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As AMU Student Union secretary, SP MP Azam Khan was rusticated for a year in 1975 for forcibly trying to enter female ward in hospital

OpIndia Staff
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As AMU Student Union secretary, SP MP Azam Khan was rusticated for a year in 1975 for forcibly trying to enter female ward in hospital

If reports are to be believed, the Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, infamous for making sexist and misogynist comments on his colleagues, was once expelled from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) for a year when he was a student leader for allegedly entering the female ward of a hospital forcibly.

A well-known Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Jawwad said Azam Khan was punished by the AMU administration for misbehaving with a woman in 1975. He was pursuing Master of Laws (LLM) at the university then.

The cleric recounted that Azam Khan, who was also secretary of the Aligarh Muslim University Student Union then, had tried to forcibly enter a female ward of a hospital. The cleric furthered that the authorities of the Aligarh Muslim University had then set up an inquiry committee which found Azam Khan guilty following which he was expelled on October 6, 1975.

Minutes of the meeting conducted an inquiry committee which found Azam Khan guilty following which he was expelled on October 6, 1975. Photo: IANS

Maulana Kalbe Jawwad had earlier also in 2014, produced documentary evidence in support of his similar allegations against the SP MP Azam Khan.

Azam Khan had then refused to recognise Jawwad as a religious head and called him an agent of the BJP. The cleric, in response, had alleged that the SP leader was trying to create a Shia-Sunni divide for his political gains.

Azam Khan is in neck-deep trouble. Recently he was reprimanded and made to apologise by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for his creepy and sexist remark against BJP MP Rama Devi. Moreover, the Samajwadi Party is facing charges of using derogatory remarks against BJP leader Jaya Prada.

Apart from this, the founder member of the Samajwadi Party, Azam Khan, is also facing charges of land grabbing and theft of books in Rampur.

The SP MP has more than 30 cases in his name. Majority of these cases relate to grabbing of land belonging either to the government or to poor farmers. Considering this long history of involvement in land grabbing cases Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan might soon be listed as a land mafia on the Anti-Bhoo Mafia (anti-land mafia) portal of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Sitaram Yechury stopped at Srinagar Airport, sent back to Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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Sitaram Yechury stopped at Srinagar Airport, sent back to Delhi

General Secretary of the CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury, who had gone to Srinagar to visit the members of his party there is being sent back to Delhi. Yesterday, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Gulam Ahmed Mir were detained at the Srinagar airport before they were sent back to Delhi as well.


Yechury had said yesterday that he would go to Srinagar to meet CPI(M) workers and the lone MLA the party had in the erstwhile state assembly.

Politicians from opposition parties have been engaging in extremely disturbing rhetoric which could imperil a sensitive situation as Jammu & Kashmir slowly returns to normalcy. Despite the narrative that is being peddled on social media and in newsrooms, the newly formed union territory is making peace with recent developments.

However, amidst clear provocation from Pakistan, it’s understandable that the Indian government is exercising caution. It’s also reasonable for the government to not allow the union territory to become a new battleground for petty politics.

Meanwhile, people in Ladakh have wholeheartedly embraced the decision with open arms. A “thanksgiving” ceremony was organized by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) in Leh on Thursday in celebration of their newly granted Union Territory status.

Akhilesh Yadav directs SP workers to block roads, hold massive protest in support of Azam Khan across Uttar Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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Akhilesh Yadav directs SP workers to block roads, hold massive protest in support of Azam Khan across Uttar Pradesh

On the direction of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, the party workers across Uttar Pradesh have organised massive protests at their respective districts today in support of Azam Khan.

The Samajwadi supremo had announced a state-wide protest on August 9 in support of Rampur MP Azam Khan and his son Abdullah Azam, the Suar MLA. During the protest, SP workers are demanding that ‘fake cases’ against Azam Khan be withdrawn and harassment of Abdullah should be stopped.

A group of Samajwadi workers were stopped by the Uttar Pradesh police as they blocked roads and disrupted traffic in Uttar Pradesh today.


Samajwadi Party claims that the charges of land grabbing filed against Azam Khan are fake. The SP leader has been declared as a land mafia by the UP government, and several FIRs have been registered against him on the complaints of as many as 26 farmers. The farmers allege that Azam Khan had forcefully grabbed their land for his university. Khan has denied all the charges, and the party has stood firmly behind him.

