Kashmir News updates: Kashmiri identity is not in danger, assures Satya Pal Malik after hoisting National Flag in Srinagar

Imran warns of Kashmir issue will set off radicalisation and cycles of violence in Muslim world

In a warning to India and the international community, Imran Khan further said that if the alleged “ethnic cleansing” in Kashmir continued, “it will have severe repercussions and reactions in the Muslim world setting off radicalisation and cycles of violence.”

Will world silently witness another Srebrenica-type massacre & ethnic cleansing of Muslims in IOK? I want to warn international community if it allows this to happen, it will have severe repercussions & reactions in the Muslim world setting off radicalisation & cycles of violence

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 15, 2019

Imran Khan tweets, says what’s happening in Kashmir is example of ‘Modi’s earlier ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Gujarat’

In a series of tweets, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan slammed the Narendra Modi-led Indian government for ‘presence of extra troops’ and a “12-day curfew” in an ‘already heavily militarized occupied territory’. Khan, who has been attacking the Indian government since the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, further said that what was happening in Kashmir was an “example of Modi’s earlier ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Gujarat.”

Indian government or officials have not responded to the tweet yet. 

In IOK, 12 days of curfew, presence of extra troops in an already heavily militarized occupied territory, sending in of RSS goons, complete communication blackout; with the example of Modi's earlier ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Gujarat

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 15, 2019

Satya Pal Malik hoists National Flag in Srinagar 

Governor Satya Pal Malik hoisted the National Tricolour at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in the first Independence Day celebration in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of its special status.

After unfurling the flag, Malik inspected the parade of para-military forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Restrictions were put in place here in the wake of the abrogation of the special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.

SRINAGAR: Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik unfurls the national flag at Sher-i-Kashmir stadium on the occasion of 73rd #IndiaIndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/IUh2ppZKi3

— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2019

‘Some’ restrictions in Kashmir Valley on Independence Day, says Jammu and Kashmir administration

There will be some restrictions in Kashmir Valley on Independence Day even as the situation has been calm, the Jammu and Kashmir administration said ahead of the country’s 73rd Independence Day on Thursday.

“There have been no major report of any untoward incident. All civil supplies continue to be normal. Any detention or arrest is based on local assessment,” Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal said addressing a press conference.

Kansal said sometimes reasonable restrictions are necessary in order to ensure that public order is not disturbed.

Satya Pal Malik to hoist National Flag in Srinagar today

Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik will hoist the National Flag at the main Independence Day function at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium in Sriganagr on Thursday and all arrangements have been made for it, Principal Secretary in the Jammu and Kashmir administration Rohit Kansal said.

In Jammu, Independence Day celebrations will be led by an advisor to the governor, while celebrations will be held at the divisional, district and sub-district levels as well, he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Kansal said all arrangements to celebrate Independence Day are now complete in all the districts of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and the main function will be held at SK Stadium where the governor will hoist the National Flag.

Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq and Omar Abdullah unlikely to attend Independence Day celebrations

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah, and local MPs are unlikely to attend the first Independence Day celebrations in the state after the abrogation of Article 370 stripped the state of its special status and autonomy.

The three leaders who are currently under house arrest, are unlikely to be released by Jammu and Kashmir Polcie for the occasion, The Hindu reported . Stringent security arrangements are in place in the restive region for the occasion even as a communication clampdown and curfew have been imposed for the last ten days.

Centre will be ‘directly accountable’ for Kashmir after abrogation of Article 370, says Narendra Modi

Narendta Modi elaborated on the benefits of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy saying that the move will enable the people of the region to hold the BJP-led government at the Centre directly accountable.

“After the partition, when people came to India they faced no problems but those who settled in Jammu and Kashmir could never live in peace. The new system in place is for the direct benefit of the people on the ground. Now anyone living in Jammu and Kashmir can directly question the Centre. He now does not need to go via media,” Modi said.

We neither nurse problems, nor keep them pending: Narendra Modi on scrapping Article 370

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that his government neither nurses problems nor keeps them pending and referred to the scrapping of the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, saying India now is one nation with one constitution.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day, Modi said that previous governments made efforts in the past 70 years to deal with Kashmir, but it did not bear results. He added that “a new approach was needed”.

Narendra Modi claims Article 370 enabled secessionism, terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir

“It is our duty to ensure that citizens in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are able to fulfill their dreams,” Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Thursday. He also claimed that Article 370, which provided autonomy to Kashmir, had “enabled corruption and terrorism” in the region.

Why did previous govts let Article 370 remain temporary, asks Narendra Modi in I-day speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking on various topics in his first Independence Day speech during his second term in office, also touched upon the contentious abrogation of Articles 370 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that he fails to understnd the reasoning behind support to Article 370 and Article 35A. He said, “If these provisions were so important for Jammu and Kashmir’s welfare, why did the previous governments leave it as a temporary provision despite multiple opportunities to make it permanent?”

He added, “This means that they knew that this wasn’t right but they lacked the will to set things right.”

Narendra Modi addresses nation on occasion of 73rd Independence Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his speech on occasion of the 73rd Independence Day on Thursday, addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi after hoisting the National Flag. Delivering a ‘report card’ of the BJP-led NDA government in the first 10 weeks of its second term, Modi also weighed in on the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.