Category: General News

General News

Kashmir a testing ground for new Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

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Nirmala Sitharaman’s elevation as first full-time woman Defence Minister is significant for Jammu and Kashmir, where the Indian Army is entrenched on the land and minds of the people, especially since 1990 – the calendar year of the eruption of militancy in the Kashmir valley. Jammu and Kashmir borders two historically hostile neighbours Pakistan and China. The challenges of guarding the frontiers here from the plains to Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield at a height of 21,000 feet, are numerous. China needles on the eastern borders in Ladakh, while Pakistan…

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Omar Abdullah asks PM Modi to fulfil Independence Day resolve

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‘Let Centre come forward, help Jammu and Kashmir come out of its difficulties’ Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to the people of the state on Independence Day, saying “a hope had been rekindled and time had come to translate his resolve into action by making a real difference on the ground”. Winding up his five-day visit to the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, the National Conference working president, while referring to the Prime Minister’s statement that the persistent issue could be…

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Panun Kashmir hatching conspiracies against State’s interests: Er Rasheed

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‘Organization doesn’t represent Kashmiri Pandits’ Reacting sharply to what he called self styled Kashmiri Pandit Organization (Panun Kashmir) president Ashwani Kumar Chrangoo’s demand “to abrogate Article 370 and 35-A from Indian constitution”, AIP chief and MLA Langate Er Rasheed Thursday said organizations like Panun Kashmir do not represent the sentiments of Kashmiri Pandit community. In his statement, Rasheed said: “Chrangoo should apologize for his meaningless, irresponsible and anti-state remarks and he needs to read the history to understand the significance of Article 35-A or Article 370.” Rasheed said: “The claim…

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Omar Abdullah ‘Creating Hype’ on Article 35A: J&K BJP

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Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokesperson Virender Gupta said that people of Jammu and Ladakh regions always opposed Article 35A and Article 370 right from the day of their inception in the Constitution. The BJP on Wednesday accused former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah of “creating hype” over Article 35A and trying to divide people on regional and religious basis. “There is nothing anti-national if any person is defending Article 35A. However Omar is creating hype on Article 35A, when the case of its legality…

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Supporters, Opponents intensify campaign over Special Status

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As the Supreme Court has accepted the plea of the J&K Government to hear the petitions challenging Article 35A after Diwali, supporters and opponents of the Article have intensified their awareness campaigns to mobilise support for their respective causes. The Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition National Conference (NC) have already started educating people on the benefits of Article 35A, which ensures special status to J&K. Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is on a tour of the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to educate people about the Article.…

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Defending Article 35A must not be held anti national: Omar Abdullah

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‘Safeguarding special status in interest of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh’ National Conference working president Omar Abdullah today said that defending Article 35A, which was an integral part of the Constitution, shouldn’t be considered as anti-national. Coming down heavily on the BJP while addressing party workers at Darhal in Rajouri district, Omar asked why was the NC being blamed for opposing the “clandestine moves of the saffron party” to repeal Article 35A, which was a constitutional guarantee for the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to preserve their distinct identity and…

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Article 35A is non-negotiable: Farooq Abdullah

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National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday described Article 35A as a “non-negotiable article of faith” for the people of the state and vowed that his party was ready to fight every battle to safeguard the state’s special status. Farooq, while addressing a party convention, said the “assault on the state’s special status was part of a longstanding ideological mission of those quarters who have always opposed J&K’s political rights and dignity”. “This battle has been forced on the people of the state at a time when all efforts should…

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Manmohan Singh to head Congress policy planning group’s visit to Kashmir

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Former PM Manmohan Singh, who heads the Congress party’s policy planning group on Jammu and Kashmir, will head a team of party leaders to the state next month to discuss the problems faced by the people. GA Mir, president of the state Congress party, told IANS in summer capital Srinagar, “During the last meeting of the Congress policy planning group in New Delhi, we had requested that the central Congress leaders headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh should visit J&K to discuss the problems faced by the people of the state.…

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Abrogation of Article 35A is part of RSS plot, Karra tears into PDP-BJP alliance

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Senior Congress leader Tariq Hameed Karra Sunday said Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is acting as a collaborator and facilitator for the Sangh Parivar’s agenda of changing the demographic profile of the state. “Extension of certain central laws to the state and the lopsided and irresponsible attitude of state government towards Article 35-A has vindicated my assertion that PDP has bartered the honour, dignity, distinct identity and self-esteem for a few loaves of power,” Karra said while addressing media personnel at his Shivpora residence. Terming the PDP-BJP alliance as ‘unholy’ and…

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Displaced Kashmiri Pandits demand homeland, revocation of Article 370

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Convener of Panun Kashmir, Agnishekhar called upon the youth of the community to keep working on “novel instrumentalities of struggle” for a homeland in exile, and to awaken the world against the “Jihad” being unleashed. Panun Kashmir, a representative body of migrant Kashmiri Pandits, on Sunday demanded revocation of the contentious Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and the creation of a separate homeland for the community within the state. At the body’s annual national convention at Jammu, several resolutions were passed which besides revocation of…

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