New Delhi: Army Chief General MM Naravane on Thursday said China has realised that it cannot back its ”all-weather” friend ”all the time.”

“China has also realised that they cannot back their all-weather friend (Pakistan) all the time,” he said while speaking to ANI with regard to the effect of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris on Pakistan’s terror activities in Kashmir.

The Army Chief stressed that if the FATF, the global anti-terror watchdog, comes down heavily on Pakistan, then the neighbouring country may be forced to do a rethink on their terror activities and rhetoric.

 

“If the FATF comes down heavily on them, they may have to do a rethink on their rhetoric and activities. FATF is a factor (in the reduction of terror activities in Kashmir valley),” the Army Chief said.

Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan will remain in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.

Itanagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured that the Central government has no intention to remove Article 371 which provides special powers to the northeast, and warned that those trying to spread rumours will not succeed in their attempts.

In a veiled attack on the opposition, the Home Minister said that various attempts were made to spread rumours across the northeast regarding the Centre’s intention to abolish Article 371 of the Constitution when the government announced scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir on August 5 last year.

“On the occasion of Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram today, I want to tell the entire northeast that no one can remove Article 371. There is no intention of anyone to abolish the Article,” Shah said while addressing a gathering at the 34th Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh here.

 

Shah later warned that those trying to spread rumours to split the country will never succeed in their attempts.

Most of the states that have been accorded special provisions under Article 371 are in the northeast and the special status aims to preserve their tribal culture. It also has special provisions for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa.

Shah said that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed for the development of the northeast which he alleged was only used by the opposition for getting MPs to form governments at the Centre earlier.

“Our government is trying to unite your culture. It’s not only the responsibility of the Central government to protect your culture but also it is our duty to do so,” Shah said, adding for the purpose over 200 visits have been made by Union ministers in the last five years.

“Prime Minister Modi himself visited northeast for 30 times.”

Shah is in Arunachal Pradesh on a one-day visit to attend functions related to the 34th Statehood Day of the northeastern state which shares a border with China, as he launched a number of projects related to industry and roads. He is accompanied by Union ministers Jitendra Singh and Kiren Rijiju.

The Home Minister’s visit was objected to by China which alleged that the visit had violated its territorial sovereignty and “sabotaged” mutual trust with India. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of south Tibet and routinely criticises visits of Indian leaders and officials to the region.(IANS)

Former political advisor and close aide of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, Peer Mansoor, was booked under the stringent Pubic Safety Act by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday.

Mansoor is the fourth senior party leader including the former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to be booked under the PSA in the last couple of weeks.

Peer Manzoor, a former legislator who hails from south Kashmir, was detained ahead of revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

 

He was served PSA detention order on Wednesday night by the officials at the MLA hostel, where he was being kept.

“Yes, Peer Mansoor has been booked under PSA and was served last night,’’ a senior PDP leader said on Thursday.

Peer Mansoor continues to remain lodged at the MLA hostel along with bureaucrat turned politician Shah Faesal and Hilal Lone, son of Baramulla MP Akbar Lone.

The MLA hostel has been converted into a sub-jail, where as many as 34 political leaders of various mainstream parties like the National Conference (JKNC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples’ Conference (JKPC) and Peoples’ Movement (JKPM) have been kept since November 17 last year.

They were previously kept in detention at the Centaur Hotel since the abrogation of J&K’s special status on August 5, 2019.

In the last three weeks, most of the leaders have either been shifted to their homes or other detention centers.

Shah Faesal and Hilal Lone were booked under the public safety act (PSA) for three months on February 15 and 10 respectively.

Earlier, senior Jammu and Kashmir leaders, Naeem Akhtar and Sartaj Madni, both from the PDP, were shifted to M5 quarters from the MLA hostel along with Ali Mohammad Sagar (NC), after they were slapped with the PSA.

Two former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who are under detention at two separate places, were also booked under the PSA on February 6. NC president Farooq Abdullah is detained at his Gupkar house.

On February 5, PC chairman Sajjad Lone and PDP youth president Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra were released from the MLA Hostel and put under house detention.

The administration had released five mainstream leaders including three former legislators from detention on January 16 and five others on December 30, 2019.