Indian Kashmir was put under federal rule yesterday following the collapse of the state government over a land row that prompted more than a week of rioting in the Muslim region, officials said.
India’s only Muslim-majority region was thrown into crisis when chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned on Monday after a key political ally withdrew support, protesting the allocation of land to a Hindu pilgrim trust.
The order was revoked by Azad, a member of the Congress party that leads the federal government, but only after violent street protests that lasted more than a week, in which six people were killed and hundreds injured.
Kashmir state’s governor, N.N. Vohra, “issued a proclamation on Thursday evening and assumed, with immediate effect, all the functions of the government of the state,” an official statement said.
It is the third time the scenic Himalayan region will be directly ruled by New Delhi since an Islamic insurgency, which has left at least 43,000 people dead, broke out 18 years ago.
Vohra, New Delhi’s top representative in the region, also dissolved the state assembly, the statement said, making him the administrator of the troubled region.
“Based on the conclusion that no group or party was in a position or willing to form the Government of the State, Vohra sought the concurrence of the President of India for issuance of a Proclamation to enforce Governor’s rule,” the statement said.
The region is due to go to the polls in September or October.
The state government had last month decided to give land to a Hindu trust so it can provide accommodation to thousands of pilgrims who visit a Kashmir mountain grotto each year.
Muslim separatists said the land transfer was a ploy to settle Indian Hindus in Kashmir.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS