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J&K delimitation commission redraws some of its draft proposals

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The delimitation commission has accepted some suggestions and rejected others submitted by associate members including the BJP and the National Conference and redrawn some of its draft proposals.

The associate members have been asked to submit their response by March 4 after which the final draft would be put in the public domain.

The government has extended term of the Delimitation Commission by two months and it has up to May 6 to submit its recommendations for delimitation of 90 Assembly constituencies in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It has already given 47 seats to Kashmir division and 43 to Jammu region.

Headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, the Commission comprises Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra and State Election Commissioner (SEC) K.K. Sharma. It was set up on March 6, 2020.

Following the redrawn draft proposals, the commission has opened Poonch Assembly segment and instead reserved Rajouri for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and merged parts of RS Pura with Jammu South seat to rename it as RS Pura-JS (Jammu South) while restoring Suchetgarh and Habbakadal constituencies.

Suchetgarh has been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

The commission has also redrawn boundaries of several other Assembly segments including Poonch, Mendhar, Surankote, Thanna Mandi, Rajouri, Banihal, Marh, Jammu North etc and reversed the name of Mughal Maidaan seat of Kishtwar as Inderwal.

Commission sources said that the BJP’s suggestion for inclusion of Shopian in Anantnag-Poonch Parliamentary constituency has been rejected. It has also rejected the NC objection to inclusion of Poonch district and parts of Rajouri district in South Kashmir Parliamentary segment.

The commission accepted the BJP suggestion for de-reservation of at least one Assembly seat in Poonch district as all three constituencies there were reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Poonch-Mandi constituency has been de-reserved and declared as a general seat.

In place of Poonch, Rajouri Main Assembly constituency has been reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Now, five seats reserved for STs in Jammu region are Surankote and Mendhar in Poonch district and Rajouri, Darhal and Thanna Mandi in Rajouri district. Four seats are reserved for STs in Kashmir division, totaling nine.

The commission has restored Suchetgarh Assembly constituency in Jammu district which had been merged in RS Pura and Bishnah in the draft report submitted to five Associate Members on February 4.

Suchetgarh seat has been restored and reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in place of RS Pura.

Parts of RS Pura have been merged with Jammu South Assembly seat (earlier known as Gandhi Nagar or Cantonment) and the segment now has been renamed as RS Pura-Jammu South (RS Pura-JS).

Earlier, RS Pura was reserved for SCs. RS Pura-JS is now open seat and Suchetgarh is seventh constituency reserved for SCs. Six others are Marh, Akhnoor, Bishnah, Samba, Kathua South and Ramnagar.

Boundaries of Suchetgarh and RS Pura-JS have been readjusted by the Panel.

The Delimitation Commission is understood to have acceded to the suggestion of both National Conference and the BJP to restore Habbakadal Assembly constituency in Srinagar district which has sizeable electorates of Kashmiri Pandits and rename Mughal Maidaan seat in Kishtwar district as Inderwal.

The constituency was earlier also known as Inderwal and had been named as Mughal Maidaan in the draft report.

Kot Patwar Circle of Raipur Domana whose four Panchayats had been clubbed with Marh (SC Reserve) seat in the draft report have now been merged with Jammu North Assembly constituency.

Doongi, Suhana, Bagla and Fatehpur Panchayats which were part of newly created Thanna Mandi Assembly segment in Rajouri district have been clubbed with Rajouri Assembly seat as they were part of Rajouri tehsil.

Poonch Patwar Halqas of Mandi block which had been included in Surankote constituency in the draft report have again been made part of Poonch-Mandi segment. Similarly, some Halqas of Mendhar segment which were incorporated in Surankote have been reversed to Mendhar.

Sangaldan area has now been included in Banihal Assembly seat of Ramban district while Tangar belt of Banihal has been shifted to Ramban seat.

The Commission is likely to meet five Associate Members and brief them about their suggestions/objections which have been accepted or rejected.

After the meeting, the commission will put its report in public domain for inviting claims and objections.

National News

Three Jaish terrorists killed in J&K encounter

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Srinagar, May 15: Three terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were killed on Thursday in a gunfight with the security forces in Nader village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Officials said the three terrorists were later identified as Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Amir Nazir Wani and Yawar Ahmad Bhat, all residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

This is the second encounter in the union territory within 48 hours.

