JAMMU:Asserting that the fight for restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A would be taken to a logical conclusion, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Friday accused the BJP of misleading the country over the constitutional safeguards to Jammu and Kashmir.
He also questioned the promised new phase of development in the erstwhile state after the abrogation of its special status and said “every citizen of J&K is unhappy with the August 5, last year decision”.
Omar was addressing party leaders and workers at the Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here, his first in more than a year. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Friday accused the BJP of using Kashmiri Pandits as vote bank and said the community is still waiting for their return and rehabilitation in the valley.
Abdullah also said that the real development in Jammu and Kashmir would come when there will be a people”s government.
“For 28 years, they are saying that Kashmiri Pandits will be taken back to their homes in the valley. They are in power for more than five years but they are still waiting for the day of their return,” Abdullah said addressing his party workers at a jam-packed Sher-e-Kashmir Bhawan here.
He accused the BJP of spreading hatred among communities and asked “how long will you use them as vote bank”.
“You have always used them,” Abdullah, who arrived in Jammu for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into union territories in August last year, said.
“People are the real fountain of power. When there will be elections, bring forth the people who can help the masses and are not self-centric,” he said, adding “the real development will come to J-K when there will be people”s government and all rights of the people restored.”
Asserting that the National Conference is not “anti-national”, he said those who are hurling such wild allegations should check their vision.
“We are not the ones whom you could buy or make them to tear apart their clothes,” he said, referring to a BJP leader who tore his shirt to claim that he is a nationalist to the core.
“How many more you will buy (in J&K). I know there are some elements in NC as well. I have seen a lot (in politics) and the day is not far when another group will come and they will buy you as well,” he said.
He asked the party workers to remain steadfast and united to thwart such conspiracies.
“We have to remain cautious as they are trying to divide us on the basis of religion and region…. This nation is strong as people from different backgrounds, regions, climates and languages are one. A Madrassi, a Bengali, a Maratha who are not habitual to below 30 degrees Celsius is guarding Ladakh sector in minus 30 degrees Celsius,” he said, adding “we are together and one because of our nation”.
He said the BJP cannot be “my master and I am not afraid of them.”
Asking his party workers to be patient in the face of abuse by opponents, he said they can burn his effigy and abuse him because it is a weapon of the weak and the strong replies with patience and a smile.
“As long as your party is strong, nobody can force you down,” he said, asking people not to worry though there will be attempts to create “confusion and divide” them.
“Those who are accusing us of being Pakistanis are in reality the ones who are supporting Pakistan. If something wrong happen, they would be the first to chant Pakistani slogans,” he said.
He said National Conference workers do not tear clothes to demonstrate nationalism.
Abdullah also appealed to the people of Jammu not to burst firecrackers on Diwali festival to reduce air pollution amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Agency)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the trial courts to consider granting protection to witnesses in cases against sitting and former lawmakers under Witness Protection Scheme without their making any specific application in this regard.
A three-judge bench of Justices N V Ramana, Surya Kant and Anirudhha Bose, said the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018, approved by it should be strictly enforced by the Union, States and Union Territories.
“Keeping in mind the vulnerability of the witnesses in such cases, the Trial Courts may consider granting protection under the said Scheme to witnesses without their making any specific application in this regard,” the bench said. (AGENCIES)

MUMBAI: The issue price for the Sovereign Gold Bond has been fixed at Rs 5,177 per gram of gold, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Friday.
The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2020-21-Series VIII will be opened for subscription from November 9 to 13, 2020.
“The nominal value of the bond based on the simple average closing price (published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd ) for gold of 999 purity … Works out to Rs 5,177 per gram of gold,” the RBI said.

NEW DELHI: India on Friday summoned the Charge d’Affaires (CDA) of the Pakistan High Commission here and lodged a strong protest over Islamabad’s decision to transfer the management of the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara from a Sikh body to a separate trust.
MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Aftab Hassan Khan, the Pakistani CDA, was categorically told that the decision runs against the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: In a significant direction, the Supreme Court Friday ordered telecom companies to disclose to regulator TRAI the details of special tariffs and offers made to consumers.
Allowing an interim application of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Jusitces A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian said that seeking adherence to the regulatory principles like “transparency” and “non-discrimination” by the telecom firms was not “either illegal or unjustified”. (AGENCIES)