The visit by a group of 50 Hindus from India to an ancient temple in Pakistani Punjab to celebrate Shivratri festival has encouraged the Kashmiri pandits to revive their call to allow them to travel to Sharda, near Muzaffar-abad, to pay obeisance at one of their most revered religious places and important, ancient seats of learning.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah seems to be in a fix again. The State Accountability Commission (SAC) has issued showcause notices to his government after initiating a formal inquisition into a complaint that it has picked up an army of political favourites and some “blue-eyed boys” and appointed them advisers and heads of various government-sponsored bodies, some of them holding the rank and status of Cabinet minister and drawing hefty salaries, besides enjoying other perks at the cost of state exchequer.

The Jammu and Kashmir high court on Wednesday gave four weeks’ time to the defence ministry to respond to a petition filed by a Kashmiri woman alleging that her son was killed in a fake encounter and later branded as a foreign militant involving Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh, the Eastern Army Commander and top contender to the Army chief post, in March 2001.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is camping in New Delhi for the past many weeks essentially to escape the harsh winter back home — for health reasons as is being claimed — has been lately engaged in such pastime that reflects a major change in his outlook. Many Kashmir watchers have described it as a “from-inflexibility-to-malleability” kind of tale which has, by and large, gone unnoticed in the national media though.

The Congress has reaffirmed that there will be no leadership change in Jammu and Kashmir and that chief minister Omar Abdullah will complete his tenure of six years at the head of the National Conference-Congress coalition government.

In a bizarre turn of events, Jammu and Kashmir’s school education minister Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed who had on Friday submitted his resignation directly to Congress president Sonia Gandhi instead of chief minister Omar Abdullah to follow the convention claimed on Saturday that she has not accepted it.

Jammu and Kashmir’s minister for school education Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed is reported to have submitted his resignation directly to Congress president Sonia Gandhi instead of chief minister Omar Abdullah to follow the convention.

Repealing or even modifying the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act in Jammu and Kashmir is neither under active consideration of the Centre nor has the state government made any formal request for it.

The fate of Jammu and Kashmir’s school education minister Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed hangs in balance after the investigation done by the state police’s Crime Branch (CB) corroborated the charge that hi

Jammu and Kashmir’s minister for school education and former state Congress chief Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed seems to be in real trouble now.