Ghulam Nabi Azad resigns; Cabinet revokes SASB land transfer order; 12 militants and six soldiers killed in encounter
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  • J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad submitted his resignation on July 6 without facing a confidence vote in the state assembly, pushing the state towards governor’s rule. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had on June 28 withdrawn support to the Azad-led government on the Amarnath land transfer issue, which had evoked massive protests across the Kashmir Valley1.

    The J&K cabinet had on June 30 revoked the controversial order of transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), after SASB chairman and state governor N.N. Vohra notified that Board had withdrawn its request for forest land to make arrangements for the two-month-long Amarnath pilgrimage. At least five people lost their lives in clashes between the security forces and protestors. Almost all the mainstream as well as separatist organisations demanded that the order be revoked for restoration of peace in the valley2. The state cabinet decided that the land in contention, about 39.88 hectares, would be made available to the Tourism department, as per its requirements3. However, this decision of the cabinet evoked protests, this time in Jammu.

    Meanwhile, former J&K governor Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha on July 2 accused the PDP and its patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed of being ‘hand-in-glove’ with separatists and fundamentalists and denounced the party as ‘anti-national4.’

    In other developments, 12 militants and six soldiers were killed in the 4-day-long gun battle near the Line of Control in Kupwara district. The gun battle started when troops detected the attempt at infiltration by heavily armed militants on June 305.

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