News Analysis India

Tag: Jammu and Kashmir

  • PDP to hold meeting to discuss Centre’s invite to political parties in J&K for talks 

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: The PDP will hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the invitation of the Centre to regional political parties of Jammu and Kashmir for talks, party president Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair a meeting with all political parties from Jammu and Kashmir on June 24 as part of the Centre’s initiatives to bolster political processes, including holding assembly elections, in the union territory, officials had said on Friday.

    The meeting — the first such exercise since the Centre announced the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and its bifurcation into union territories in August 2019 — is likely to be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other central leaders.

    Mehbooba told PTI, “There is no clear-cut agenda about the talks with New Delhi. However, I have asked my party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) for a meeting to discuss the same.”

    The last chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, who had an alliance government with the BJP from 2016 to 2018, had received a call from the Centre for a meeting on June 24 on the union territory.

    She said that the decision of whether to participate in the talks would be taken by the party for which the PAC has been called on Sunday.

    “There is no agenda for the meeting but I was conveyed that the meeting is being called to review the general situation and how to take the political process forward.

    There is no clear-cut agenda,” Mehbooba said.

    The PAC headed by Mehbooba has as members leaders like A R Veeri, Muhammad Sartaj Madni, G N Lone Hanjura, Dr Mehboob Beg, Naeem Akhtar, Surinder Choudhary, Yashpal Sharma, Master Tassaduq Hussain, Sofi Abdul Gaffar, Nizam ud Din Bhat, Aasiya Naqash, Firdous Ahmad Tak, Muhammad Khursheed Alam and Advocate Muhammad Yusuf Bhat.

    However, Madni, who is the maternal uncle of Mehbooba, is at present in preventive detention.

    The Centre has also begun the process of inviting National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, Altaf Bukhari of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), and People’s Conference head Sajjad Lone for the discussions, the officials had said.

    Asked about the prospect of talks with the Centre, CPI(M) leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) M Y Tarigami had said there has been no word from New Delhi, but added that if it happens, it would be welcomed.

    “We have never closed our doors for meaningful engagement with the Centre.

    Though I have no information about any dialogue, if it happens, it will be welcomed,” Tarigami had said.

    The PAGD is an alliance of some parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the NC and the PDP, that was formed in the aftermath of the Centre’s August 2019 decisions.

    In the District Development Council election last year, the PAGD surged way ahead of the BJP and its allies, including the JKAP, by bagging 110 seats out of 280 with the National Conference emerging stronger with 67 seats within the alliance.

    The BJP was the single largest party with 75 seats.

    The Jammu and Kashmir units of the BJP and the Congress are also likely to be part of these discussions, which are being seen as part of efforts to strengthen normal political processes in the union territory.

    The political mainstream of the union territory, especially those having a strong base in Kashmir Valley, have been critical of successive administrations of the union territory for neglecting the demands of the people and raising questions on the development slogan raised post August 2019.

  • PM Modi likely to chair meeting with J-K political parties on June 24: Officials

    The first such meeting since the abrogation of J-K #39;s special status and its bifurcation into UT #39;s in August 2019 is likely to be attended by Amit Shah and other central leaders.

  • Jammu and Kashmir cop dies as terrorists open fire in Srinagar; search ops underway

    Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: A policeman died on Thursday after terrorists opened fire in the downtown area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

    A police official said terrorists fired from close range towards police officer Javaid Ahmad near his residence at Saidpora, Eidgah area in downtown Srinagar on Thursday evening.

    He said the cop received multiple bullet injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

    Immediately, police and CRPF men rushed to the area and launched a search operation to track down the terrorists responsible behind this attack.

    No terrorist outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, search operations are underway.

    This is the second terrorist attack on police officials within a week.

    Earlier on June 12, terrorists attacked a joint patrol party of police and CRPF in Sopore market in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

    In the militant attack, two policemen and two civilians were killed and two policemen including a Sub Inspector and equal number of civilians injured.

    The police had blamed Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists for the attack.

  • J&K integral part of India; no amount of questioning can change reality: MEA

    Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi also said that cross-border terrorism is quot;unacceptable quot;.

  • Union MoS Home G Kishan Reddy calls on L-G in Jammu, discusses J&K security situation

    By PTI
    JAMMU: Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Sunday called on Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan here and discussed the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory, an official spokesman said.

    Reddy was in Jammu for the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple.

    “The MoS and the Lt Governor discussed a range of issues pertaining to the internal security, law and order management and public welfare in Jammu and Kashmir,” the spokesman said.

    He said a discussion was also held on the functioning of DRDO’s COVID hospital in the twin capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.

    The Lt Governor expressed gratitude towards the Ministry of Home Affairs for extending necessary interventions for the welfare of the people of J&K, the spokesman said.

    He said the minister also shared his views with Sinha about the present developmental and security scenario in the UT.

    Jammu and Kashmir: MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy called on Lieutenant Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan today pic.twitter.com/aCwPiWAPx3
    — ANI (@ANI) June 13, 2021

  • Congress should explain stand on Article 370, says Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad after Digvijay’s remarks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday asked the Congress leadership to make its stand clear on the purported remarks of Digvijay Singh that his party will have a “relook” at Article 370 revocation if it returns to power, saying “time of silence is over”.