Akhilesh Yadav seems to be sharing a very special bond with Azam Khan. This affinity probably compelled Akhilesh to extend his support to Azam Khan’s sexist and creepy remark against the BJP female MP. While under normal circumstances this could amount to harassment and sexual abuse, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, however, found nothing wrong with it. He said that Khan’s remarks were nothing but ‘poetry’.

Nevertheless, the Samajwadi Party also said that the protest will highlight the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. The list of demand also included the setting up of a fast track court for the trial of the accused in the Sonebhadra massacre case, shifting of Unnao rape accused, MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to a jail outside Uttar Pradesh, allocation of land to tribals of Umbha village in Sonebhadra district and entering their names in revenue records.

On August 4, Uttar Pradesh police had booked 16 Samajwadi workers including district president Firoz Khan in Sambhal for burning effigies and blocking a key road. The police had stopped them from going to Rampur in support of MP Azam Khan and his son Abdullah. Since the police prevented them, the workers led by Sambhal president, Firoz Khan started burning effigies in front of sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) court. This had led to the blocking of Sambhal-Moradabad road.

The Samajwadi Party had also organised a huge rally in Rampur on August 1 as a show of strength to protest against the raids against Azam Khan and the detention of his son Abdullah Azam Khan.

Abdullah was detained as he was found violating Section 144, imposed by the police on the account of the ‘Save Azam’ rally staged by Samajwadi Party in Rampur on August 1. As per reports, UP Police had blocked all roads leading to the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University and imposed section 144 in the area. Despite this, Abdullah and his supporters tried to storm the university, leading to clashes with the police.

Earlier, the police had carried out raids at the university and recovered many valuable old books stolen from a centuries-old Madarsa in Rampur. Abdullah Khan later held a candlelight vigil to protest the raids outside the University. Azam Khan, the father of the SP MLA from Suar is the founder and chancellor of the university. The police conducted search operations at ‘Mumtaz Central Library’ of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University following a complaint by the principal of Madrasa Aliya, wherein he stated that 9000 books and rare manuscripts from the Madrasa have been stolen.

Ladakh residents organise thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate their region becoming a Union Territory

OpIndia Staff
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Ladakh residents organise thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate their region becoming a Union Territory

A “Thanksgiving” program was organised by the Ladakh Buddhist Association(LBA) in Leh yesterday to celebrate Ladakh becoming a Union Territory after the central government obtained a presidential decree to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without legislature.


A legion of people from different villages participated in the celebration. Political leaders, religious leaders, monks and Sarpanchs were present at the event to rejoice the government’s decision to reorganise the region as a union territory and preserving Ladakh’s distinct identity.

People celebrating Thanksgiving in Leh

People in Ladakh have been demanding the union territory status for several decades. As the Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering told the Lok Sabha on 6th August, people in Ladakh felt that the Jammu and Kashmir government was discriminating against the region. He had accused that due to the policies of Congress government and Article 370, the development, political aspiration, identity, language of Ladakh have become extinct under Kashmir.

Therefore, people in Ladakh are elated with the prospect of development of the region as a union territory. Even the Muslim residents in Ladakh expressed their elation at the government’s decision by hoisting the Indian flag at the top of the centuries-old mosque in the main market region of Leh.


One of the Muslim residents said, “From Leh to Kanyakumari, we are all Indians and India is one. We have full faith in PM Modi and we are happy with Modi government’s move of declaring Ladakh a UT and expect that this decision will kickstart development of the Ladakh region.”

Yesterday, PM Modi addressed the nation talking about his government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two union territories. PM Modi defended his government’s move saying the decision will herald increased development of the regions. PM Modi also said that farmers in Ladakh will have unfettered access to markets across India for selling their produces and will bring prosperity to the region.

Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra flooded as heavy rains hit various parts of the country

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra flooded as heavy rains hit various parts of the country

Incessant rains have wreaked havoc in many states this year. Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka have been worst hit by the monsoon rains. Other states which too have been affected are Uttarakhand, Assam, Odisha and the eastern part of India.

