Nothing can prevent RSS from coming to J&K; India is a free country : Haseeb Drabu

Drabu is considered as one of the most influential ministers in current J&K government, who recently managed to get Rs 80,000 crore package from New Delhi. J&K’s finance minister Dr Haseeb Drabu, also a former banker and economist, was one of the prime architects of PDP-BJP alliance along with BJP’s Ram Madhav. Drabu is considered as one of the most influential ministers in current J&K government, who recently managed to get Rs 80,000 crore package from New Delhi. In conversation , Drabu talks about how breaking of consensus on economic reforms is big…

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Official apathy takes away business from Lal Chowk traders

‘Address issues to boot our economy’  While traders across Jammu and Kashmir face massive issues on every front, the traders and heads of business establishments in summer capital Srinagar have many sordid tales to share. In a candid interview, the newly elected President of Traders Association, Regal Chowk, Manzoor ul Haque, urged government to address the issues on priority basis to increases the employability and economy across the markets. What are main issues encountering the traders here? Manzoor ul Haque: Unfortunately, the issues are always there! Right from the day…

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‘When they could not control Kashmir, they said: “here, it’s for you. It is getting out of our control”

We reproduces an old interview with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah published in the October 1980 issue of CARAVAN. The interview done by the publication’s Special Correspondent was headlined ‘The Sheikh’s life has been swinging between two extremes: from power to prison and back to power: Will he fall out of grace with Mrs Gandhi again?’ The place was Srinagar, and time 9.30 in the morning on 8th August 1980. The Personal Secretary of Sheikh Abdullah took me to the Chief-Minister’s residence. I saw the Sheikh walking out of his bedroom and advancing…

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‘Separatists are weak, sentiment is strong’

I stand for an independent Kashmir. It is still an ideal solution: Ved Bhasin PDP should have went for re-elections instead of going for an alliance with BJP Jammu riots were organised and planned by the rulers with the support of RSS Sheikh Abdullah committed a mistake, by being a party to accession of India There cannot be peace in Kashmir until there is peace between India and Pakistan Mufti was correct in giving credit to Pakistan, separatists and militants Jammu has not produced good journalists while Kashmir has produced…

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Parveena Ahanger – a Face of Resistance in the Kashmir Conflict

By Rifat Mohidin After decades of conflict and “disappeared people”, Kashmiri women are now making their voices heard, demanding to know the whereabouts of their missing family members. PARVEENA AHANGER shares her journey of wait and hope with Rifat Mohidin. On 18 August 1990 we were sleeping at our home in Srinagar. The armed conflict was at its peak and the army would enter any home at any moment, and arrest people. My eldest son Javiad Ahmad Ahanger had just finished school and was all set to go to college.…

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‘Kashmir is an Untouched Goldmine for Tourism’

Muzaffar Andrabi has travelled to over 60 countries and yearns to use his vast experience in tourism sector to promote scenic beauty and rich culture of his homeland for attracting tourists. He has spent years in the most rugged and remote areas in Trans-Siberia or Trans-Himalayas and is amongst the popular tour directors who led groups through Silk Route all the way to Kashgar. He was stationed in South Africa— chasing the beautiful Cheetahs and travelled the corners of Madagascar with wild life enthusiasts counting 3000 different kinds of butterflies…

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Failure of NSA-level talks may help Pakistan creep back into Kashmir: AS Dulat

At Ufa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif had agreed to begin the stalled dialogue process between the two countries with NSA-level talks. The talks that were to discuss matters of immediate urgency — terrorism and ceasefire violations — ended in a fiasco with Pakistan refusing to adhere to Indian conditions of not talking to Hurriyat leaders and keeping Kashmir out of the agenda. Former RAW chief AS Dulat, who has played an important role in back-channel diplomacy with Pakistan, takes a look at the whole…

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