form a government in the state at Pakistan’s directions to keep the BJP away from power,” he said in a press conference. Gupta, who served as the Legislative Assembly Speaker and later as…

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Omar tweets, Mehbooba likes – In thank you note to rival Omar, Mehbooba stinging jibe at BJP

Editor

An indication of a new bonhomie between arch-rivals Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti was witnessed on microblogging site Twitter when the latter liked a tweet by the former immediately after the confirmation of alliance between the two parties. Omar, who is the working president of the National Conference (NC), tweeted: “Whoever said ‘may you live in interesting times’ knew what they were talking about.” Mehbooba, president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was quick to ‘like’ Omar’s tweet — a virtual confirmation that the two former Chief Ministers of the…

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What compelled rival parties in J&K to foster alliance

Editor

Two arch-rivals in Kashmir politics — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — had come under intense pressure from their MLAs to form government in Jammu and Kashmir as it was feared that continuing political hostility would pave way for the success of “BJP’s machinations” to break these groups. The decision on the alliance came before the annoucement of the dissolution of the Assembly and sought to utilise the remaining period of more than two years of the six-year term of the Assemblyto unite all for “Kashmir’s special status”. It…

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J&K’s political thriller ends in anti-climax with Governor dissolving Assembly

Editor

At the end of a day of dramatic developments, Jammu & Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday night dissolved the state assembly in a contentious decision that may well be challenged in the courts. The dissolution, announced in a statement by Raj Bhawan, came after Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its arch-rival National Conference (NC) teamed up with the Congress for a shot at government formation with the support of 56 legislators in the 87-member assembly. The People’s Conference led by Sajjad Lone, later staked a rival…

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