Month: June 2021

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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BJP appeasing Valley leaders at our cost: Pro-Jammu parties

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BJP appeasing Valley leaders at our cost - Pro-Jammu parties

Though statehood remains an emotive issue on either side of the Pir Panjal range, PM’s all-party meeting at Delhi has drawn sharp criticism from pro-Jammu parties, including the West Pak refugees, PoJK refugees and the internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits. West Pak Refugees Front chairman Labha Ram Gandhi said, “We will be happy if Jammu and Kashmir becomes a state again, but we had to wait for 72 years for getting citizenship in J&K… it was not a separate country. However, even after abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, we have…

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What’s behind Modi’s surprise talks with Kashmiri leaders? Pakistan, China, and the US, to name a few

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What’s behind Modi’s surprise talks with Kashmiri leaders - Pakistan, China, and the US, to name a few

The meeting comes two years after India stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy and detained thousands amid a harsh lockdown Experts say bonhomie with Islamabad, the military stand-off with Beijing, and pressure from Washington may all be considerations for New Delhi Kunal Purohit Two years after stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy and detaining thousands during a harsh lockdown, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an unexpected meeting with the region’s top leaders.During the meeting, Modi promised to hold polls in Jammu and Kashmir and indicated his government…

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Kashmiri leaders urge Modi to restore region’s autonomy

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Kashmiri leaders urge Modi to restore region's autonomy

Kashmiri leaders from pro-India parties on Thursday urged the prime minister to restore the region’s special autonomy and engage in dialogue with Pakistan during their first meeting with him since the region lost its autonomy and saw many of its leaders jailed in a crackdown. Muslim-majority Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, with both claiming it in its entirety.  It became a flashpoint between the neighbors at the end of British colonial rule in 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan.…

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Why was J&K’s statehood removed, Country’s name tarnished globally: Mamata Banerjee

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Why was J&K's statehood removed, Country's name tarnished globally: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Centre over PM Modi’s meeting with J-K political leaders saying the country’s name was tarnished globally when J-K statehood was revoked.“I don’t know what was the need for removing the statehood in the first place. Country’s name was tarnished globally due to that move,” Mamata Banerjee said.She further added that anyone who questions BJP is called an anti-national. PM Modi’s crucial meeting with J-K political partiesA crucial all-party meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and politicians of different parties in…

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Why all-party meeting on J&K is important and what’s could be the agenda

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Why all-party meeting on J&K is important and what's on the agenda

The Centre has invited mainstream politicians of Jammu and Kashmir for a meeting in Delhi. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the first outreach initiative from the Centre since the abrigation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the region into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a group of five parties in Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting earlier this week to decide about the Centre’s move. The group confirmed participation in the meeting and its…

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Unease in sections of BJP-RSS over all-party Kashmir meeting

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Unease in sections of BJP-RSS over all-party Kashmir meeting

There is an unease in sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fount, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), over the talks on Jammu & Kashmir being held under the shadow regional parties sticking to their demand for the restoration of the Constitution’s Article 370, people aware of the matter said. The parties, including the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks in Delhi on Thursday. This is the first such meeting after Jammu & Kashmir was stripped…

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Ahead of Modi’s meet, Alert sounded across Kashmir Valley

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The Centre sees the Delhi talks, the first since the stripping of the special status of J&K and its bifurcation into two Union Territories in 2019, as a crucial step towards the return of elected representatives and the holding of Assembly elections. Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are on high alert as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting leaders of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), a coalition of mainstream parties in J&K, in New Delhi today. The Centre sees the Delhi talks, the first since the…

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