A divisional level officer said that over 1,900 domicile certificates have been granted to West Pakistan refugees and the process to grant all of them citizenship certificates is going on.
Long denied the right to vote, members of the Valmiki community exercised their franchise for the first time in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections on Tuesday and termed it as a "historic moment".
In his first visit to the valley after becoming the prime minister for the third consecutive term, Modi emphasised the importance of enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect their representatives for the assembly.
Till August 5 last year, except for parliamentary elections, these refugees were barred from voting in Jammu and Kashmir's assembly, panchayat and urban local body polls.
As many as 14,091 civilians and 5,356 security force personnel lost their lives to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir between the 1990s, when militancy first reared its head in the valley, and 2020.
BJP deputy chief minister's post is expected to be given to state party leader Nirmal Singh
His statement comes two days after the Congress Working Committee deplored the manner in which the government stripped J&K of its special status by scrapping provisions of Article 370, and bifurcated the state.
A multi-tier security cover has been put in place in the city for the swearing-in tomorrow of the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed-led BJP-PDP government.
West Pakistan refugees say they are willing to give Prime Minister Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah time to come good on their promise.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Peoples Democratic Party are "trying hard" to find a common ground on issues like Article 370 and Armed Forces Special Powers Act on which the two parties have traditionally held different views, a senior leader of BJP said on Saturday.
The parties reiterated that they are bound, wholly, by the contents of the 'Gupkar Declaration', a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019 at the Gupkar residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah.
The delegation was told that the autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 2000 should be implemented.
The 45-year-old separatist leader has been booked under the harsh law for waving Pakistani flag and chanting anti-India slogans at a rally in Sringar.
It is expected that Sayeed will invite Modi for the swearing-in function in Jammu.
Officials said there was no discussion on constituting a delimitation commission.
Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time on February 27 after which a swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held on March 1, two months after the results for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls were announced.
Former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday asserted that Article 370 of the Constitution cannot be scrapped and the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir cannot be eroded further.
"When the people of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) talk of Article 370, they talk of technical integration. We have to make them understand that we also want that Jammu and Kashmir should fully integrate with India emotionally," she said.
When he was chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was able to blunt inter-regional and inter-communal tensions which Farooq and Omar Abdullah could not do. Whether he can repeat it with the BJP by his side would have to be seen, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
'Abrogation of Article 370 is not legal because it is the legal basis of Kashmir's accession to India.'
Since 1950 successive governments have tried various options but failed to reduce alienation amongst the people, for different reasons, of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. It is best to accept this reality and let each region charter its own path, within the framework of the Indian Constitution, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
An economist from J&K and a popular face from the RSS/BJP sat together to craftily weave an alliance in what is one of the most difficult agenda-setting exercises in recent history.
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