Earlier today, Srinagar headquartered 15 Corps of the Army said on X, “On May 15, 2025, based on specific Intelligence input from Int agency, a Cordon & Search Operation was launched by Indian Army, J&K Police and Srinagar Sector CRPF at Nader, Tral, Awantipora. Suspicious activity was observed by vigilant troops and on being challenged, terrorists opened heavy fire, and a fierce gunfight ensued. Operation is in progress.”

A gunfight had started between the security forces and the hiding terrorists on Thursday in the Tral area of Pulwama district’s Awantipora sub-division.

The Police said on X, “Encounter has started at Nader, Tral area of #Awantipora. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow.”

Following specific Intelligence inputs, security forces surrounded the Nader village of Tral tehsil to conduct searches. “As the security forces came close to the hiding terrorists, there was an exchange of gunfire, which is now going on,” police said.

Today’s gunfight comes two days after security forces gunned down three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in an operation in the Keller area of Shopian district.

Of the three terrorists killed on Tuesday, the two slain terrorists were identified as Shahid Kuttay and Adnan Shafi, both residents of Shopian. Kuttay, who joined Lashkar in 2023, was involved in a shooting incident at the Danish resort on April 8 last year, in which two German tourists and one driver were injured.

He was also involved in the killing of a BJP Sarpanch at Heerpora in Shopian in May last year. Shafi, who joined the terror group in 2024, was involved in the killing of a non-local labourer at Wachi in Shopian district.

On May 10, a ceasefire understanding was announced by India and Pakistan. However, the terrorists fired at the sentry post outside the headquarters of the White Knight Corps in the Nagrota area of Jammu district nearly two hours after the ceasefire understanding came into force.

India has made it clear that any act of terror within the country would be treated as an “act of war”. The terrorists, aided and sponsored by Pakistan, killed 26 innocent people on April 22, including 25 tourists and a local in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.

The cowardly act was carried out by LeT terrorists, as per the security forces. This finally resulted in India avenging the murder of innocent civilians by precision strikes at terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

India has made it clear that the Indus Waters Treaty would continue to remain in abeyance, and no trade would be restored with Pakistan.

During Pakistani targeting of civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border, more than 200 houses and shops have been destroyed, forcing hundreds of border dwellers to abandon their homes to seek refuge at safer places away from the line of fire.

These affected families are yet to return to their homes at the LoC as the security forces are busy defusing unexploded Pakistani mortar shells in the affected areas.

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Pak PM’s ‘copycat’ meet with soldiers unmasks its web of lies on ‘Operation Sindoor’

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New Delhi, May 15: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited an Army cantonment in Sialkot of Punjab province on Wednesday evening, to meet and express solidarity with the soldiers.

However, what could have been a morale-boosting exercise for Pakistani Defence forces turned out to be an ‘embarrassing and ignominious’ one because of the location, ambience and the backdrop in which the Pakistani PM interacted with them.

Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Pakistani soldiers is seen as a clear attempt to copy that of his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in sending a message to the world.

While India’s military prowess was reinforced during PM Modi’s visit to the Punjab airbase, the Pakistani establishment utterly failed not just in optics but also went to expose its flaws, its canards and the extent of devastation that it endured during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.

As India pummeled and pounced its multiple airbases on May 10 morning, in response to its escalation, Pakistan resorted to a barrage of lies, claiming that it downed Indian jets, destroyed its airbases and also captured an air force personnel. All those claims were outrightly rejected by India.

Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s visit to the airbase in Punjab, yesterday, shredded its web of lies and demolished all its claims.

PM Modi visited Adampur airbase, one of the forward areas, which Pakistan claimed to have destroyed in its airstrikes, and met the soldiers in the backdrop of India’s famed air defence system and also fighter jets, but Pakistan PM’s interaction with their soldiers took place in a deserted location, lined with some tanks and aircrafts parked at a distant location.

The pictures shared by PMOs of both the nations clearly show the stark contrast in which the Prime Ministers met their respective soldiers.

This clearly shows that Pakistan suffered large-scale decimation and also how its airbases and airfields suffered extensive damage in Indian bombing. The Pakistani PM’s interaction with soldiers in a deserted ground only confirms this.

