
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha meets family of civilian killed in Pakistan shelling in Jammu, assures support
45-year-old Mr. Hussain was killed and two others, including a young girl, were injured when Pakistani forces resorted to shelling in Kheri Keran village of Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu on May 7. The shelling came in the wake of Indian Army's strikes on nine terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, carried out in response to the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead.
Accompanied by former Minister and BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma, the Lieutenant Governor visited Kheri Keran village to meet the bereaved family and assured them of all possible assistance.
"[I] offered my heartfelt condolences and assured the family of all assistance and support from administration," Mr. Sinha said on X.
Visited Kheri Village in Jammu today to meet the family of Shri Zakir Hussain, who was killed during unprovoked firing by Pakistan, in Jammu. Offered my condolences and assured the family of all assistance & support from administration. pic.twitter.com/muZGAqWJJr — Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) May 12, 2025
Family members of the deceased demanded that Mr. Hussain's name be included in the list of martyrs since 1947.
"We demand his name be recognised among martyrs and that the family be allotted a petrol pump for sustenance," a family member told reporters. They also urged the administration to enhance the compensation, stating that the ₹10 lakh ex-gratia amount announced so far is insufficient to secure the future of Mr. Hussain's children.
The situation across Jammu and Kashmir remained largely peaceful on Monday (May 12, 2025) with no ceasefire violations reported overnight, marking the first calm night in over two weeks. India and Pakistan on Saturday (May 10, 2025) reached an understanding to halt all military action on land, air and sea with immediate effect, following four days of intense cross-border hostilities that brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of a full-scale war.

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Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Bihar SIR: No objections filed by parties, says EC; on the ground, political workers say they raised red flags
In its daily statements since August 1, the Election Commission of India has been maintaining that none of the 1.6 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties has filed any claims and objections to the recently published draft electoral roll as part of Bihar's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Yet, on the ground, the BLAs – political workers meant to be the eyes and ears of parties at the level of Assembly constituencies and booths – say they have been actively raising objections: from alleged duplication of voters to the presence of 'fake voters' and those whose names have been allegedly mistakenly deleted or declared dead in the draft rolls. The Indian Express spoke to BLAs across political parties – from the BJP's agents in Darbhanga, who are confident that the 'mool niwasi' won't be left out; to Ara in Bhojpur, where BLAs of the CPI- (ML-Liberation) say they have flagged nine cases of voters being inaccurately declared dead on the draft rolls; to a booth in Aurangabad, where the BLA says he is going door-to-door alerting the 122 voters in his booth whose names have been struck off the EC list. While EC rules say objections to the draft roll have to be submitted in the prescribed format – Form 6 for additions, Form 7 for deletions – along with a declaration, BLAs say that while they have brought the alleged inaccuracies to the notice of the authorities, it's for the EC to take action. Officials told The Indian Express that BLAs don't usually submit claims and objections in the format prescribed since they are required to present the evidence on oath. This is the same rule that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar cited on Sunday when asking Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to give an affidavit for his allegations of voter fraud in Karnataka. Under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, making a false declaration is an offence punishable by a jail term/fine. At a booth in Darbhanga's Bahadurpur Assembly constituency, BLA Krishna Bhagwan Jha of the BJP says he is yet to see the draft electoral roll published on August 1, but is not worried about genuine voters being left out of the rolls. 'Jo yahan ke mool niwasi hai, unke paas koi toh proof hoga (The original residents will have some proof),' he says, confidently. According to EC data, of the 1.60 lakh BLAs, the BJP, which is part of the ruling coalition, has the highest number (53,338), but even that does not cover all the 90,712 booths in the state. In another booth, in Darbhanga Assembly seat, BLA Lakshman Kumar of the BJP says he has submitted a letter to the District Magistrate, Kaushal Kumar, with names of 665 electors who allegedly have more than one Voter ID in the same constituency. Nearly all the electors on Lakshman's list are from the minority community. 