New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday night blamed Opposition PDP for scuttling the mission for partial revocation of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act by "making statements" that the state government should take army on board. Winding up the discussion on Governor's address in the state assembly, he said his efforts for partial revocation of AFSPA will continue and also assured the House that...
02:12 AM, Feb 29, 2012
Jammu: The ruling National Conference on Friday batted for revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir in a phased manner. "We call for revocation of AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir in phased manner," senior NC leader Mustafa Kamal said while speaking on the motion of thanks on Governor's address in the Assembly. He said removing security bunkers from different areas of the state would help...
11:11 PM, Feb 24, 2012
New Delhi: Human Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday demanded that security personnel facing serious charges like rape and murder should stand trial and not hide behind Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Welcoming the Supreme Court statement that personnel involved in rape and murder could invoke AFSPA, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Program Director Sam Zarifi said, "for far too long, Indian security forces have used the AFSPA as a cover...
05:03 AM, Feb 09, 2012
Jammu: Citing the Supreme Court's recent observation, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been pitching for partial revocation of Armed Force Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state, on Tuesday said the statute was not aimed at protecting acts of crime. "AFSPA is for legitimate protection and not for protection of the acts of crime. And that is something we have always maintained," Omar said. The Chief...
04:21 PM, Feb 07, 2012
Kolkata: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said he wants the talks between the state and central governments on the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the valley to be speeded up. "I would like to see things move a little faster. But these things have a life of their own, a time of their own as these are not the only issues...
12:52 AM, Jan 29, 2012
Kolkata: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday he would continue to press for repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act "which is a very important issue". "This is a very important issue for Jammu and Kashmir and that is why I am pressing for it. I will continue to press for it," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of the Kolkata Literary Meet that coincided...
07:57 PM, Jan 28, 2012
Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on Saturday said he is expecting Congress to win a minimum of 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly, voting for which continues peacefully across the state. "I am expecting that the Congress party would secure around 45 seats. But 35 is the minimum number we are winning," Okram Ibobi Singh told IANS after casting his vote. Along with his legislator wife Landhoni Devi,...
12:02 PM, Jan 28, 2012
New Delhi: Voters on Saturday lined up before 2,357 polling stations across nine districts of Manipur as elections began in 60 assembly constituencies amid tight security. An electorate of 17,40,576, including 8,82,236 woman voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from among 279 candidates in the 10th Assembly polls. Incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who is contesting for a third term, cast his vote at...
07:03 AM, Jan 28, 2012
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said he was committed to the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state in a gradual fashion. In his address, quite unusual for the head of the government, on the eve of the Republic Day, Abdullah said his "government has set in motion the dialogue process through interlocutors who have submitted their report to the central government"....
05:53 AM, Jan 26, 2012
New Delhi: The Indian Army has been severely criticised by the Supreme Court for not deciding if it wants to take action against its officers involved in the Pathribal encounter case. The apex court on Monday issued a notice to the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary in the March 25, 2000 encounter at Pathribal in South Kashmir in which seven people were gunned down for allegedly being Lashker-e-Toiba terrorists....
04:39 PM, Jan 23, 2012
Imphal: The ruling Congress has pledged to improve the law and order situation in Manipur and withdraw the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) if voted to power in the assembly election. Releasing the party's manifesto at Congress Bhavan in Imphal on Friday, Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Gaikhangam in the presence of Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh said the party will improve the law and order situation...
08:43 PM, Jan 20, 2012
Imphal: Barely 11 days to go, campaigning for the January 28 Manipur Assembly polls is at a low ebb with candidates confining themselves to hoisting flags at their houses and that of their supporters. Apart from hoisting flags at their houses, candidates were doing house-to-house campaigns to woo voters in their favours. However, loud speakers have not been used and the ubiquitous posters are missing. The Armed Forces Special Powers...
04:48 PM, Jan 17, 2012
Imphal: Three decades after it was imposed in Manipur to deal with insurgents, the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is still an issue used by parties during electioneering for the January 28 Assembly poll in the state. While parties like the BJP and NCP are in favour of creating an atmosphere for removing the AFSPA, CPI(M) and Manipur People's Party (MPP), the oldest regional party of the state,...
11:37 AM, Jan 17, 2012
Akhnoor: Terming the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as a matter of national security, an Army commander said on Sunday although the Army and the Government have their own takes on the issue, solutions are likely to emerge after discussions at the top level. "Let me clarify that AFSPA is a matter of national security. We have our own stand while the Government has its own take (on the...
10:09 AM, Jan 16, 2012
Jammu: A decision on revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir will be taken by the defence and home ministries, a senior Indian Army commander said on Sunday, underlining that the act was a "must for national security". Northern Command chief Lieutenant General KT Parnaik told a group of newsmen on the sidelines of an investiture ceremony on the Army Day in Akhnoor, 30 km...
04:26 PM, Jan 15, 2012
Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday alleged that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had raked up the AFSPA issue to divert attention from the death of a ruling National Conference worker in police custody last year. "Omar took up the issue of AFSPA to divert attention from custodial killing of Mohammad Yousuf Shah," she said. The NC worker died on September 30 last year in police custody...
05:56 PM, Jan 10, 2012
In a 2009 interview, historian Lokendra Arambam, former President of the Apunba Lup (a conglomerate of 32 civil society organisations in the state of Manipur) told me that when it comes to Manipur, "the government of India is interested in the land and not in the people." In 2006, just three years before Arambam's remark, Henry V Jardine, US Consulate General, Calcutta, returned from Manipur, which borders Myanmar, and sent...
12:26 PM, Jan 09, 2012
New Delhi: Indian Army chief General VK Singh has opposed the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of Jammu and Kashmir anytime soon, saying this could result in the "emergence of terror sanctuaries and safe havens". He said one summer of peace does not mean normalcy has returned to the troubled border state and warned that if the contentious special powers are withdrawn, the army...
05:49 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said 2011 was one of the most peaceful years in the state and thanked people for this. "As 2011 draws to a close, my heartfelt gratitude goes to the people of J&K for one of the most peaceful years in decades. It was all your doing," he wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter. "I think I will just bring in 2012...
09:19 PM, Dec 31, 2011
New Delhi: Warning that partial revocation of AFSPA from Jammu and Kashmir will create terrorist 'sanctuaries', Army Chief General VK Singh has said dilution of the controversial Act will be 'detrimental' to national interest. The Army Chief said, "Just one summer of peace does not mean normalcy... Diluting of AFSPA in any form will be detrimental to national interest." He said though the Army has not operated in some parts...
07:38 PM, Dec 30, 2011
