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| Wednesday,
January 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Farooq opposes truce extension Passport issue put
on backburner Polling in militancy-prone areas put
off Govt erred in 1996:
Lone |
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to Drass-Kargil highway JAMMU, Jan 16 — the Jammu and Kashmir Government will complete the construction of the 62-km-long road from Drass to Sankoo via Umba to cope with additional civil and Army traffic as the national highway from Drass to Kargil is prone to shelling from across the border. Census work in
J & K completed
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Farooq opposes truce extension JAMMU, Jan 16 — The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is said to have decided to oppose further extension in the ceasefire period unless Pakistan-trained militants stopped killing innocent and unarmed people in the state. Sources said Dr Abdullah was upset over the escalation in militancy-related violence in which his partymen continued to be the main target. He might also convey his views to the Central Government regarding the ceasefire. The Chief Minister told newspersons here today that he would meet the Prime Minister and other Central Government leaders and convey his opinion about the impact of the ceasefire. “Except for the LoC, the level of violence within the state had increased, he said sarcastically. He said: “I will express my opinion and it is for the Centre to take a decision. If the level of violence continued and the militants kept hurling grenades at public places, what is the purpose of bilateral talks”? he said. He said he was happy the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Mr V.K. Nambiar, had told the Chief Executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, that so long Pakistan continued to sponsor terrorism, there was no scope for a composite dialogue. Dr Abdullah said talks with Pakistan should follow once the level of violence was brought down to zero. Talking about Sunday’s incident of a grenade attack at a public meeting which he was addressing, Dr Farooq said: “They will keep on attacking me. I know I am not going to die.” In reply to a question he said it was for the Government of India to decide whether the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) “is the sole representative of people of the state. The APHC has only one agenda and people have realised its gameplan,” he said. He referred to the ongoing panchayat elections and said yesterday’s polling in three segments had witnessed heavy polling which indicated that the people had not responded to the APHC call for a boycott of the elections. He said earlier also the census was carried out in the state, notwithstanding the APHC call to the people to boycott it. The sources said the Prime Minister would convey a meeting of the Cabinet committee on Kashmir affairs for reviewing the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir during the ongoing ceasefire period. The committee would decide whether there was need for extending the ceasefire. The decision would be announced a day or two before January 26 when the second month of the ceasefire would end. Dr Abdullah plans to meet the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Defence Minister a week before the meeting of the committee. |
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Passport issue put
on backburner NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — The All-Party Hurriyat Conference’s failure to influence Islamabad and Pakistan-based militant organisations to control violence in Jammu and Kashmir appears to have put a serious question mark on the much publicised visit of its five-member delegation to Pakistan. While the last night high-level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, did not even consider the passport issue, sources said the decision had been consciously postponed as the government was undertaking a serious review of Islamabad’s policy of aiding and abetting terrorist outfits. The continuing suicide attacks by Islamabad-sponsored militant groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba in the state during the ceasefire period has made the Hurriyat virtually redundant as none of its constituent groups and their leaders barring very few have neither following in the valley nor they have any control over any of the militant group across the border, the sources pointed out. Another fact which has made the policy makers in South Block rethink about the Hurriyat, is as to why its Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat and the JKLF leader, Mr Yasin Malik, have decided to keep out of the five-member team for Pakistan. When the Centre had decided to initiate a dialogue with a section of the Hizbul Mujahideen in October last year at that point of time the APHC leadership had opposed it, vehemently saying that they alone were the political wing of the movement. At that point of time it was felt the Hurriyat might be able to wield some degree of influence on the militant groups and that is precisely why the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, had signalled the government would consider giving them travel documents. But their record during almost two months of ceasefire, which would, if not extended, be coming to an end on January 26, had been poor and in these circumstances why should they be allowed to travel, the sources said. While Pakistan would make heroes out of the Hurriyat leaders by projecting them to the international community as true representatives of the Kashmiri people without even being sincere about restoration of peace in the state, New Delhi would stand to be a loser, the sources said, adding that Islamabad had all along been telling the world the Hurriyat was the sole representative of the Kashmiri people. Now the Hurriyat would have to furnish some concrete evidence of their utility in the whole peace exercise launched by the Prime Minister before the government decided to issue passports to the team, the sources said.
NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (UNI) — JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, who is the first Hurriyat leader to have received a passport, will leave for the USA tomorrow, skipping the crucial Hurriyat executive meeting scheduled for later this week to discuss proposed visit of Hurriyat leaders to Pakistan. The meeting, which was scheduled to be held today, was deferred as confusion prevailed on the issue of passports. Mr Malik, who is not part of the five-member delegation that was nominated by the Hurriyat at its executive meeting in Srinagar on January 11 is going to the USA for medical treatment.
