Pulwama LIVE: MHA allows entitlement of air travel to all CAPF personnel

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the entitlement of air travel to all the personnel of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces on the Delhi-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi, Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar-Jammu sectors.

The MHA has said that the decision will immediately benefit approximately 7.80 lakh personnel of the CAPFs in the ranks of Constable, Head Constable and ASI who were otherwise not eligible earlier. This includes journey on duty and journey on leave, i.e. while going on leave from Jammu and Kashmir to home and return.

“This facility is in addition to the existing air courier services for CAPFs that have been steadily extended in all sectors by the MHA to help the jawans cut down on travel time during their journey to and fro from home on leave,” MHA has added in a tweet.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has said it is essential that there must be accountability under international law and the perpetrators of terrorist acts be brought swiftly to justice, as he reiterated his strong condemnation of the Pulwama terror strike by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The UN Secretary-General also "urgently" appealed to the governments of both India and Pakistan to exercise "maximum restraint" to ensure the situation does not further deteriorate. (PTI)

PM Modi is on two days trip (to South Korea) even when the country is going through this tragedy. This shows their priority: Congress’ Randeep Surjewala has said in a press conference.

The Supreme Court of India (SC) may hear tomorrow (February 22) a plea seeking the apex court's direction to protect Kashmiri students being attacked in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack, News18 has reported.

A Kashmiri shawl trader was beaten up by a mob in Nadia, West Bengal and one person has been arrested in this connection, police said yesterday.

Javed Khan, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, was beaten up at the Taherpur bazar area at around 7 pm on Monday (February 18).

Since Khan was reluctant to lodge a police complaint, a suo motu case was started which led to the arrest, Superintendent of Police (Nadia) Rupesh Kumar said. (PTI)

Congress President Rahul Gandhi and AICC General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia have visited family of a martyr in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh.

UN chief AntonioGuterreshas called on India and Pakistan to exercise "maximum restraint" and take "immediate steps” to de-escalate tensions following thePulwamaterror attack, reiterating that his good offices are available if asked by both sides. (PTI)

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NCP president Sharad Pawar yesterday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for skipping the all-party meeting called by the NDA government in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

There was no representative of the BJP either as Rajnath Singh was present in his capacity as Union home minister, Pawar said.

Instead of attending the meeting over such a serious issue, Modi chose to address rallies elsewhere, the former Union minister said.

"An all-party meeting was called on Saturday...In fact we were told that PM Modi would chair the meeting. Presuming that Modi would attend the meeting, we all went to Delhi as it (the terror attack in South Kashmir) was an attack on the nation," Pawar told reporters. (PTI)

France backs India's attempt to brand Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) chief Masood Azharas 'GlobalTerrorist' at the United Nations, CNN News 18 has reported.

Below is the statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

We are not surprised that the Prime Minister of Pakistan refuses to acknowledge the attack on our security forces in Pulwama as an act of terrorism. Prime Minister of Pakistan has neither chosen to condemn this heinous act nor condoled with the bereaved families.

Pakistani PM has ignored claims made by JeM, as well as by terrorist, who perpetrated this heinous crime. It's a well-known fact that JeM and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action.

PM of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse. In the horrific attack in Mumbai on 26/11, proof was provided to Pak. Despite this, case has not progressed for more than 10 years.

Likewise, on the terror attack in Pathankot, there has been no progress. Promises of “guaranteed action” ring hollow given the track record of Pak. In this “Naya Pakistan”, Ministers publicly share platforms with terrorists like Hafiz Saeed who have been proscribed by UN.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister has called for dialogue and expressed his readiness to talk about terrorism. India has repeatedly stated that it is ready to engage in a comprehensive bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence.

Pakistan claims to be the greatest victim of terrorism. This is far from the truth. The international community is well acquainted with the reality that Pakistan is the nerve center of terrorism.

During the meeting, the home minister was briefed about the prevailing security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including along the Indo-Pak border, a home ministry official said.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval too participated in the meeting which was attended by Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba, director of the Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain besides others.

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While responding to Pakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan's belated statement on the Pulwama terror attack, Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh told media persons, "What more proof does he want? JeM chief Masood Azhar is sitting there. Will they accept when we show them bodies of the terrorists killed by our forces?"

"So what kind of a statement is this? Whole world knows the truth. If even one of our jawans is martyred, we should kill 2 of theirs (Pakistan). This is the only language they will understand. We've already said that whatever steps thegovernment takes, we will support," he added further.