POLITICS

Stating that people have no access to the corridors of power in Kashmir, Janata Dal-United President for Jammu Kashmir GM Shaheen Monday said that bureaucratic rule is not an alternative to the elected government. Shaheen who observed a hunger strike along with party workers at Pratap Park Srinagar against the non-redressal of grievances of people said that people are immensely suffering in Jammu and Kashmir. He said roads are in shambles and nothing is being done to repair them. He said there is an acute shortage of drinking water and people are being forced to hit the roads on daily basis. “Where people will go when nobody is listening to them. They don’t have access to the power corridors and bureaucrats are caring a fig for them. It is difficult to survive in such a choking envir...

The Jammu Kashmir National Conference on Sunday asked the government to release incarcerated Kashmiri youth, who are lodged in prisons in different parts of the country. Expressing concern over the plight of parents whose sons continue to remain out of sight for them for years altogether, party leader and MP Anantnag Hasnain Masoodi said, “It is quite gladdening to see PM Modi meet his mother at her residence in Gandhinagar as she entered the 100th year of her life. Such reunions are heart-warming indeed. However numerous mothers in Kashmir continue to long for a glimpse of their sons. The never ending wait has taken a toll on their mental and physical health. There is no way these mothers, who are pining to meet their sons, lodged in faraway jails can meet their sons. Most of their unf...

The Former Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said that statement by Nupur Sharma of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Prophet Muhammad was not a coincidence, but it was "well planned" strategy to deviate attention from Government of India's failure to protect Kashmiri Pandits. Addressing a press conference, she asked, "Why Nupur Sharma is not being arrested? Nupur Sharma’s statement has tremendously hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the globe and her remarks on Prophet Muhammad were a deliberate act, it was planned. Nupur Sharma's remarks were on well-settled grounds so that the Muslims in the country get provoked and the government get a chance to act on them." The Chief of People's Democratic Party also slammed BJP over Enforcement Directorate's summon to...

CPI(M) leader and spokesperson of PAGD, Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami has termed the killing of a woman teacher in Gopalpora area of District Kulgam as tragic and unfortunate. "This is yet another addition to the long list of civilian killings. There seems no end to the bloodletting," tarigami said. The CPIM leader also said that the administration must post these employees in safer places and provide them with secure accommodations.

Professor Bhim Singh, the chief of Jammu and Kashmir's National Panthers Party, died on Tuesday. He was 80. Prof Bhim Singh was born in 1941 in the Ramnagar area of the erstwhile princely state of J&K. In 1982, he founded the National Panthers Party with his wife Jaya Mala and was the chairman of the party till 2012. Bhim Singh was brought dead at the hospital around 8:45 am on Tuesday morning and was not well for the past several months. Prof Bhim Singh has been a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and was also an MP once. Before founding the National Panthers Party, he was in the Congress and was the Vice President of the India Youth Congress in 1977-78. Farooq Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir expressed condolences over the demise of Pro...

Abhinav Sharma, senior Advocate and Spokesman BJP J&K on Saturday said that BJP Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to restore lasting peace in the Union Territory of J&K especially the Kashmir Valley and for this concerted efforts are underway at various levels. In a statement issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS), the senior BJP leader said that multifaceted efforts are being taken to nail elements inimical to peace in the Valley and sooner than later the peace will prevail. Taking the specific case of Kashmiri Pandit employees the Prime Minister’s special package, he said that UT administration under the stewardship of LG Manoj Sinha is on job to ensure their safety as already several steps have been taken in this direction and LG as the head of the ...

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday questioned the Centre’s Jammu Kashmir policy saying the civilian killings in Kashmir did not support Government of India’s claims of normalcy in the union territory. “In Kashmir, mournings have sadly become the norm & a daily ritual. Countless innocent civilians are killed in one way or the other & devastated families are left behind to pick up the pieces. What will it take for GOI to recalibrate their J&K policy to end this bloodshed?” Mehbooba tweeted. Commenting on the killing of a female TV artist by three Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Budgam district’s Chadoora area on Wednesday, the former chief minister said while the government was making claims about normalcy, the gruesome killings suggest otherwise. “GOI keeps blowing i...

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday expressed serious concern over an unprecedented spike in fire incidents in Jammu and Kashmir over the last few months, demanding a thorough and transparent inquiry into such a trend, asking the administration to make the finding of the probe public. PDP Chief Spokesman in a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) has said that a dreadful spike in mysterious fire incidents is being witnessed across the state leaving masses petrified and anxious to the core. He said that no town is spared and properties worth millions of rupees are destroyed in these unfortunate episodes almost every day. “In view of the overall situation prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir, the large-scale fire incidents have given rise in apprehensions...

Senior vice president J&K Peoples Conference and former minister Abdul Gani Vakil urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Union Government to take necessary CBM's before holding assembly elections in J&K. The government of India should implement Confidence Building Measures (CBM's), if they want larger participation including restoration of statehood to J&K, Vakil was addressing workers convention at Krishi Bal in Eid Gah constituency. Convention was presided over Sr. PC leader Irfan Matoo. While addressing the gathering Vakil said if central government wants good participation in elections, they should grant statehood without making it conditional, releasing political prisoners and there should be special employment package for unemployed youth of the region at the same ...

The Article 370 of the constitution has become a history, senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Surendra Jain said on Sunday as he raised a pitch for reclaiming parts of Jammu Kashmir under the “illegal occupation of Pakistan and China”, saying it will become a reality soon. Jain, Union Joint General Secretary of VHP, was speaking at a rally ‘’Punya Bhumi Samaran Sabha’ organized by RSS-backed Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Forum here to pay collective tributes to those who were killed in Pakistani onslaught on October 22, 1947 and reiterate a pledge to reclaim the lost areas. Senior BJP leaders led ‘Tiranga yatra’ from different parts of the city to join the rally which was attended by Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) displaced persons from within and outside Jammu and Kash...