    A row erupted on Saturday over Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s comments in an audio chat on social media that his party will have a “relook” at Article 370 revocation and Jammu and Kashmir’s lost statehood if it returns to power, with the BJP accusing him of spewing venom against India in “collaboration” with Pakistan.

    “It is now more than a day when the central leadership of the Congress is maintaining a conspicuous silence on its stand about Article 370. Does the Congress want restoration of Article 370 as Digvijay Singh has indicated? Time of silence is over. Please explain your clear stand,” Prasad wrote on Twitter.

    Singh had said, “The decision of revoking Article 370 and reducing the statehood of J&K is extremely, I would say, sad decision, and the Congress party would certainly have a relook on the issue.

    ALSO READ: Even Ambedkar would have been slandered as pro-Pakistan by BJP, says ex-J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti

    Singh was responding to a question about the “way forward” on the issue “once the Modi government is gone” .

    While abrogating Article 370, good governance was promised both in J&K and Ladakh.

    The speed with which vaccination against COVID-19 is going on even in the remotest parts of J&K and Ladakh is a sign of pro-people good governance in the region, Prasad said in another tweet.

    Singh’s remarks to a person, who the BJP said was a journalist of Pakistani origin, were seized by its leaders on Saturday to unleash a torrent of criticism against the opposition party and demand statements from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi on the issue.

  • Even Ambedkar would have been slandered as pro-Pakistan by BJP, says ex-J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: The BJP would have slandered even B R Ambedkar, the father of Indian Constitution, as pro-Pakistan had he been alive, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Sunday, amidst criticism of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh over his remarks on Article 370.

    Mehbooba said Article 370 — which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir before its operative provisions were nullified by the Centre in 2019 — was granted by the Constitution drafted by Ambedkar, but it has been “subverted” by the Centre.

    Her remarks came amidst growing criticism of the Congress and Singh over his purported comments in an audio chat on social media that his party will have a “relook” at Article 370 revocation and Jammu and Kashmir’s lost statehood if it returns to power.

    The BJP has said that Singh’s remarks were part of a larger pattern of the party being “hand in glove” with Pakistan.

    PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who was a BJP ally for some time in Jammu and Kashmir, criticised the saffron party.

    “Thank god Ambedkar ji isn’t alive or else he too would be slandered as pro- Pakistan by BJP,” she said on Twitter.

    Singh had purportedly made the remark during a clubhouse conversation with a person, who the BJP said was a journalist of Pakistani origin.

    “The decision of revoking Article 370 and reducing the statehood of J&K is extremely, I would say, sad decision, and the Congress party would certainly have a relook on the issue,” Singh had said, according to excerpts of the clubhouse conversation available on social media.

  • Google asked to preserve data of PDP leader Parra’s emails to Pakistan-based terror groups: J&K Police

    Parra #39;s lawyer, as well as the PDP, has denied all the allegations levelled against Parra and has termed them #39;politically motivated #39;.

  • Jammu and Kashmir records 866 fresh COVID-19 cases, 14 more deaths

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir recorded 866 fresh cases, taking the infection tally to 3,06,638 on Saturday, while 14 deaths took the toll to 4,174, officials said.

    Out of the fresh cases, 265 were from the Jammu division and 601 from the Kashmir division of the Union Territory, they said. Srinagar district recorded the highest of 164 cases, followed by 71 each in Budgam and Pulwama districts.

    The number of active cases has dropped to 16,284 in the Union Territory, while 2,86,180 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The death toll due to the disease rose to 4,174 as 14 patients died in the past 24 hours.

    Meanwhile, the officials said there were 19 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) and one fresh case was reported since last evening.

  • Lashkar behind attack on security forces in Sopore, says Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: The Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was behind Saturday’s attack on security forces in Sopore in which two cops and as many civilians were killed, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said here.

    Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony for the two slain police constables, Singh asserted that the perpetrators had been identified and would be brought to justice very soon.

    He said it was a Sopore police station team on COVID-19 duty that came under attack.

    Even as they mounted a retaliation, four police personnel and three civilians were injured, the DGP said.

    Constables Waseem and Showkat succumbed to injuries later, while Sub-Inspector Mukesh Kumar and SPO Danish are undergoing treatment, and their condition is stated to be stable, he said.

    Two of the three civilians injured in the attack died too, the police chief said.

    He said initial indicators have led to the identification of the outfit, and a follow-up on that is on.

    “The forces have launched an operation in the area, and we are hopeful that we will soon bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime. As per our information, LeT is involved in it, and we have almost identified the militants in the attack, but we will not share their details yet,” the DGP said.

    He said police and other security force personnel work in dangerous circumstances and sometimes such attacks take place.

    “Unfortunately, our responsibilities are such that we have to work in danger and sometimes, such incidents take place. But, our endeavour is to bring to justice all those involved in such attacks,” the police chief said.

    Asked if militancy has increased in recent days, Singh said police and other forces have good control on all areas of the Valley.

    “If you see in relative terms, then the militancy is not increasing, but decreasing. The police and other forces have good control on all areas, and operations are also being carried out.

    “However, due to COVID-19, there has been a decline in anti-militancy operations, but the forces have maintained pressure and we are launching operations so as to strengthen peace and development,” Singh added.