Category: General News

General News

Mehbooba Mufti is at a loss over the shifting public mood in Kashmir

Editor

A wave of anger has gripped the Valley anew following an aggressive and bloody counterinsurgency campaign. On March 30, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti told delegates at a convention of the Travel Agents Association of India in Srinagar: “We’ve invited you here for handholding us. Something happens in Kashmir, some encounter [gunbattle between militants and government forces] at a far off place, it appears on TV as if entire Kashmir was burning. Your coming here is like a whiff of spring, a good omen. Our situation is not…

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Pre-1953 status demand obnoxious: Chaman Lal Gupta

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Chaman Lal Gupta, former Union Minister, on Wednesday termed the demand for the restoration of the pre-1953 autonomy of J&K “obnoxious”. In a statement, Gupta said, “No right-thinking person can even think of having those black days back. Prior to 1953, there was no jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and even the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.” He said the extent of intolerance could be gauged from the fact that in the 1950s, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, who founded the All-J&K Praja Parishad, was arrested for…

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J&K excluded from India in map distributed at health ministry event

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In a faux pas, Jammu and Kashmir was excluded from the Indian map at an event organised by the Health Ministry on Wednesday. The map showed Jammu and Kashmir as distinct from other parts of India and Aksai Chin as part of China. The erroneous map was circulated by an organisation supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). Aksai Chin is a disputed border area between China and India. It is administered by China as part of Hotan County but is also claimed by India as a part of the…

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UN Secretary General says ready to talk to Pakistan, India officials on Kashmir Issue

Editor

After UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres indicated that he was ready to talk to senior officials from India and Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir and see how things can be improved on the ground, voices were raised in New Delhi addressing all stakeholders that the solution to the present crisis in Jammu and Kashmir lies in dialogue at the appropriate political level. “Only by winning the hearts and minds of the people can their faith in the political process be restored,” former Indian External Affairs and Finance Minister, former Secretary,…

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Kashmir violence being stoked by talk of revenge: Concerned Citizens Group

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The Concerned Citizens Group, including former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and former National Commission for Minorities chairperson Wajahat Habibullah, expressed deep anguish over the escalation in violence and said the solution to the present crisis lies in political dialogue. Violence in the Kashmir Valley shows no signs of abating and is, in fact, being stoked by “talk of revenge” and “unrestrained public statements” from various actors, a citizen’s group said in a statement on Tuesday. The Concerned Citizens Group, including former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and former National Commission for…

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Farooq Abdullah bats for Internal Autonomy, calls for converting LoC into line of Peace & Goodwill

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Strongly pitching for Indo-Pak dialogue, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said internal autonomy to J&K within the framework of the Indian Constitution and the conversion of Line of Control (LoC) into ‘line of peace and goodwill’ were a pragmatic way forward to herald peace in the region. “India and Pakistan should resume the dialogue process and engage people of J&K in an acceptable solution,” Farooq said while addressing party workers at Balakote in the Mendhar constituency of Poonch district. He said sagacity lay in acknowledging the realities and…

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Win Kashmiri hearts the way we have in Swat, Balochistan: Pakistan NSA to India

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Pakistan NSA Naseer Khan Janjua offered this counse Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria in a meeting at the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office two days after India gunned down 13 extremists in Kashmir. Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua advised Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria that the Narendra Modi government should win the hearts of Kashmiris much like Pakistan has done in the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and in restive Balochistan province. He proffered this counsel to Bisaria in a meeting at the Pakistan Prime Minister’s…

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Eyes on polls, Farooq Abdullah now bats for Azadi: BJP

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Bhartiya Janata Party on Friday alleged that National Conference President, Dr Farooq Abdullah, was using words like Azadi with an aim to garner votes in the upcoming polls. “True to his nature Dr Farooq Abdullah has once again changed colours with the onset of summer in Kashmir, as he is reputed for changing colours like the seasons in Kashmir,” BJP spokesperson, Brig Anil Gupta said in a statement. “People in Kashmir are intoxicated by Azadi”, Farooq had said while speaking in a seminar organised by Central University Kashmir in Srinagar.…

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New Delhi can delay Kashmir resolution, not deny it: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

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Chairman of Hurriyat Conference (M) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who continues to be under house detention since last Sunday, has strongly condemned the government’s action of caging pro-freedom leaders, disallowing Friday congregational Friday prayers at historic Jamia Masjid and turning entire Downtown and other parts of the city into a military garrison stating that repeated curbs reflect the “frustration of the rulers, who have accepted defeat at the hands of peoples resilience.” Terming the wave of killings and repression carried out by the government forces as state oppression at its worst,…

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Modi can win Trust, Hearts & Minds of J&K people: Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India can win the trust, hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, state’s Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday. She said this while congratulating the BJP on its 38th foundation day. “Hearty congratulations to @BJP4India on its foundation day”, Mehbooba said in a tweet on Friday. “I sincerely hope that India under @narendramodi ji can truly exhibit the moral leadership of the region by winning the trust, hearts & minds of the people of J&K,” she said.

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