Kerala:

Even as the scars of last year’s floods are yet to fade away, Kerala witnesses flooding in several districts this year too. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rains in the state till August 14. Red alerts have been issued in Idukki, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kozhikode districts. Barring the state capital district and neighbouring Kollam, the remaining 12 districts have been affected by rains.


A total of 28 people have been reported dead since the onset of the South West Monsoon on June 6, which arrived a week late. Over 22,000 have been evacuated to 315 relief camps.


Flight operations have been stopped till 3 pm on Sunday due to heavy rain, airport officials said today. The water level in the Periyar river and a canal near the airport has been rising. Flight operations were stopped till 9 am today, but it had to be extended after the apron area at the Kochi airport got flooded, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) posted on its Facebook page.

Schools and colleges are shut in all 14 districts of the southern state today, except state capital Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam.

A massive landslide has been reported from Meppadi in the hilly Wayanad district where, according to a legislator, a temple, church, couple of houses and a few vehicles have come under the soil and several people feared to be missing. Around 60 people rescued and evacuated from Wayanad landslide area by the NDRF. It should take 10-12 hours for operations to complete. The landslide extends up to 2 km.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the army’s help and additional 13 more units of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the relief and rescue operations.

Army deployed from Pangode military station Thiruvananthapuram. Total 3 columns deployed at:

  • Alappuzha: Headed by Lt Col
  • Pathanamthitta: Headed by Major
  • Ernakulam: Headed by Major

Click here to donate to Chief Minister’s relief fund.

Karnataka:

Karnataka has also been flooding due to incessant rain since last two days as a result of which subsequent landslides were reported at various places along Charmadi Ghat. Traffic movement was prohibited and schools and colleges continued to remain shut.

At least nine people have died in the flood-affected state till date. Around 16,875 people and 3,010 animals have been shifted to 272 relief camps opened in the state. Nearly 44,000 people have been evacuated from 51 flood-hit taluks, with about 40,180 from Belagavi alone.

The rescue teams, including personnel from Fire and Emergency, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army, have been moving people from flood-affected areas to safety.

Indian Air Force teams carried out flood relief operations in Belagavi, Karnataka. A total of 25 civilians have been rescued by winching from Roggi, Halolli, Udhagatti and Girdal. Around 475 food packets along with drinking water were dropped in affected areas by the IAF.


Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has said that Mysuru to Madikeri and Mysuru to HD Kote Road is closed due to heavy rains and water overflowing.

A total of 16 Columns and 12 Engineer Task Forces comprising of almost 1,000 Army personnel have been employed in Belagavi, Bagalkot and Raichur district of Karnataka and Raigad, Kohlapur and Sangli district of Maharashtra to carry out flood relief operations.

The Chief Minister of Karnataka has also appealed to people to donate to the relief fund.


The Met department has also confirmed that the situation in Karnataka is improving. No more red alert for Belagavi from August 10 and no more red alert for all districts in Karnataka from Aug 11. They have been reduced to yellow alert said the Met department.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa visited relief camps in Mudhol on Friday.

Maharashtra:

Incessant rains have created a havoc in Maharashtra too. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) continued the rescue operations in Maharashtra on Friday. As many as 27 people have died due to floods in five districts of Pune division while more than two lakh people have been evacuated to safer places from three districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, and Satara in Maharashtra.

Only rooftops and trees are visible from a highway near Kolhapur in Maharashtra, which has been flooded for days after heavy rain that has completely cut off essential supplies and damaged thousands of homes. The road to Kolhapur city has partly vanished underwater. The Panchganga river that flows nearby has flooded the city.

At least 32 teams of the NDRF have been deployed for emergency response in the state. Apart from Kohlapur, the NDRF teams are also pre-positioned in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Nashik, Raigarh, Satara, Sindhudurg, Sangli and Nagpur districts of Maharashtra.


As many as 12 rescue teams of Indian Navy have left last night for Sangli by road in state government transport after the Airlift was aborted due to unfavourable weather condition in Kolhapur and Sangli. Police escorts were provided for a green corridor till Sangli, tweeted Spokesperson of the Indian Navy.

