Differences over Article 370, AFSPA 'ironed out': Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

February 25, 2015

Jammu, Feb 25: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is likely to be the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said differences with BJP over contentious issues like Article 370 and AFSPA have been ironed out in the Common Mininum Programme.

The 78-year-old former CM said it would be a historic opportunity for the PDP-BJP alliance to remove the decades of mistrust between the two regions of the state.

He also said that with the mandate BJP has at the Centre, the ruling coalition in the state would be able to achieve much more on both peace and development fronts.

“I see this (PDP-BJP coalition) as an historic opportunity to end the decades of mistrust between Kashmir and Jammu regions of the state, Sayeed told PTI here.

Sayeed, whose PDP is all set to form the government with BJP, said the mandate thrown up by the state assembly elections late last year had made it inevitable for the two parties to come together to deliver on peace and development agenda.

PDP won 28 seats and BJP 25 in the 87-member Assembly. Together, they are comfortably placed well above the majority figure of 44 to form the government.

“There is no other option (other than PDP and the BJP alliance). We had offers of support from the National Conference as well as the Congress for government formation but governance is not our only aim. We have to also deliver on the peace agenda,’ the former Chief Minister said.

“With the mandate BJP has at the Centre, we will be able to achieve much more on both peace and development fronts. Any other alternative may not be feasible at all for the state,” he said.

The veteran politician said the PDP-BJP alliance in the state would be a win-win situation for both the parties but more importantly it will be beneficial to the state.

Asked about sharp differences between the PDP and BJP over issues like Article 370 and AFSPA, Sayeed said all the issues have been addressed and shall be reflected in the Common Minimum Programme.

“Please wait for some more time. The differences have been ironed out and everything will be clear in the CMP,” the PDP patron said.

Sayeed is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi tomorrow.While BJP has been advocating repealing Article 370 of the Constitution, the PDP has been a strong votary of strengthening the constitutional proviso that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir within the Indian Union.

The two parties also had diametrically opposite stands on revocation of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives immunity from prosecution to the armed forces, from the state.

Sayeed said a PDP-BJP government can end the perceived regional discrimination in the state and instill a feeling of empowerment among all the people of the state.

“We will ensure that every region gets its due share in development as we managed to do in the short stint in the government from 2002 to 2005,” he said.

Sayeed praised the Prime Minister saying his actions in respect of certain incidents in Kashmir have evoked hope.

“I do not know the Prime Minister personally but the action in Chaterrgam firing incident (last year) and the action against army troops in Macchil fake encounter case indicate that he is serious about human rights issue,” he said.

Two boys were killed in army firing at Chattergam in Budgam district on November 3 last year. Army ordered an inquiry and indicted its troops.

The army court martial also found several army personnel guilty of staging a fake encounter in Macchil in April 2010, killing three innocent civilians for cash rewards and out of turn promotions.

Sayeed also had kind words for National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah saying he took some good steps for the welfare of the people of the state.

“Sheikh Sahib formed the institution of District Development Board. He would listen to the local MLA and issue on the spot instructions wherever needed,” Sayeed said.

The PDP patron played a key role in bringing down the Sheikh Abdullah-led government in 1977. The National Conference founder had been given the reigns of the state by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi following the 1975 Delhi Accord.

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

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December 5,2025

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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IndiGo offers full waiver on cancellations, reschedule requests for bookings between Dec 5 and 15

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December 6,2025

With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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