'We have found that these 665 people have two, three and even four EPICs in some cases. Some are registered in the same booth multiple times, others are in different booths in the Vidhan Sabha,' he says. Lakshman says that when he submitted the complaint, he was asked to attach an affidavit too. 'I gave the complaint on my letterhead, as a BLA of the world's largest political party. I don't think an affidavit is required. We have identified these duplicates; now it is for the authorities to investigate and delete the names they find,' he says. The DM did not respond to The Indian Express's request for a comment. However, officials said, the complaint was being inquired into. Rajesh Choudhary, a BJP BLA in Hayaghat Assembly constituency, insists the SIR process has been smooth. 'There are some people whose names were not there or their documents were not available. We have been contacting them over the phone and asking them to send the documents over WhatsApp if they are not here. We then submit the forms to the BLO,' he says. Sapna Bharti, a BJP BLA in Darbhanga Assembly constituency, too, expresses confidence. 'There are many people whose names are left out, but we are making sure that they all complete the formalities in the next two-three days. We have helped them to get their caste or residence certificates made,' she says. With the Opposition joining forces against the SIR, BLAs of the RJD, Congress and the Left are going all out to bring the alleged irregularities to light. At Ara town, the district headquarters of Bhojpur, BLAs and functionaries of the CPI (ML-Liberation) say they have identified nine cases of voters being 'inaccurately' declared dead on the draft rolls. Among them is Mintu Paswan, one of seven such cases that Rahul Gandhi recently highlighted. The CPI (ML-Liberation) has a strong presence in Bhojpur, with the party's Sudama Prasad defeating former Union minister and senior BJP leader RK Singh from Ara Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 polls. The party had also won the adjoining Karakat Lok Sabha seat. At a booth in Dharhara in Ara, BLA Ritesh Sunilam of the CPI (ML-Liberation) says he has identified three voters, including Madan Prasad, a daily wager, who were 'inaccurately' declared dead and deleted from the draft roll. 'I am completely worthless now. At least I could vote until now; now I can't even do that,' says Prasad, a member of the Extremely Backward Class who has been out of work for some years. Sunilam tries to cheer him up. He asks for Prasad's Aadhaar card and one of the 11 EC-mandated documents and says he will help him apply as a fresh voter with Form 6. 'Baad mein (later),' says Prasad, brushing off the BLA. Sunilam says all the three voters in his booth who have been declared dead on the EC draft roll had voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Citing an instance of the same voter with three different names and EPIC numbers — Sonu Kumar Tiwari, Vinay CPI (ML-Liberation's) Kumar Tiwari and Vikas Kumar Tiwari, son of Krishnanamd Tiwari from Kudaria village, Booth Number-210) — Sanjay Kumar, state committee member of the party, says, 'When we visited Kudaria, we learnt that that the person's real name is Vinay Tiwari. We have complained to the BLO concerned.' On August 16, the Left party, one of the key allies of the RJD-led Opposition Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, called a district-level meeting of its functionaries to highlight discrepancies in the SIR and find ways to redress it by bringing the matter to the attention of the EC's Booth Level Officers (BLOs). The party's BLAs in Ara have raised many such objections – alleged duplication of voters at booths in the Tarari and Nokha Assembly segments; about 50 people at Khopira in the Ara Assembly segment listed as 'permanently shifted', when they had only migrated for work; and a case in Dehri Tola, Jagdishpur Assembly segment, where 76 people bearing the surname Choudhary (EBCs) got allegedly listed as Choubey (an upper-caste surname) in the draft roll. Functionaries of the CPI (ML-Liberation) say they have brought these 'irregularities' to the attention of the BLOs concerned. In another part of the state, at Aurangabad's Ward number 13, Sarvind Kumar, a BLA of the Congress, has a list of 122 voters whose names have been deleted from the voter list. 'People have been coming to my house to find out if their names have been struck off. Since it was getting crowded, I told them to go back home and now I am going to each of their homes, informing them that they are not on the draft rolls. That is the first step,' says Kumar. The ward has a sizeable population of Dalits and Muslims, besides upper-caste voters too. At the home of Dhananjariya Devi (45) and Ramesh Ram (50) – a Dalit couple who work as daily wagers – Kumar announces: 'Your name has been deleted from the voter list.' While Devi's name has been deleted citing that she wasn't 'present', her husband is shown on the draft rolls as having 'moved out of the state permanently'. Kumar tells the couple they will have to get their caste certificates made and that he would discuss the matter with Congress MLA Anand Shankar Singh. 'Don't worry. I will go with you to get the caste certificate made,' he says, before heading to another house.