The Maharashtra government is likely to release more water from the dams over the Krishna and Bhima rivers as several districts in the western parts of the state were inundated by floodwaters.

Click here to donate to Chief Minister’s relief fund.

Uttarakhand:

A woman and her seven-year-old daughter have been swept away after a flooded rivulet inundated their house in Chamoli district on Friday following heavy rains which destroyed crops, houses, cowsheds and bridges.

The district administration rushed rescue teams to the spot immediately but the mother-daughter duo is yet to be found, District Disaster Management officer NK Joshi said.
Muddy waters of the flooded Ulangara rivulet swamped around a dozen houses and cowsheds in Faldia village burying livestock alive.


Meanwhile, heavy monsoon rain has also affected Odisha, where over 6,000 people have been displaced according to disaster authorities.

As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the next two days will see more rains in Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

NDTV finds endorsement from Pakistan, Imran Khan’s party shares their video to further anti-India agenda

Sanghamitra
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NDTV finds endorsement from Pakistan, Imran Khan’s party shares their video to further anti-India agenda

It has been seen for a while, especially after the Pulwama terror attack and India’s retaliatory Balakot airstrikes that our enemy nation Pakistan says the similar things that many politicians of the opposition parties, especially Congress say about India. After the Balakot airstrikes, Pakistan’s official channels were even seen using the statements of Congress leaders to further their claims.

NDTV has almost been playing the role of an opposition party in India after 2014. Its news anchors have received praise from top Pakistani terrorists like Hafiz Saeed. Recently, NDTV seems to have achieved another major milestone at being Pakistan’s voice and the propagator of Pakistani ideas.

Pakistan’s ruling party PTI has endorsed NDTV by sharing a video clip from one of their shows where they claim the people of Kashmir are waiting for the curfew to lift so they can ‘show’ India what they feel, hinting violence and riots.


In the video clip from NDTV that PTI shared, a reporter, apparently reporting from Srinagar, claims that he and his team had met an old, blind man earlier that day. According to the reporter, the old man was being helped to cross the road and he expressed his desire to speak about the current situation.

The reporter further states that the old man said, “New Delhi is saying everybody in Kashmir is happy about making Jammu and Kashmir a UT. Let them lift the curfew and they will know how happy we are”.

Curiously, the journalist, who obviously has had access to camera and communication, did not show the said old man. He just claims that an old man has said so.


The video clip is from Sreenivasan Jain’s show on NDTV ‘Reality Check’. The show was run with the headline “Kashmiri view: Silenced by fear”. In a 25 minute show that is remarkably high on propaganda and very low on facts, NDTV fails to show the old man who said the “Let them lift the curfew” bit. The reporter Nazeer Masoodi takes the viewers to a hospital that is bustling with activity. In the hospital, patients’ attendants complain about the difficulties they are facing because of the checkpoints and communications restrictions. Anchor Sreenivasan Jain opens the show by quoting imaginary characters declaring imaginary fears.

Jain claims some nameless journalist is afraid to ‘speak up’ because his family is in Kashmir. Other nameless people and their generalised fear-mongering is read out with ominous music in the background.

The show calls NSA Ajit Doval’s tour in the valley a photo op and goes to great lengths to establish that everyone in Kashmir is really really unhappy because of the stripping of Article 370 and subsequent bifurcation into two UTs.

NDTV finding support in Pakistan is nothing new. Earlier in March, NDTV’s star anchor Raveesh Kumar had urged media that they should not report the post-Pulwama India-Pakistan conflict, because it will ‘help BJP in the elections’. Raveesh’ statements were soon used by Pakistani media to further their anti-India narrative.

Recently, radical Islamist Zaid Hamid had used ex-NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt’s tweets to spew venom against India.

NDTV seems to fan its ‘Kashmir is in fear’ narrative so much that they are now bordering on an open call for violence. The clip by NDTV reporter that claimed an old Kashmiri man allegedly challenged India to ‘lift the curfew’ to see the real sentiment of Kashmiri people is nothing but another attempt to further their baseless fearmongering. The way NDTV, and for that matter, many media portals are going on about the issue, it seems as if they are just waiting, rather hoping for a riot to happen and people to die, just so they can claim that the central government has failed and thus help Pakistan further its narrative.

NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain desperately tries to portray that Kashmiri Pandits are unhappy with abrogation of Article 370

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain desperately tries to portray that Kashmiri Pandits are unhappy with abrogation of Article 370

Controversial news channel NDTV, seems to be disgruntled about the Narendra Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the day the historic decision was announced earlier this week, NDTV appears to have put into motion everything they could to show that the move is a disaster.

On Thursday, NDTV news anchor Sreenivasan Jain attempted to pull up a similar stunt on his show. In his show, Jain attempted to stage an interview with one of the Kashmiri Pandits, Upendra Kaul to push a narrative that Kashmiri Pandit community is unhappy about the scrapping of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Upendra Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit featured in the show, spoke on behalf of the Kashmiri Pandit community. As the show progressed, Kaul expressed his views on abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state, terming it as a ‘very bad moment’. Kaul with his entitled views went on to make shocking remarks, claiming that the events of genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits were itself debatable and tried to falsely insinuate that some of Kashmiri Pandits perceived the scrapping of Article 370 as a ‘revenge’ to what happened in 1990.


Upendra Kaul, one of the leading cardiologists of the country, also confessed in the show that he never lived in the Kashmir valley but instead stayed in Delhi when the genocide against Pandits took place in the early 1990s.

Meanwhile, the erratic statements made by Kaul against Kashmiri Pandits has angered the members of the community, who have now exposed the claims of both Sreenivasan Jain and Upendra Kaul.

Rohit Kachroo, an exiled Kashmiri Pandit and an activist, has hit back with details pertaining to the last night NDTV show. In a tweet, Rohit confirmed the fact that Upendra Kaul, who was referred to as a representative of Kashmiri by Sreenivasan Jain, is not a Kashmiri but a resident of Delhi. Rohit also stated that Upendra Kaul neither represent the voice of Kashmiri Pandits nor anybody knows him.


Further, Rohit Kachroo also reveals that NDTV had initially invited one of the representatives of the activist group to be part of the show, but later cancelled his appearance on the show after sending a cab to his place. These claims by Rohit raise serious questions on whether the show was staged to foul-mouth Kashmiri Pandits along with India for celebrating the historic event of the scrapping of Article 370.

In an attempt to push a narrative that Kashmiri Pandits are not supportive of abrogation of Article 370, NDTV and Sreenivasan Jain got exposed for pushing further scare-mongering and hatred against the Narendra Modi government.

This is not the first time NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain has been caught on the wrong foot. Last month, in a desperate bid to shield the failed Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka, he was found misrepresenting basic facts. He has also indulged in bullying people into deleting their tweets and even threatened to sue them. He was also caught downplaying violence against Modi supporters during the run-up to 2019 general elections.

The Wire displays wrong map marking Kashmir as ‘Indian Occupied Kashmir’ in their video, pulls video down after outrage

OpIndia Staff
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The Wire displays wrong map marking Kashmir as ‘Indian Occupied Kashmir’ in their video, pulls video down after outrage

This week, the Modi government abrogated the provisions of Article 370 that gave Jammu and Kashmir a ‘special’ status and also scrapped Article 35A that barred non-residents from buying property in Kashmir. Following this historic move, several elements tried to toe the Pakistan line and instigate the people. One such element was the Leftist propaganda portal, The Wire, headed by American passport holder Siddharth Varadarajan.

The Wire released a video talking about ‘the security, political and diplomatic fallout’. The show was hosted by none other than American passport holder Siddharth Varadarajan himself. The video started with him talking about how the move that ‘eliminated the existence of Jammu and Kashmir as a state’ was unconstitutional. This statement was, of course, made because the Modi government, in addition to abrogating Article 370 and 35A, had also bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into J&K and Ladakh and declared the two Union Territories.

While Siddarth Varadarajan goes on and on pretending to have a stake in what happens within the boundaries of India, an interesting map popped up in the video. It was a map of Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the map had some interesting notings.

Map displayed by The Wire video

In the Kashmir map displayed by The Wire, the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir including areas like Srinagar etc were labelled as “Indian Occupied Part”. A large part of Kashmir, that Indians refer to as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir since it has been under the illegal occupation of Pakistan, was labelled as ‘Azad Kashmir’.

