Day: June 26, 2021

‘Will continue to raise Article 370 issue for however long it takes’: Omar Abdullah

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‘Will continue to raise Article 370 issue for however long it takes’ - Omar Abdullah

The former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah participated in the high-stakes all-party meeting on Jammu & Kashmir chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24. He gave his sense of the discussions in an interview. Edited excerpts: Both you and your father, Farooq Abdullah – a sitting Lok Sabha MP – were detained after the nullification of Article 370. What made you trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi after what happened?They are the ones who detained us, and they are the ones who invited us. They…

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For demanding road connectivity eight persons booked in Bhaderwah

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For demanding road connectivity eight persons booked in Bhaderwah

At least eight persons including four Sarpanchs and a government teacher have been booked in Bhaderwah for staging a protest for demanding road connectivity to their respective villages during an official visit of Farooq Khan, Advisor to LG Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday. An official told a local news agency, Kashmir Post that they have been booked under Epidemic Disease Act 1997 for violating Covid-19 restrictions imposed in the district. He said the several locals of various panchayats of Bhaderwah had assembled on Bhaderwah-Pul Doda road and blocked the road,…

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Didn’t give up demands, foolish to expect the return of Article 370 from this govt: Omar Abdullah

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Didn’t give up demands, foolish to expect the return of Article 370 from this govt - Omar Abdullah

In the meeting that lasted for more than three hours Thursday, Omar Abdullah was one of the five persons who could not speak, the other four being Nirmal Singh, Tara Chand, Ghulam A Mir, and Ravinder Raina. It will be foolish to demand restoration of Article 370 — provision in the Constitution of India that provided Jammu and Kashmir a special dispensation, and was abrogated on August 5, 2019 — from the current government, said former Chief Minister of J&K and vice president of the National Conference. Speaking to The…

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How Delhi got its way in the J&K All-Party Meet

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How Delhi got its way in the J&K All Party Meet

Valley leadership would do well to ponder some questions, rather than seek answers and reassurances from the Centre. By – Haseeb A Drabu Even though convening the J&K All-Party Meet (APM) was a climbdown for the BJP and a compulsion of the Union government, it was conducted and concluded exactly the way they wanted it. It is a lesson in the realpolitik of how a tactical move — meeting leaders including former chief ministers and deputy chief ministers and prospective chief ministers — has been converted into a strategic initiative…

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PM Modi engagement with mainstream Kashmiri leadership, but why now?

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PM Modi engages with mainstream Kashmiri leaders, but why now

Almost two years after New Delhi abrogated Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status, PM Narendra Modi has reached out to the region’s politicians to address their concerns. On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a three-hour meeting with 14 handpicked Kashmiri politicians, including three former chief ministers. Experts say it signals a change in New Delhi’s approach toward the conflict-marred region. But apart from its symbolic value, the meeting failed to achieve anything substantial. The major bone of contention remains the scrapping of Kashmir’s special status by the Indian government in 2019.…

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