Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. “Not a single bullet fired in Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi is lying on the situation” he told a news channel. his remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi demanded that the Central government make the details of the situation known to the public since there were reports of violence in the region.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) “requested” media not to air special programmes on Eid, and on 15 August, to “project two nation theory, Indian atrocities against Muslims and minorities in India and Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.
Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement president Shah Faesal drew flak on Twitter for saying that every Kashmiri was in mourning after the abrogation of Article 370. “There is no Eid. Kashmiris across the world are mourning the illegal annexation of their land. There shall be no Eid till everything that has been stolen and snatched since 1947 is returned back. No Eid till the last bit of insult is avenged and undone,” his tweet read.
People gathered in mosques across Pakistan on Monday to offer special prayers for Eid al-Adha, the second of Islam’s two major religious festivals. The government has called for the festival to be observed in a ‘simple manner’ this year, to express solidarity with Kashmiris.
After India’s decision to abrogate Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Pakistan expelled India’s ambassador and suspended trade in anger at New Delhi’s latest move. On Monday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi travelled to Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to offer Eid prayers at a mosque there.
India on Monday told China that it is important to ensure that any bilateral differences should not become disputes, as Beijing said it is “very closely” following the Indo-Pak tensions over Kashmir and its “ramifications” and asked New Delhi to play a “constructive role” for regional peace and stability. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a crucial three-day visit to China, called on Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, considered a confidant of President Xi Jinping, and later had a restricted delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Welcoming Jaishankar, foreign minister Wang referred to the Indo-Pak tensions without directly mentioning about India scrapping the Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. “On the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, we can have mutually beneficial cooperation. This is in the fundamental interest and long term interest of our two peoples and also contribute to world peace and human progress,” Wang said.
“At the same time, China and India as two big nations, also have important responsibilities for upholding the regional peace and stability,” he said. “When it comes to the recent tensions between India and Pakistan and the possible ramifications, we follow these developments very closely. We hope that India would also play a constructive role for the regional peace and stability,” Wang said.