Month: December 2018

Celebrations begin as Congress races ahead in Rajasthan assembly elections

Editor

Counting of votes began at 8 am today for the Rajasthan assembly elections with trends at 10 am showing the Congress racing ahead with leads in 99 seats and the BJP in 75. As trends started trickling in, celebrations broke out in Jaipur outside the houses of Pradesh Congress Committe chief Sachin Pilot and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot as caretaker chief minister Vasundhara Raje prayed at Tripur Sundari temple in Banswara. Initial counting showed Raje leading from Jhalrapatan, Sachin Pilot from Tonk and senior Congress leader and former chief…

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BJP threatening its MLAs with ‘NIA, CBI Action’- Omar Abdullah, BJP seeks proof Or Public Apology

Editor

National Conference Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday dared BJP to declare its chief ministerial candidate for Jammu and Kashmir ahead of elections to Legislative Assembly as well as slammed the party for threatening NIA, CBI action against its legislators before dissolution of assembly. “The BJP’s bravado to have its own chief minister from Jammu fell flat twice, first by stitching alliance with 28-member PDP in 2015 and later while unsuccessfully attempting to form the government by surrendering before a party with two MLAs from North…

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Thousands throng funeral for ‘Youngest’ rebel killed in Kashmir

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Thousands of mourners thronged the funeral on Monday of a 14-year-old rebel shot dead by Indian troops in Kashmir, the youngest-ever fighter killed in the decades-long insurgency, police said. Mudasir Ahmad Parrey was killed alongside two other militants, one a 17-year-old, outside the city of Srinagar on Sunday. Parrey, a ninth-grade student, went missing in August before emerging in a photograph on social media brandishing an automatic assault rifle and military knife. The young militants’ deaths sparked angry protests in the restive Himalayan region administered by India but also claimed…

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National Highway closed post fresh snowfall in Kashmir

Editor

All highways and roads leading in and out of the Kashmir valley were shut on Monday following fresh snowfall over mountainous stretches of the region while the weather department said more precipitation was expected over the next 24 hours. An official of the traffic department said the Srinagar-Jammu highway, Srinagar-Ladakh highway and the Mughal Road were shut after snowfall in the northern, central and southern areas of the Valley. The official said the traffic along the Srinagar-Jammu highway was stopped around noon as snowfall around Jawahar Tunnel made the mountainous…

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Disgruntled Muzaffar Baig appointed PDP patron, Abbas Wani quits party

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Fighting rebellion, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti Monday chaired a meeting of party leaders and appointed disgruntled leader and MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig as patron of the party.Sources in the party told Kashmir Post that the meeting was called in the backdrop of growing dissent in the party since the fall of the PDP-BJP coalition government in June this year.Since dissolution of Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik on November 21, four former PDP lawmakers—Hasseb Drabu, Imran Ansari, Abid Ansari and Mohammad Abbas Wani—have resigned from the…

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Kashmir Problem cannot be solved by force: AS Dulat

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Former Indian spymaster AS Dulat on Monday claimed that Pakistan has given up on Kashmir and the message coming out from Kashmir is that the stakeholders want peace and a dialogue with New Delhi, reported The Tribune. “Kashmir problem cannot be solved by force because it is not a military issue but a political one, the report quoted Dulat as having said. “The only way forward is to engage and talk with the stakeholders,” according to the report he said. “Today we have a situation where a former Norwegian Prime…

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Supreme Court dismisses PIL challenging JK Governor’s decision to dissolve assembly

Editor

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the Jammu and Kashmir governor’s decision to dissolve the state Assembly. The top court said there was no merit in the petition filed by former BJP legislator Gagan Bhagat. Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik dissolved the state assembly on November 22 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…

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Never said J&K conflict was ‘Hindu India versus Muslim Kashmir’: Mirwaiz Umar

Editor

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq , chairman of the Hurriyat Conference and the chief cleric of the Valley’s main mosque, spoke about the separatist body’s position on a peaceful resolution for the Kashmir problem, the difference in approach between the Vajpayee and Modi governments, and why the Hurriyat has failed to make headway.  When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, you were hopeful of forward movement on Kashmir citing your experiences under (late former PM) Atal Bihari Vajpayee era. Does that hope still exist? There has been a change in policy as far…

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Qazigund -Banihal tunnel to miss another deadline

Editor

The construction of the new Banihal-Qazigund tunnel started in 2011 to avoid frequent closure of Jawahar tunnel is unlikely to be completed this year as major part of the project is yet to take off.Back in 2011, National Highways Authority India (NHAI) was commissioned to construct two tunnels on Srinagar- Jammu highway to reduce the travel and make the highway motorable for all seasons.One of the tunnels was to be constructed between Chenani and Nashri and another between Qazigund to Banihal.Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw open 10.8 km long Chenani-Nashri tunnel in April this…

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On World Human Rights Day JRL calls for Shutdown across Kashmir Valley

Editor

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising both factions of Hurriyat Conference led respectively by Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq besides JKLF headed by Muhammad Yasin Malik has called for complete protest strike on December 10, Monday, to highlight the “gruesome human rights situation”. The leadership said people through shutdown will also register their regret at the apathy of international community and rights organisations towards the plight of the people of Kashmir. A JRL statement issued said that on the eve of world human rights day on December 10,…

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