Ex-Army Men, Bureaucrats Move SC over Article 370 | Six retired military officers and bureaucrats have filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision to revoke Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The petitioners include Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Kapil Kak, Major General (Retd) Ashok Kumar Mehta, former IAS officers Hindal Haidar Tyabji, Amitabha Pande and Gopal Pillai, and former member of the Home Ministry’s group of interlocutors for J&K, Radha Kumar.

 

The DGP visited the police stations in Pampore and Awantipora and interacted with civil society members and assured them that security of the people and their property is the administration’s great concern and every step is being taken to ensure law and order, he said. The DGP also felicitated the police personnel who have been awarded President’s Police Medal on Independence Day, he added. Singh then visited the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Urnhall and interacted with officers and personnel of the paramilitary force. The DGP, along with the officers, also took a round of Anantnag town.

 

J&K Top Cop Reviewed Security of South Kashmir Districts Yesterday | Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh visited Pulwama and Anantnag districts in south Kashmir yesterday to review security arrangements and said prohibitory orders will be relaxed in more areas today. Director General of Police (DGP) Singh, accompanied by Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, S P Pani and CRPF IG Rajesh Kumar Yadav, reviewed the deployment of security forces of the national highway from Srinagar to Anantnag.

 

Kashmir is ‘Nuclear Flashpoint’, Says Pakistan | Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that enough reinforcement has been provided at the Line of Control to deal with any situation. Warning of the possibility of an unintended war, the army spokesman said that “Kashmir issue is nuclear flashpoint.”

 

During a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi following a meeting of the country’s top brass on the situation in Kashmir, Army spokesman Major Gen Asif Ghafoor said it was possible India could launch an attack to divert the world’s attention from Kashmir. “We have apprehension that India can launch attack to divert attention but we are fully prepared to deal with any misadventure,” he said.

 

Pakistan Says Its Army ‘Fully Prepared’ to Act on Kashmir | On the other side of the border, Pakistan upped the ante yesterday saying that its army was “fully prepared” to face any challenge posed by India in the wake of current tensions between the two countries over Kashmir.

 

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said the government has an arduous job ahead to win back the trust of Kashmiri people after abolition of the Article 370 that provided special status for the state. The Congress is opposed to the way the Article 370 was abrogated as there are legal and moral issues, Khurshid who is a former Union minister told reporters here. “The government has a strenuous job ahead. It has to win back the trust of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after the abolition of its special status.

 

Fuel Stations Remain Shut | Some shops in the civil lines area opened yesterday, the officials said. However, most of the business establishments, including fuel stations, remained shut.

 

Landline Services Restored in Lal Chowk Area | In some areas of the Valley like Raj Bagh and Jawahar Nagar, landline services were restored, but remained suspended in most parts, including the commercial hub of Lal Chowk, Press Enclave, and other areas around it, officials said. There was increase in movement of private vehicles in the civil lines areas and other district headquarters of the Valley, the officials said, adding that some inter-district cabs were also seen plying in Dal gate area of the summer capital.