M A I N   N E W S

Bandh over medicos’ admission
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Jan 15 — Normal life was paralysed today when people responded to the call for the Jammu bandh given by the ABVP and supported by several student and political organisations . Most of the business establishments and transport services were shut in the city and other areas of the region of students from a private and unauthorised medical college in the two government medical colleges.

The protesters raised road blocks and smashed several vehicles to ensure full support to the bandh call. The demonstrators stoned the escort car of the Power Minister even as a National Conference member of the State Legislative Assembly, Mr Javed Ahmed Shah, escaped unhurt when his van was stoned by the protesters.

Though the inter-state bus services remained unaffected, the passenger transport services in the city and on the inter-district routes were hit by the general strike. As a result, work in government offices and banks was affected, with a few employees running the show.

Apart from the students, people belonging to different walks of life participated in the demonstrations and protest rallies where the demonstrators raised anti-government slogans.

A group of ABVP activists, led by its national secretary, Mr Romesh Puppa, made a series of attempts to stage a demonstration in front of the residence of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah. Despite instructions to the police not to use any force against the protesters, the ABVP activists were lathicharged and prevented from going near the entrance of the Chief Minister’s residence. The police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The activists hurled stones at the police but there was no sharp reaction from the police.

Mr Puppa said that the government had “illegally” accommodated more than 57 students in the government medical colleges after they had been given admission in an “unauthorised private medical college in Srinagar.” He said that despite week-long protests, the government had me released the written orders from either the Medical Council of India of the Central Government.

He said that the state authorities were simply using the Medical Council of India and the Union Government as scapegoats to justify the admission. He urged the government to come out with the admission policy, failing which their agitation would be intensified. Mr Puppa said that the students were suffering for the last one week while agitating against the admission policy.

The state unit of the BJP also lent support to today’s bandh call. The BJP leaders and supporters led by the President, Mr D.K. Kotwal, marched into a procession up to Dogra Chowk, where they criticised the government for its failure to provide a regular supply of electricity.

Mr Kotwal held the state government responsible for the bungling in giving admission to students from a private medical college in the state-run medical colleges.

He announced his party’s plan of staging dharnas at different places form tomorrow to press for cancellation of the admission of these students and for improving the power supply.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, told a group of newsmen that his government had approached the Centre for providing relief to the state by releasing an additional quota of power from the Northern Grid. He said he was hopeful that some relief would be given in the near future.

In reply to a question, he said the admission given to students of a private medical college in the government medical colleges was done at the suggestion of the Medical Council of India and the central Government. He said that these two agencies had recommended their case on “humanitarian” grounds.

SRINAGAR: The police lobbed teargas shells and fired in the air to disperse demonstrators protesting against the erratic power supply at the highway township of Beijbehara in Anantnag district today. At least two dozen demonstrators were injured in the lathicharge and stone-pelting incidents.

The protesters raised slogans against the Farooq Abdullah government and disrupted traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway at Beijbehara for several hours.

Reports from Anantnag town said that normal life was disrupted as all shops and business establishments and offices remained closed for the third consecutive day today.

The valley is reeling under an acute power shortage. An average of 11-hour cut was scheduled in the valley with effect from January 5 due to the decline in water level of the sources of the hydel power projects and decline in the supplies from the Northern Grid.