Calling Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Indian Occupied Part’ is a grave offence and peddles the exact narrative that Pakistan wants. Jammu and Kashmir, including Aksai Chin and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir has always been an integral part of India. In fact, governments beyond party lines have always maintained a united voice in this matter.

After massive outrage on Social Media, The Wire pulled down the previous video. As can be seen from the embedded video link in the below tweet, the video now says it is unavailable.


The Wire has now uploaded a new video. Interestingly, however, in the new video, at the same 5:32-minute mark, there is now no map at all.

If one were to give The Wire the benefit of the doubt, one would assume that they would replace the incorrect map with the correct one. However, in the new video, at the same minute mark, they have removed the map altogether.

Snapshot of new video at the same 5: 32-minute mark

The Wire has a long history of peddling lies, propaganda and often toes the Pakistani line in its editorials. This just seems like another instance where the Leftist propaganda portal reveals its true self.

United Nations snubs Pakistan as it refuses to comment on the Kashmir matter terming it as a ‘bilateral issue’

OpIndia Staff
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United Nations snubs Pakistan as it refuses to comment on the Kashmir matter terming it as a ‘bilateral issue’

In a further embarrassment to Pakistan, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) President Joanna Wronecka on Thursday refused to comment on Pakistan’s letter to the world body regarding abrogation of Article 370 by India that granted a separate status to Jammu and Kashmir. “No comments,” said Wronecka when asked for a reaction at a press briefing in New York.

“The Secretary-General also recalls the 1972 agreement on bilateral relations between India and Pakistan, also known as the Shimla Agreement, which states that the final status of Jammu and Kashmir is to be settled by peaceful means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General in a statement.

The desperate Pakistan PM Imran Khan has run pillar to post seeking the support of the international community on the Kashmir issue. He had appealed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, who instead urged the neighbours to exercise “maximum restraint”. The UN chief then invoked the Shimla Agreement that states that Kashmir is a bilateral issue while rejecting Pakistan’s proposal for and intervention.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres claiming abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir violated the UNSC resolution.

Despite United Nations asking parties to exercise constraint, Pakistan has already escalated matters by taking decisions of downgrading the diplomatic ties, expelling the Indian envoy to Islamabad, suspending bilateral trade and reviewing all bilateral treaties and arrangements beginning with suspension of the peace train, Samjhauta Express and banning Indian films in Pakistan.

JDU does a U-turn on Article 370 after it is stripped, says law should be abided by all

OpIndia Staff
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JDU does a U-turn on Article 370 after it is stripped, says law should be abided by all

A day after the central government’s move on Article 370 was successful and it got the President’s approval after being passed in both houses of the parliament, NDA partner JDU has softened its stand.

As per reports, JDU has stated that the law has come into force and should be abided by all. Rajya Sabha MP and JDU’s general secretary Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has stated that the JDU does not wish to engage in further ideological sparring with the BJP. He has also stated that the party’s stand on the issue will have no bearings with the NDA alliance in Bihar.

Singh, upon being asked why did his part not support the BJP over stripping of the Article 370 in parliament, Singh replied, “We could not have supported the bill. We were not consulted by the Centre before it brought the bill.”

JDU is a major NDA partner. It has 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 6 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, BJP leader and Bihar’s deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi had voiced that Article 370 has been stripped now and political parties should accept the truth. He had added that the opposing parties should accept the reality too and come forward for the development of the newly formed UTs, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Though Sushil Modi did not name Nitish Kumar or JDU, his message was quite clear.


Sushil Modi had also stated, in an evident hint towards JDU, that even many Congress leaders, like Bhubaneswar Kalita and Jyotiraditya Scindia, are saying that it is a good move and ‘honest reconsiderations are always a good option.’

It is notable here that despite being a major NDA partner, JDU has not been supportive of the government in the parliament over major reforms and bills. It had also opposed the Triple Talaq Bill and had abstained from voting.

Though the BJP and JDU are the ruling alliance in Bihar, JDU had also expressed its dissatisfaction at being offered only one cabinet seat after NDA’s win in the 2019 general elections and had stayed away from being a part of the government.

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