Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 8 (ANI): Popular Punjabi singers rocked the Zabarwan Park on the banks of Dal Lake here with their enthralling performances.

Srinagar Apr 25 PTI PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said her party did not see any hope in Prime Minister Narendra Modis speech in Jammu alleging that the BJP-led Centre has pushed the youngsters of Jammu and Kashmir towards despondencyWhat hope can we have The prime minister spoke about the youngsters and the future of Jammu and Kashmir What future do they have As if the PSA Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act was not enough youngsters are now being booked under the UAPA the Peoples Democratic Party PDP chief told reporters hereShe said Modis statement was ironic as opportunities of employment and business in Jammu and Kashmir are being given to outsidersJobs are going out mining leases and liquor licences are also given to outsiders The electricity produced in Jammu and Kashmir powers homes and factories across the country but the situation in Kashmir is terrible on this front as well Mufti saidShe said the Centre has put up the land of Jammu and Kashmir for sale adding It is offering a 50-per cent stamp duty reduction for people buying land here The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also hit out at Modi for maintaining silence over Muslims facing violence across the countryThe livelihood of Muslims their homes and their dignity are being bulldozed in Delhis Jahangirpuri right near the prime ministers residence but he is doing nothing about it she allegedMufti said as a Muslim majority state Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India based on the principles of secularismWe thought Hindus Muslims Sikhs and Christians will live together But that is not happening now Muslims the largest minority in the country are a scared lot she addedMufti said the prime ministers visit to Jammu and Kashmir comes in the backdrop of him being a silent spectator when 20 crore Muslims were facing bulldozersHe comes to visit Jammu and Kashmir which he left no stone unturned to destroy Our rights have been snatched We have been reduced from a state to a Union Territory Outsiders are being given preference in jobs here while people from Jammu and Kashmir are being dismissed she allegedThe PDP president further alleged that the BJP-led Centre has not only bulldozed democracy but the Constitution as wellAsked about elections in Jammu and Kashmir she said she has not heard anything about itThe way they Centre are controlling Jammu and Kashmir by a remote control we do not foresee any news about elections Mufti saidIn his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019 Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of several projects worth around Rs 20000 crore for the Union Territory on Sunday In a message to the youngsters of Jammu and Kashmir the prime minister said unlike their parents and grandparents they would not have to live a life of trouble PTI MIJ RC

Srinagar Nov 20 PTI PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said elections have never been a solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue though they are important for addressing the basic needs of people She said her party is ready for the polls whenever they are held Elections have never been a solution of J-K issue Elections whether they take place today or tomorrow will keep on happening While they are important for addressing the basic needs of the people they elections are not my priority Whenever they take place we are ready for that Mehbooba told reporters in north Kashmirs Kupwara The Peoples Democratic Party PDP chief also accused the Centre of trying to divide the Muslim votes in Jammu and Kashmir by propping up new parties The Centre is attempting to divide the majority community vote in J-K The Congress is being split people were taken out from the PDP the NC and new parties were created It is being done to disempower the people here to reduce their power But I am sure that the people of Kashmir are politically mature and they understand it she said Mehbooba has said several times in the past that she is not going to fight the assembly elections as her objective is to seek the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution which was abrogated by the BJP-led government in August 2019 She said farmers through their peaceful protest made Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeal the three contentious farm laws and expressed hope that a day will come when the Centre will restore Jammu and Kashmirs special status under Article 370 along with interest Farmers protested peacefully for a year and secured their rights Unfortunately the people in J-K are not allowed to protest There is jungle raj But this will not remain as such A day will come when they Centre will have to give us back not only Articles 370 35-A but along with interest she said She said the people of Jammu and Kashmir will continue their struggle till the time the special status is restored It took BJP 70 years to revoke Article 370 so we will also struggle be it for 70 days or 70 months for the restoration of our identity for the promise made by the country to our people which was enshrined in the Constitution We will continue our struggle until Articles 370 and 35-A are restored and Kashmir issue is settled she said The PDP president said even when there was tension between India and Pakistan the countries were engaged in some dialogue process The Kartarpur Corridor has been reopened did they not talk to Pakistan There has been ceasefire along the Line of Control in J-K for past few months so were there no talks with Pakistan The NSAs of the countries talk to each other in other countries Pakistans NSA was recently invited for talks on Afghanistan But when we say it talk to Pakistan they get irritated The talks are going on and former PM A B Vajpayee who was their tallest leader also did it Nothing will happen without dialogue she said PTI SSB SMN SMN

New Delhi Oct 27 PTI The Centre Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that it has filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of PDP leader Mehboobas Muftis petition which challenges the Constitutional validity of a provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLAThe counsel representing the Centre told a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh that the transfer petition is likely to come up for hearing before the apex court within a week -- on October 29The high court listed the matter for further hearing on December 23The Centre had earlier told the court that several petitions concerning various provisions and scheme of PMLA are pending in the Supreme Court and the matter has been assigned to a special bench and parties have exchanged certain queries one of which is directly in question hereThe Centre had said it intended to move a transfer petition so that the matters can be done togetherIt had said that the questions before the Supreme Court included issues concerning the commencement of investigation under PMLAFormer JK Chief Minister Mufti in her plea filed in March has sought to declare Section 50 of the PMLA as void and inoperative being unfairly discriminatory bereft of safeguards and violative of Article 203 of the ConstitutionSection 50 of the Act empowers the authority that is officers of ED to summon any person to give evidence or produce records All persons summoned are bound to answer the questions put to them and to produce the documents as required by the ED officers failing which they can be penalized under the ActShe has also challenged issuance of summons to her by the ED in a money laundering case and sought a stay which was refused by the court earlierThe 61-year-old leader who was released last year after more than a year in detention following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmirs special status was served notice to appear at the ED headquarters in the national capitalInitially the ED had summoned Mufti for March 15 but it did not insist for her personal appearance at that time Thereafter she was summoned for March 22Mufti in her petition said she has received summons from the ED under the provisions of the PMLA purporting to call for evidence on pain of punishment whereas she is to all intents and purposes a subject of investigationShe has not been informed if she is being summoned as an accused or as a witness She has also not been informed of what she is being summoned in connection with and the scheduled offence under the PMLA which gave rise to the proceedings in respect of which impugned summons has been issued to her The petitioner is not the subject of investigation nor is she an accused in any of the scheduled offences to the best of her knowledge the plea saidIt claimed that ever since Mufti was released from the preventive detention following the formal abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution there have been a series of hostile acts by the State against her acquaintances and old family friends who have all been summoned by the ED and a roving inquiry about her personal political and financial affairs was made in the course of which their personal devices have been seizedEarlier Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and advocate Amit Mahajan representing the ED had said there was no need to issue a formal notice to them as they are already appearing before the court and said they will file a short note on the issue of question of law PTI SKV SA