Time of India
21 minutes ago
- Time of India
India won't take first step to normalise ties, onus on Pakistan: Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor stated that India won't initiate normalizing relations with Pakistan due to repeated betrayals. He urged Pakistan to dismantle terror networks operating from its soil. Tharoor recalled past attempts at outreach that were met with hostility. He cited the 2008 Mumbai attacks as a key example of Pakistan's insincerity. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India no longer has the appetite to take the first step in normalising ties with Pakistan after repeated betrayals, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, urging Islamabad to demonstrate sincerity by dismantling terror networks operating from its was speaking at the launch of the book "Whither India-Pakistan Relations Today?", an anthology edited by former ambassador Surendra Thiruvananthapuram MP said every Indian attempt at outreach -- from Jawaharlal Nehru 's pact with Liaqat Ali Khan in 1950, to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's bus journey to Lahore in 1999, and Narendra Modi 's Lahore visit in 2015 -- had been "betrayed" by hostility from across the border."Given the record of Pakistani behaviour, the onus is on them. They're the ones who have to take the first steps to show some sincerity about dismantling terror infrastructure on their soil."Why can't they be serious about shutting down these terror camps? Everyone knows where they are. The UN committee has a list of 52 names of individuals, organisations and places in Pakistan. It's not that Pakistan doesn't know they exist," Tharoor said, "Shut them down, arrest some of these characters, show some serious intent." India would be more than willing to reciprocate once such action is taken, but won't take the first step now, the Congress leader the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Tharoor said India had provided "overwhelming evidence" of Pakistani involvement, including live intercepts and dossiers, yet "not one mastermind has been prosecuted".He noted that New Delhi showed "extraordinary restraint" after attacks, but subsequent provocations left India with little choice, leading to surgical strikes in 2016 and 'Operation Sindoor'."In my book Pax Indica, which was published in 2012, I had warned that if there was ever another Mumbai-like attack of comparable impact, with clear evidence of Pakistani complicity, the restraint we had shown in 2008 might become impossible and all bets would be off."And indeed, that is exactly what happened. No democratic government, least of all in India with its long record of betrayals by Pakistan, could sit idle while its neighbour assaults its civilians and innocent holidaymakers with impunity," he also stressed that "peace and tranquillity on the borders is indispensable to our national interest", and cited the reconciliation between France and Germany after World War II, as well as the United States' eventual ties with Vietnam, as examples of adversaries turning into discussion was also joined by former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, former Indian ambassador to Pakistan T C A Raghavan, ex-Army chief general Deepak Kapoor and academician Amitabh Mattoo.


New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
India won't initiate normalisation of ties, onus on Pakistan: Shashi Tharoor
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said India will no longer take the first step in normalising relations with Pakistan, citing a long history of 'betrayals' and urging the neighbouring country to demonstrate genuine intent by dismantling terror networks operating from its soil. Speaking at the launch of 'Whither India-Pakistan Relations Today?', an anthology edited by former ambassador Surendra Kumar, Tharoor said that any future dialogue depends on Pakistan's willingness to crack down on terror outfits. 'Given Pakistan's record, the onus is on them,' Tharoor said. " Why can't they shut down these terror camps? Everyone knows where they are. The UN even lists them.' Citing past Indian outreach efforts from Nehru's 1950 pact with Liaqat Ali Khan, Vajpayee's 1999 Lahore visit, to PM Modi's surprise 2015 stopover, Tharoor said all were followed by hostilities or terror attacks. Referring to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, he noted that India had shared 'overwhelming evidence' of Pakistani involvement, but 'not one mastermind has been prosecuted'. He said India showed restraint then, but repeated provocations led to actions like the 2016 surgical strikes and 'Operation Sindoor'. Tharoor also dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's claims of brokering peace post Operation Sindoor. 'It was the strikes on May 9-10 and the successful interception of Pakistani missiles that led to their DGMO calling for a ceasefire, not Trump,' he said.