2014 :: The Year That Was…

January 03: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said Modi presided over the “mass massacre”. Said: “It would be disastrous for the country to have Modi as Prime Minister.”

January 18: Rs 100 cr worth drugs seized from truck coming from PaK.

January 18: Sunanda, the wife of Union Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor dies. She grew up at Dasspora village of Bomai area in apple-rich town of Sopore in north Kashmir.

January 20: Cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade, authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK) suspended cross-LoC (Karavan-e-Aman) Bus Service to press for the release of a Pakistani driver arrested by Indian authorities in connection with smuggling of narcotics worth Rs 100 crore.

January 20: Jamat-e-Islami (JeI) took exception to Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani’s decision to donate ‘his property’ to a charitable trust, stating that the senior separatist leader was just the custodian of the property that legally belongs to Jamaat.

January 21: As Kashmir observed 24th anniversary of Gaw Kadal massacre, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah termed 21st January 1990 as a “very dark day” in the recent history of the valley.

January 28: Army started court martial proceedings against its men and officers involved in killing of three unarmed youth in 2010 Machil fake encounter and fixed February 3 as next date of the hearing.

January 29: Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 203 civilians, including children and patients, trapped in snow in mountainous regions of Kishtwar district.

February 01: State cabinet approved setting up of 659 new administrative units in Jammu and Kashmir and a patwar khana in each of the 4,098 village panchayats. The proposal pushed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah survived the resistance from ally Congress which had also led to speculations about his resignation.

February 05: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif invited India for sustained and result-oriented dialogue to resolve the vexed Kashmir issue peacefully.

February 07: Minister of State (MoS) for Health and senior Congress leader Shabir Ahmad Khan resigned after being charged of a sexual assault on a Block Medical Officer.

February 08: Arrest warrant issued against former Minister of State for Health and Congress legislator Shabir Ahmad Khan for allegedly sexually assaulting a lady doctor.

February 12: India and Pakistan agreed to allow stranded trucks and drivers of the two countries to cross over to their respective sides.

February 13: Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather presented tax-free budget with various incentives for the industry and a slew of social welfare schemes, believed to be framed with an eye on forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

February 16: 14 persons were killed and around 30 others were wounded when a mini-bus, they were travelling in, skidded of the road and plunged into 1000-feet deep gorge in Battery Chashama area on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Ramban district.

February 18: Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Supreme Court commuted death sentence to life imprisonment of the convicts on ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.

February 19: Union Home Ministry disclosed that Government of India (GoI) holds regular talks with separatists and Mirwaiz and other separatists met former intelligence officers in November 2013.

March 07: 67 students expelled by Swami Vivekanand Subharti University (SVSU) authorities for allegedly cheering for Pakistan team’s victory over India in Asia cricket cup match.

March 31: Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict and Khalistani militant Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to life term on the ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea and his medical condition.

April 12: Kashmir shuts against Tosa Maidan lease extension.

May 01: Kashmir is Pakistan’s jugular vein: Gen Raheel

May 05: Kashmiri students beaten in Noida, forced to shout anti-Pak slogans

May 16: NC, Congress routed in Parliamentary polls, BJP won at centre, PDP wins three seats in JK, Farooq Abdullah loses in over three decades

May 21: SMS ban lifted in Kashmir after three years

May 27: Modi sworn in as Indian PM, SAARC leaders including Nawaz Sharif attended swearing in ceremony

May 29: MiG-21 crashes in Bijbehara, pilot killed

May 29: Modi meets Nawaz Sharief in New Delhi, Kashmir raged over Article 370 row

May 31: Qasim Faktoo completes 22 years in Jail

June 03: Ali Mohammad Sagar takes as new General Secretary NC replacing Sheikh Nazir Ahmad

June 04: Retirement age enhanced from 58 to 60 years, job age limit eased by 3 years

June 10: Taliban attacks Karachi International Airport killing 29 people

June 12: Mehboob Beg takes on Abdul Rahim Rather for back door entries in JK bank

June 16: Yasin Malik re-elected as JKLF chairman

June 17: Pakistan launches Zarb-e-Azab Operation in North Wazirstan

June 20: Cabinet reconstitutes CoI for 117 killings of 2010

June 29: Kohe-Maran Fort thrown open after 24 years

July 02: Haseeb Drabu joins PDP

July 03: Modi’s first visit to Kashmir as PM amid tight security; visits Uri to inaugurate 240 MWS Uri-II power project.

July 09: 9 killed in Kishtwar accident.

July 17: 7 killed in HMT accident with the army truck

July 18: 24 people were injured in clashes in Baltal, Sonamarg, which serves as base camp for Amarnath yatra, after a scuffle between a ponywala and one of the  members of a free yatra langer (Free community kitchen).

July 27: Gaza death toll due to continued Israeli strikes crosses 1000

August 01: Army launches operation Falah to clean Tosa Maidan of explosives

August 12: Modi slams Pak for proxy war, visits Leh

August 15: Modi calls for 10-yr moratorium on communal violence

August 19: India calls off FS-level talks with Pak saying Pakistani diplomats should have chosen India over Separatists for talks.

August 27: Syed Ali Geelani calls for unity among seperatists

August 28: 8 killed in Banihal accident

September 02: Mirwaiz says he is ready to discuss Geelani’s unity proposal

September 04: Rains wreak havoc across JK as flood threat looms large

September 06: South Kashmir cut-off due to floods

September 19: Mirwaiz slams GoI for not accepting international aid, Bill gates announces $700,000 lakh fo JK flood relief

September 21: Flood-death toll crosses 300

September 22: Over 2 lakh structures damaged: Govt

September 27: Nawaz Sharief raises Kashmir issue at UNSC

September 28: Compensation of Rs 75000 for damaged houses interim relief: Omar

September 28: Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi visits flood affected areas in Kashmir

October 01: Prominent Shia cleric Molvi Ifthikar Ansari passes away

October 11: Cabinet approves Rs 44,000 crore Special Flood Package

October 11: Kailas Satyarthi and Malala Yousufzai share Nobel Prize for promoting child rights in sub-continent

October 20: Mirwaiz listed among most influential Muslims by Royal Islamic Strategic Centre Jordan

October 23: Army vacates Tosa Maidan

October 24: Modi announces Rs 745 crore for flood hit JK

October 26: ECI announces elections date for flood hit Kashmir to strat from Nov 25

October 31: Kashmiri poet Amin Kamil passed away

October 31: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announces he will contest the Assembly elections from two constituencies- Sonwar in Srinagar and Beerwah in Budgam- instead of family bastion Ganderbal from where he was elected in 2008.

November 08: Former union minister and noted Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethamalani Saturday said Hurriyat leaders were not agents of Pakistan but were pro-Indians and most of them want to be with India.

November 14: P Chidambaram calls Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) an “obnoxious law.”

December 11: A girl sustained severe burn injuries when three unknown men threw acid on her face in Nowshera, Srinagar.

December 16: Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks  Army Public School in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

December 22: Omar Abdullah Monday said high voter turnout in polls in Jammu and Kashmir should not be perceived as plebiscite and the National Security Adviser should not project it as a strategic victory.

December 23: PDP wins five seats in Srinagar, loses 4 in South Kashmir.

December 24: Assembly election results throw hung house.

December 24: Chairman Hurriyat (G), Syed Ali Geelani appealed people in Kashmir to be united to defy the communal agendas of the party in Valley.

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