Month: August 2017

Scrapping of Article 35A to hit Jammu most: Omar Abdullah

Editor

Maintaining that removal of Article 35A will hurt the interests of Jammu people the most, National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah today hit out at BJP leaders for launching a misinformation campaign without knowing its consequences. He said if the BJP was able to win the fight in a court through its proxies, before reaching Kashmir, businessmen and people from outside would settle in Jammu and Ladakh. “Going by the present situation in the Kashmir valley, where locals are moving out and sending their children to different parts of…

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Will take call on Article 370, 35A once in majority: Nirmal Singh

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Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party will take a call on issues like Article 370 and Article 35 A when it forms the government on its own in Jammu-Kashmir. “The BJP stand on Article 370 and Article 35 A is very clear and we still stick to our stand,” Singh told reporters after the Independence Day parade in Jammu. “If people of Jammu-Kashmir give us 44 plus seats in the Legislative Assembly, we will take a call on them (Article 370 and Article…

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Mehbooba, Omar, Mirwaiz welcome Modi’s Kashmir outreach

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to Kashmir in his Independence Day address on Tuesday in which he said bullets or abuses will not help resolve the problems of Kashmir has been welcomed by moderate separatist leader, J&K Chief Minister and opposition National Conference. Moderate separatist leader and cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq welcomed PM Modi’s statement. “Welcome Modi also believes ‘Goli and Gaali’ will not help resolve Kashmir. If Insaniyat (humanity) and Insaaf (justice) replace them, resolution can become a reality,” Mirwaiz tweeted. In his I-Day address, PM Modi said, “Na…

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Seventy years on, digging a deeper hole in Kashmir

Editor

The move by a BJP/RSS front organization to repeal the validity of Article 35-A will lead to adverse consequences are likely to further devastate an already suffering region. Its long-term negative consequences are likely to outlive us all. The clouds always appear ominous when it comes to Kashmir. But as India marks the 70th year of independence, the clouds look menacing. A little known non-governmental organization, Jammu and Kashmir Study Centre (JKSC), considered a front of the RSS and the BJP has challenged the validity of Article 35-A of the…

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Govt transfers forest land to businessman in Pahalgam

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At a time the judiciary has gone tough on illegal constructions in eco-sensitive zones, the J&K Government has allotted forest land to a businessman for constructing a hotel in Pahalgam. Officials said the Forest Department has given no objection certificate (NOC) to a hotelier for construction on the forest land at the Ganeshbal locality in Lidder Forest Division in Pahalgam. “Nearly 6 kanals of forest land in compartment 34 and 35 of Lidder forest division have been transferred to a businessman for the construction of a hotel,” a senior forest…

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Forces intensify frisking ahead of Aug 15 across J&K

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Government forces have intensified ‘Frisking Operations’ across Kashmir including Srinagar-Jammu highway to thwart any possible militant attacks on August 15. A witness said police and CRPF men have erected makeshift naka points at various places in Srinagar and started intense frisking in run up to August 15. “I was travelling from Dalgate to Jehangir Chowk on my motorbike and was stopped first at Dalgate and then on Maulana Azad Road near Pratap Park,” said Aijaz Rasool, of Batamaloo, Srinagar. He said police checked his identity card and also papers of…

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Debate on Article 35A and How it could change the Idea of Kashmir

Editor

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear a petition challenging the constitutionality of Article 35A, which is being seen by many as something that can have larger impact on the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to a political controversy. The ongoing controversy over Article 35A is doing more harm to the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir than a year-long bloody unrest, hundreds of civilian deaths, controversies over pellet guns, the human shield incident, and a cancelled bypoll together couldn’t do. The threat of abrogation of…

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3 Militants, 2 Army jawans, 2 Civilians killed in Shopian gunfight

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Three militants including an operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and two army soldiers were killed while five soldiers sustained injuries in an 18-hour-long gunfight between government forces and militants in Awneera village in Shopian district on Sunday, police and reports said. Three residential houses where the militants were holed up were also destroyed by the government forces, they said. An official said the gunfight which broke around 5 pm on Saturday ended at 11 am on Sunday. “As soon as the forces laid a siege around Awneera, militants present in…

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BJP ministers under fire over silence on Article 35A

Editor

Discontent brewing within the BJP due to the “guarded silence” being maintained by party ministers on Article 35A came to the fore during the core committee meeting when some members gave vent to their anger against the “defensive” approach of the party on the issue. The core committee meeting, held on Saturday evening, was attended by senior leaders, including two Cabinet ministers of the coalition. One member of the core committee, who wished not to be quoted, said members expressed their anger over the submissive approach being adopted by party…

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