JAMMU, Jan 16 — Despite heavy polling registered in the first phase of panchayat elections in parts of Kupwara, Poonch and Rajouri yesterday, the state government has decided tentatively to postpone the polling in militancy-hit areas of the Kashmir valley and Doda district and parts of Udhampur belts. In yesterday’s polling between 65 per cent and 87 per cent voters cast votes. However, the government does not want to take any risk because militants have stepped up killings. The ruling National Conference leadership is worried over the targeting of party leaders, supporters and sympathisers in the past 45 days. The state government had approached the Centre for 40 companies of the CRPF to be deployed for ensuring security to the people during panchayat elections in the militancy-hit areas. The Centre could not make available additional forces because of the urgent need to beef up security in the ongoing Kumbh mela. Consequently, the government plans to reschedule polling dates in the districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Baramula, Pulwama and Anantnag besides the district of Doda. It has plans to go ahead with the polling schedule in the remaining areas of Poonch, Rajouri. Besides three blocks of Kathua districts. A final decision is awaited because the first phase of polling will be completed by January 21. In yesterday’s polling no incident of violence was reported from these areas. But government reports indicated that since the areas covered by yesterday’s polling were remote possibilities of militants striking the polling booths were bleak. In addition to this these areas had been provided with adequate security personnel and it may not be possible for the government to shift all companies of security forces from the areas, where the polling had been completed, to the areas where the polling was to take place in the second phase. The state government would like to wait for the Union Government’s decision on whether the ceasefire was to be further extended or withdrawn and then reschedule other six phases of panchayat poll. |
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Govt erred in 1996:
Lone NEW DELHI, Jan 16 — Senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone has said that foreign militants would not have started coming to the Kashmir valley in 1996-97 had the government then taken initiative like the ceasefire announced by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr Lone, who was in New Delhi for medical check-up, told TNS that instead of trying to address the issue in all its dimensions, the government at that time tried to tackle it administratively. Pointing out that the foreign militants started coming to the valley in 1996, Mr Lone said, “If this attitude, which is the present attitude of the Prime Minister would have been there and parleys had been taking place, do you visualise there would have been foreign militants,” he said, adding that, “but India at that time tried to tackle the issue administratively.’’ Mr Lone, who has been to Pakistan recently, also linked the foreign militants’ coming to the valley with Pan-Islamist thinking. “In the Muslim world, there is a feeling that we are being pushed to the wall, we are not getting justice and a fairly large section of the Muslim youth get armed and trained to espouse Muslim causes. They did see a need in Kashmir where people were facing atrocities so they started coming,’’ he said, blaming the Indian government for the situation. “The question of encouraging the foreign militants to go out has its own dimensions,’’ he pointed out. Asked about role of various groups, including militants in proposed talks, Mr Lone said political negotiations should be left only to the APHC. “I believe some beginning should be made. Then issue of involving others can come,’’ he said, indicating that it should be left to the APHC how to support and participation of others. However, he said the foreign militants had only a limited role in negotiations. “The foreign militants have come to help us. The main parties are going to solve the dispute. Armed struggle is one aspect. There is the other very important aspect which is political and diplomatic,’’ he said. Mr Lone felt that it was wrong for India to blame Pakistan for supporting militants. “India has a weakness and Pakistan takes advantage of it. India is on a weak wicket. There is a Chief Minister who is against the will of people,’’ he said, adding that, “the basic fact is that something is wrong with India
because of which Pakistan and other hands become possible.’’ |
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Alternative road
to Drass-Kargil highway JAMMU, Jan 16 (PTI) — the Jammu and Kashmir Government will complete the construction of the 62-km-long road from Drass to Sankoo via Umba to cope with additional civil and Army traffic as the national highway from Drass to Kargil is prone to shelling from across the border. State Industries and Commerce Minister Mustafa Kamaal said work on the project had started and over Rs 2 crore would be spend on it during the current fiscal year. Mr Kamaal, who is also the Chairman of the District Development Board, Kargil, said the road communication to different villages in Kargil district had been given the highest priority in a bid to boost the rural economy in the state. He said 70 per cent of the work on the Rs 1-crore Kargil bypass road from Shilikchey to Akchamal had been completed. In order to keep the Kargil-Sankoo road open during winter, he said, construction of two more interior roads, had been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 75 lakh. He said the 28-km Khangral-Sanjak road was also being upgraded at a cost of Rs 40 lakh. This strategically important road serves the large population of Chiktan block. Besides these, the construction of five major bridges costing Rs 53.34 lakh had been completed during the current year, he said. |
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Census work in
J & K completed JAMMU, Jan 16 — Census operations in Jammu and Kashmir that took off amid threats from militants have been completed. As per government announcement, appearing in the maiden issue of J & K Secretariat Newsletter brought out by the Information Department and released by Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah here this morning, the operations were completed in two phases. Quoting Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, the newsletter in its lead story says that in the first phase between May 16 to June 5 last year, house-listing and house numbering was completed while actual head count took place in the second phase along with collection of other relevant information about the residents. Mr Jaitly said the second phase commenced on September 11 last year. In Jammu and Ladakh, the work was completed by October 5. The date for the completion of this phase in militancy hit areas of Kashmir valley and some parts of Doda district i.e. Banihal, Dachan and Marwah, was extended twice, first up to November 15 and then to December 15, to facilitate head count etc. In Kashmir valley, except Pulwama district and Srinagar city, census was completed by November 15 and in the remaining areas by December 16. The census data, being processed, is likely to be notified by mid-March this year by the Registrar General, Census Operation, Government of India. About 22,500
enumerators, supervisors and zonal officers were deployed to accomplish this massive exercise, which has a great bearing for formulating development plans and welfare schemes. The Chief Secretary has conveyed Governments appreciation to staff engaged in the census operation by accomplishing the task despite heavy odds. He also lauded the cooperation extended by the people in making the census operation successful. Census in Jammu and Kashmir was conducted after a gap of 20 years and the state is first in the country to complete this. |
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