Category: General News

General News

Not just one, three petitions challenge Article 35A

Editor

As Jammu and Kashmir is in a bit of uncertainty over the challenge to Article 35A of Indian Constitution in the Supreme Court, it has come to fore that not just one but three petitions challenging the validity of the law have been filed in the apex court. From questioning the President’s powers to claims that Article 35A violates basic structure of the Constitution of India and promotes gender bias, the petitioners have taken different grounds to challenge the Constitutional provision that grants special rights to residents of Jammu and…

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Claims galore on Article 35A

Editor

As nationwide debate on Article 35A of the Constitution has started, self-proclaimed experts on Kashmir are staking claims that it was all due to their exclusive studies that countrywide discussions on this provision have begun. Recently, a seminar on Article 35A was held at Jammu, attended by members of the civil society. Interestingly, most of the speakers made every attempt to give an impression to the civil society that just they have the real authority on the Article. Instead of discussing the ‘pros and cons’ of the Article, speakers tried…

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Stone pelting cases declining in Kashmir: Rajnath Singh

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Incidents of stone-throwing have reduced in Jammu and Kashmir due to the role of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said today. He said incidents of naxalism, terrorism and extremism have also seen a downward trend in the last three years. “You have seen the role of the NIA in Jammu and Kashmir, where incidents of stone-throwing have come down. We have taken a pledge for India’s security and strict action is being taken for this. We will accept challenges and in the past three years,…

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Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah eyeing power via Article 35A: BJP

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BJP leader S. Prakash said that Abdullah is creating unwarranted noise around the provision, as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clarified that no proposal in this regard has been put forth in front of the Centre. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is trying to politicize Article 35 (A) issue to come to power. BJP leader S. Prakash said that Abdullah is creating unwarranted noise around the provision, as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clarified that no…

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BJP opposes PDP decision to send ministers to Delhi to protect Article 35A

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The BJP has opposed the decision of its coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party to send its four Cabinet ministers to the Capital for mobilising legal and political support for Article 35A. The party has made it clear that the state government has nothing to do with the visit amid the nationwide debate on this provision of the Indian Constitution. “No decision has been taken at the government level in this regard. Some ministers may be going to Delhi on their own as members of the PDP but not as representatives…

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Is PM Modi signalling a shift on Kashmir?

Editor

Nevertheless, the observation that Kashmir will normalise “not with guns or invective but only if we embrace the people of Kashmir” is welcome. Do Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on Kashmir in his Independence Day address augur a change of gear in the government’s year-long build-up of violence, hatred and alienation, which have combined to produce India’s most stubborn internal security challenge that is discomfiting for this country’s self-image as a secular democracy? In light of the receding trust quotient of this government, not just in the Kashmir Valley but…

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Four top ministers in Delhi to firm up support for Article 35A: Abdul Haq Khan

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“We are going to Delhi on 18th (August) to see what can be done to put up a strong defence to our case,’’ state Law Minister Abdul Haq Khan said. “We will meet people and seek further legal opinion.” The Jammu and Kashmir government is sending four top ministers to Delhi on Friday to explore further “legal support” for the state government in Supreme Court on Article 35A. They are also expected to explain to leaders at the Centre the “devastating implications” in case the constitutional provision is struck down…

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Valleites happy with Modi’s message of love for Kashmir, but want Deeds not Words

Editor

e run-up to the Independence Day was as usual tense in Kashmir. As the day began drawing nearer, security restrictions increased. Besides highways, security checks were set up along the roads deep into the interiors of both urban and rural Kashmir, creating a deep sense of tension and foreboding in the air. But all this heaviness largely eased off as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked of embracing Kashmiris in his I-Day speech. “Na goli se, na gaali se, Kashmir ki samasya suljhegi gale lagaane se (Kashmir’s problems can be…

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Will take call on Article 370, 35A once in majority: Nirmal Singh

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Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party will take a call on issues like Article 370 and Article 35 A when it forms the government on its own in Jammu-Kashmir. “The BJP stand on Article 370 and Article 35 A is very clear and we still stick to our stand,” Singh told reporters after the Independence Day parade in Jammu. “If people of Jammu-Kashmir give us 44 plus seats in the Legislative Assembly, we will take a call on them (Article 370 and Article…

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Debate on Article 35A and How it could change the Idea of Kashmir

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A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear a petition challenging the constitutionality of Article 35A, which is being seen by many as something that can have larger impact on the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to a political controversy. The ongoing controversy over Article 35A is doing more harm to the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir than a year-long bloody unrest, hundreds of civilian deaths, controversies over pellet guns, the human shield incident, and a cancelled bypoll together couldn’t do. The threat of abrogation of…

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