Adil Akhzer

The court directed the authorities to release Parvaiz Ahmad Pala from preventive custody.

Internet services have been suspended across Kashmir valley since August 5, when the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K was scrapped and it was bifurcated into two Union Territories.

The administration had ordered the opening of schools in a gradual manner once restrictions across the Valley were eased weeks into the shutdown. But students had largely stayed home, with parents unwilling to risk sending them in the absence of mobile connectivity.

While an Army post was hit in Kupwara’s Tangdhar, an Army patrol came under an avalanche in Gurez sector of Bandipora, officials said.

Officials said that despite best efforts by the medical teams, two Army personnel succumbed. They were identified as Naib Subedar Tsewang Gialshan and Rifleman Padma Norgais, both residents of Leh.

The two killed — village sarpanch Syed Rafi and Sheikh Zahoor — were part of the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s “back to the village” programme, a public outreach initiative in militancy-hit areas.

According to the government circular, dated November 22, “This year, the celebrations will be marked by reading of the Preamble to the Constitution in all the institutions, government offices and other establishments,” it said.

“Our conclusion, which we will put in the report as well, is that the government is misleading people with regard to normalcy in J&K. Things are not at all normal. There is shock with the announcements of August 5. There is anger, but it is restrained,” Sinha said.

The visiting team said the authorities have denied them permission to meet the three former J&K chief ministers or CPI(M) leader M Y Taragami, all of whom are under detention.

Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija alleges ‘near-strip search’ of 3-year-old son of a detainee; police deny, say raids required.

"On way to Srinagar, Kashmir with the Concerned Citizens Group to make an independent assessment of the situation on the ground and the economic loss caused by the government's action. Hope will be allowed to enter," Sinha had tweeted earlier in the day.

A J&K Police spokesperson said that the Pakistani national, identified as Shabir Ahmad, a resident of Pajkote in PoK, was repatriated via Teetwal in Kupwara on Thursday afternoon.

In a letter to Shah, Fayaz wrote, “On 5 August, 2019, the Government of India took the decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two (Union Territories). Since then, Jammu and Kashmir has seen a massive rise in the presence of armed forces and the severe curtailment of human rights.”

All eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris, and seven persons who were critically injured, were taken by helicopters to the nearest Military Hospital, the Srinagar-based defence spokesperson said.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) claimed that the hostel wasn’t equipped with heating facilities, the reason unofficially given for shifting the detainees.

Train services were suspended in the Valley on August 5 when the Centre decided to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370.

For the last many days, shops are open for longer hours compared with just a couple of hours in the morning. In most parts of the Valley including Srinagar, shops now remain open till late afternoon.

Police officials said Pakistan violated the ceasefire in Taad sector of Tangdhar area. “The shelling continued for several hours in the morning, and since then situation is peaceful,” an official in Tangdhar said. “The Indian Army retaliated to the ceasefire violation.”

Preliminary assessment by J&K’s horticulture department has shown that Kashmir’s fruit industry has been hit, with snowfall damaging 35 per cent of the orchards.