Bashaarat Masood

J&K special status: The shutdown call was given by separatists to protest against petitions seeking scrapping of Article 35-A. They have also called for a complete shutdown on Monday, the day of the hearing.

Shah Faesal, the 2010-batch topper from the Valley, is the first bureaucrat to join the debate that has united people across ideological and political lines in the state.

Army says civilian died in crossfire; villagers say forces fired at protesters

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has warned of “catastrophic ramifications” if the Act is tampered with.

Around midnight, as forces zeroed in on the house where the militants were hiding, the militants opened fire, triggering a gunfight that lasted till Friday morning.

On Tuesday, several trade bodies took to the streets in Srinagar seeking dismissal of the petition against 35-A in the apex court.

With the amendment, the state government can now send prisoners booked under the Act to other states as well.

Officials said that one of the main reasons for the decline of pilgrims has been the melting of the Shivling. Bad weather in the initial days of the yatra also played spoilsport.

The separatists claimed the case on Article 35 A is “part of BJP/RSS plan to change the demography of the state”. The separatist leadership has called for a complete shutdown on August 5 and 6.

Addressing party workers at Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir Park, Mufti also asked regional parties in the state to join hands and defend Article 35(A).

Party insiders said some senior leaders who held portfolios in the previous Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition government were likely to get key posts following the restructuring.

The passenger, Lakhwinder Kumar, a resident of Punjab, allegedly stood up and shouted that the “plane has been hijacked” soon after the flight landed at Srinagar International Airport.

Seven PDP legislators had come out in the open against revolted against the party leadership after the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state fell, following the withdrawal of support by the saffron party.

Police sources said the video seemed to have been shot in the apple orchards of Shopian, in South Kashmir, and included both Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba militants.

The militants, including a Pakistani national, were killed in a joint operation of the J&K Police, Army and paramilitary forces on Sunday morning.

Police said on Sunday that three militants behind Saleem’s abduction — two from Lashkar-e-Toiba and one from Hizbul Mujahideen — were killed in an encounter at Redwani in Kulgam. Saleem’s body had been recovered from the same area.

“This is not the India, we think of... India is of every religion — whether a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh... Everyone has equal rights. Efforts are being made to change it. You should pray to God to save us from such forces,” he said.

Mehbooba Mufti’s party urged Governor N N Vohra to “review” the decision.

A rendition of legendary poet Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor’s famed classic, “Ha Gulo” is the first Kashmiri song to make it to Coke Studio Pakistan’s new venture — “Coke Studio Explorer”.