News18 Daybreak I Pulwama attack and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

In the first direct fallout of the Pulwama attack, the government has begun to withdraw security facilities to top Kashmiri separatist leaders.

Security of the six Kashmiri leaders - Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Abdul Gani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi, Fazal Haq Qureshi and Shabir Shah stood withdrawn as of Sunday.

The move comes in response to the attack on Thursday, one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir, wherein forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured when a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based terror outfit - Jaish-e-Mohammad- blew up an explosive-laden vehicle near their bus in Pulwama district.

Across Party Lines: An all-party meeting convened on Saturday by Home Minister Rajnath Singh saw political leaders come together in their condemnation of “all of forms” of terrorism.

The meeting was attended by the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Sudip Bandopadhyay, National Conferewnce’s Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, SP’s Surender Nagarm CPI’s Raja and CPM’s TK Rangaranjan.

The resolution did not name Pakistan but asserted that India has been facing the menace of the cross-border terrorism which of late, it added, is being actively encouraged by forces from the neighbouring country.

"India has displayed both firmness and resilience in dealing with these challenges. The entire nation speaks in one voice to express its determination to fight these challenges. Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India," it said.

In “retaliation”:

A day after the attacks, the India government had also decided to revoke the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status accorded to Pakistan following a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Then on Saturday, India went a step ahead, and hiked the customs duty on goods imported from the neighbouring country by 200%.

The Aftermath: In the wake of the strike several protests were held in several places which saw people marching against Pakistan. Reports also emerged of Kashmiris across the country being assaulted and even charged for allegedly sharing “anti-national” messages.

In one such incidence, local goons gathered outside one of Dehradun’s best girls’ hostels and demanded an apology from Kashimiri girls for allegedly shouting “Pakistan zindabad”, the students locked themselves up in their rooms.

Aligarh Muslim University has also issued an advisory to its Kashmiri students asking them "not to move out of the campus" as a precautionary measure after protests broke out in this city in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.

What next: Security agencies are preparing the dossier with the evidence gathered so far related to the attack carried out by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad and the help being provided to the outfit by the country, officials have said. THe dossier will be given to the FATF, an international terror financing watchdog to seeking the country’s blacklisting.

An FATF blacklisting will lead to a downgrading of the country by multilateral lenders like IMF, World Bank, ADP.

Even as India-Pak tensions over the Pulwama attack simmer, the Kulbhushan Jadhav hearing at the International Court of Justice starting today to be the next major flashpoint

Traders' body CAIT has called for a nationwide trade bandh on Monday to express solidarity with the families of security personnel martyred in the Pulwama terror attack.

In a statement, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said commercial markets will remain closed and there will be no business activity. In Delhi, all wholesale and retail markets will observe bandh on February 18. Traders in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, J&K and other states will participate in the trade bandh on February 18.

"In the wake of China supporting Pakistan, the CAIT has decided to launch a national campaign to boycott Chinese goods, the traders' body said.

Pakistan-Jadhav

Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over Pulwama attack, the International Court of Justice will begin the final round of hearing in Khulbhushan Jadhav’s case from Monday. Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of spying in April 2017. A day ahead of the hearing, Pakistan slammed India for not accepting that Jadhav was in Pakistan to “perpetrate violence”. In a statement, the neighbouring country’s Foreign Office (FO) said that India blaming Pakistan for the Pulwama attack, was a part of its “well-rehearsed tactics from playbook, which they resort to after such incidents”.

Robert Vadra

Enforcement Directorate will submit its report to the Rajasthan High Court on the questioning of Robert Vadra in the Bikaner land scam case. It is possible that the ED will seek the request for further questioning and even removing the stay on Vadra’s arrest. The businessman who is Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, has had to face multiple rounds of interrogation after the Rajasthan High Court directed him and his partners at Skylight Hospitality Private to cooperate with ED on the probe. According to chargesheet that was filed by the Rjasthan Police, land allotted for the resettlement of people, was fraudulently taken in collusion with the state government and then sold.

Congress Workers

The Congress party in Kerala has called for a bandh on Monday after two youth Congress workers were hacked to death in Kerala's Kasaragod district on Sunday evening. The local unit of the grand old party has alleged that the attack was carried out by CPM activists. The deceased, identified as 24-year old Kripesh and 29-year-old Sarathlal, were attacked by a gang as they were on the two-wheeler. While Kripesh died on the spot, Sarathlal passed away on the way to a hospital in Mangalore.

What You May Have Missed

Saudi Arabia-MBS

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, who is visiting Asia, on Sunday confirmed that he has signed investment agreements worth $20 billion. The move comes at a time when tensions between Pakistan and nuclear-armed rival India are flaring up. “It’s big for phase 1, and definitely it will grow every month and every year, and it will be beneficial to both countries,” said the crown prince. This is the Prince’s first official visit to Pakistan since his elevation to the position of crown prince in April 2017. Cash-strapped and in need of friends, Pakistan has welcomed the crown prince and the move with open arms.

Vande Bharat

A day after it was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India’s fastest train, Vande Bharat Express, broke down on Saturday morning, leaving 15 km away from Tundla junction in Uttar Pradesh. According to railway officials, the train began making a “weird noise” early on Saturday morning after which its breaks jammed in one of the tailing coaches. Four coaches turned ‘dead load’, forcing loco pilots to halt. It is speculated that the snag in the train was caused when the train collided with the cow on the tracks. Soon after, the passengers were shifted to a different trains.