Month: March 2017

BJP to fight bypolls, rules out support to PDP

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said it will contest byelections from the Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies and ruled out any alliance with its coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “The BJP will contest byelections for the Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies…very soon a high-level committee will announce the candidates for these two seats,” BJP state general secretary (organisation) Ashok Kaul said while addressing a party meet at Dooru, Anantnag, in south Kashmir. Earlier, there was speculation that the BJP would not field any candidates and campaign for…

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National Highway re-opens partially after 7 days, but woes remained

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Continuous blockade of road causes shortage of essentials, vegetables in Valley Hundreds of oil tankers, trucks stranded on highway Stranded LMVs cleared; Officials say no fresh traffic today After remaining closed for a week, Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road link connecting Valley with rest of the world, was partially opened for Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) on Tuesday and authorities allowed Srinagar-bound traffic. SSP Traffic (Rural), Aijaz Ahmad Bhat told Kashmir Post that a portion of the road was cleared for traffic. “The light Motor vehicles were allowed to move towards…

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National Highway shut for seventh consecutive day

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The highway was closed after a portion of the road on the Panthal section was washed away due to heavy landslides. The strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway remained closed on Tuesday prompting authorities to make arrangements to airlift stranded passengers, officials said. The highway was closed after a portion of the road on the Panthal section was washed away due to heavy landslides. On Monday, stranded passengers abandoned their vehicles near the landslide area and walked over 15 km to reach Banihal town in order to board trains to the valley, the…

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Muslim youth form ‘Defense Committees’ for night vigil in Jammu

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Composite culture of Talab Khatikan an example of communal harmony: BJP MLA After yesterday’s attempt to flare up communal tension in Jammu city, Muslim youth in Old City, here formed defense committees in their respective areas for their security. “The youth are patrolling the streets and lanes during the night. About 30 Muslim youth conducted night patrolling. They have been tasked to remain alert to detect any suspicious activity taking place around the Muslim areas,” said a youth pleading anonymity. About a hundred youth riding motorbikes came to Talab Khitikan…

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PDP fielding Tassaduq Mufti from Anantnag, Nazir Khan from Srinagar

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Ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is fielding Tassaduq Hussain Sayeed from Anantnag-Pulwama and Nazir Ahmad Khan from Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency for the by-polls for the two Lok Sabha seats. The decision to field Tassaduq and Nazir was taken after the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and senior PDP leaders including cabinet ministers met late Monday evening at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s Jammu residence at Gupkar, sources said. Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency is going for by-polls on April 9 while Anantnag-Pulwama would witness polling on April 12. The Anantnag-Pulwama parliamentary seat had…

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All eyes on govt over Bill on State Subject’s Rights

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Amid uncertainty over fate of a Bill seeking protection of the rights of state subjects, Speaker of the J&K Legislative Assembly Kavinder Gupta has decided to consult State Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdur Rehman Veeri before taking a final call on the legislation which has haunted the PDP-BJP government since last year. Talking to Kashmir Post, Gupta- who is from BJP- said, “I will discuss the issue with Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs Minister.” The Bill has come from Revenue department. However, the PDP-led Revenue Ministry is indecisive over the…

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Local support for militants changes front lines in Kashmir

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The road to Begumbagh passes through hauntingly silent villages. The houses and shuttered shops looked abandoned and fewer people walked the potholed road on Saturday, the third day of a shutdown to mourn the killing of two militants and a teenaged civilian. An overwhelming eeriness competed with a cloudy grey sky. Begumbagh is a quiet village in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the new heartland of Kashmir’s ageing conflict and home to a dangerous trend of civilians trying to storm the cordoned-off sites to rescue militants. It was here in this…

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City drenched in festive colours

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Holi, the festival of colours, was celebrated across J&Kwith traditional fervour and gaiety today. In Jammu, people celebrated the festival by splashing colours on their family members and friends. Educational institutions had already celebrated the festival on Saturday by organising cultural events. In schools, students were seen dancing to the drum beats. The public transport was mostly off the roads as people were celebrating the festival. However, groups of youths, in celebratory mode, hit the streets in cars, open jeeps and motorcycles. Reports said that Holi was celebrated with religious…

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Travel Marts, Road shows fail to woo tourists

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Despite Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department organizing ten road shows in different states during the past few months, the number of tourists visiting Kashmir has not picked up till date. Stakeholders and the officials of the Tourism department claim that the aftershocks of five-month long 2016 summer unrest are still being felt and these have brought down the tourist influx to zero. As per Tourism officials and stakeholders, the Tourism department along with local stakeholders organized road shows and participated in travel marts at Lucknow, Kochi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Indore, Ahmedabad,…

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Fresh landslides triggered closure of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway for 6th consecutive day

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The nearly 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH) was again closed on Monday with fresh landslides occurring at a few places along the road, a day after it was reopened to traffic. The only all-weather road connecting the Valley to the rest of India, the highway was opened on Sunday for one-way traffic after remaining closed for four days. “The National Highway was once again closed for traffic as fresh landslides occurred at a few places along the highway,” a Traffic Department official said here. A portion of the road in…

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