The Pakistan PMO shared pictures of Shehbaz Sharif with soldiers but not of any airstrip or runaway, thereby ascertaining that its airfields suffered severe damage in Indian strikes. The only prominent picture was of Shehbaz Sharif standing on an Army tank and addressing the soldiers.

Sharif’s meet with Pakistani jawans has also been mocked and taunted by many social media users, who called it a copycat meet and the one aping the Indian style of lauding its braves but utterly failing in doing so.

In stark contrast to this, PM Modi’s visit to Adampur airbase was high on symbolism as well as messaging, about how the nation and the Indian Air Force command stand firm and resolute, in wake of the barrage of drone and missile attacks.

PM Modi’s pictures with the soldiers, with S-400 defence systems and MiG29 in the backdrop, right next to the airfield, said it all. Also, he landed at the airstrip in a Hercules aircraft, thus proving that there was no damage to the Adampur airbase.

All this goes to expose Pakistan’s theatrics and bombastic rhetoric despite being cut to size by the Indian military in the May 10 strikes.

This was well reflected in PM Modi’s rousing speech at the airbase, where he said that when our soldiers chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, the enemy trembles with fear.

He also saluted the braves for teaching Pakistan a lesson and also thundered, ‘ghar mein ghus ke maarenge’.

Notably, Indian forces inflicting severe damages on Pakistani airfields has also been reportedly globally, with two US dailies – The New York Times and The Washington Post, claiming that India took clear edge over Pakistan during ‘Operation Sindoor’.

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Desperate Pakistan ‘pleads’ with India to reconsider Indus Waters Treaty suspension

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New Delhi, May 15: Nearly a few days into the understanding with Pakistan after the Indian Armed Forces left the Pakistani defence and military shattered, Islamabad has now reportedly written a letter to New Delhi, urging it to reconsider the decision of putting the Indus Waters Treaty which it has put into abeyance.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources has reportedly written a letter to New Delhi to resume the flow of rivers into its territory under the Indus Waters Treaty, media reports have claimed.

The Indus Waters Treaty is a pivotal water-sharing accord that has endured for more than six decades.

The plea comes after India halted the 1960 agreement in the wake of yet another Pakistan-backed terrorist attack, this time in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, which left 26 civilians dead, mostly tourists.

India, invoking its national security prerogative, has placed the treaty in abeyance until Islamabad “credibly and irrevocably” ends its support for terrorism.

The move was endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the apex decision-making body on strategic affairs, marking the first time New Delhi has hit pause on the World Bank-brokered agreement.

In a letter sent to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the Pakistani Ministry warned that suspending the treaty would trigger a crisis within the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first address since Operation Sindoor, underlined the government’s uncompromising position.

“Water and blood cannot flow together,” he declared.

“Terror and talks cannot happen at the same time. Terror and trade cannot happen simultaneously.”

However, Indian officials have dismissed these concerns, pointing to Pakistan’s longstanding use of terrorism as a state policy.

The treaty allocates three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, to Pakistan, while the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, remain with India.

India has now announced a three-tier strategy — short-term, mid-term, and long-term to prevent any flow of Indus waters into Pakistan.

Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil said that steps are being taken to ensure not a single drop of water is allowed to leave Indian territory unutilised.

India’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reinforced the government’s stance, saying, “The Indus Waters Treaty was founded on goodwill and friendship. Pakistan has trampled on these values by supporting cross-border terrorism for decades.”

The strong response follows Operation Sindoor, a swift military campaign launched after the Pahalgam attack, which resulted in a brief ceasefire agreement. But New Delhi has made it clear: dialogue with Islamabad will now be limited to one agenda — ending terrorism and ensuring the return of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

As per the 1960 treaty, India got around 30 per cent of the total water carried by the Indus River System located in India, while Pakistan got the remaining 70 per cent.

With the Indus Waters Treaty suspended, the Narendra Modi government is expected to take major steps toward completing the stalled hydroelectric projects.

A key meeting is likely to be held this week with Home Minister Amit Shah, along with Water Resources Minister Paatil, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and senior officials from all related Ministries. Since the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, two meetings have already taken place between Amit Shah, Paatil, and top officials of the Ministry.

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