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| Friday,
April 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Pak firing provoked by
fencing Four Harkat militants
held APHC blames Centre for impasse Better facilities for
migrants in Jammu Centre approves food
park for J&K |
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Cong raking up shawl
controversy: BJP Pashmina to be made village industry
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Pak firing provoked by
fencing Jammu, April 5 Official sources said at yesterday’s Pakistani firing, a BSF jawan posted in Chicken Neck area in the Akhnoor Sector sustained serious injuries. According to sources, New Delhi has taken serious note of this development because the Pakistani troops have again violated Islamabad’s commitment to stop firing on the border in response to the non-initiation of combat operations against militants which has been in force in the state since November 28. Official sources said the Pakistani troops and Rangers had resumed firing on Indian posts as they suspected the Indian agencies had started fencing certain stretches of the international border (IB). In fact, New Delhi had made it clear that the IB would be fenced at any cost to check infiltration and arms smuggling from across the border. The project had been taken in hand following reports that groups of militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba had concentrated on the IB to infiltrate into the Jammu Sector from where they would proceed towards Doda and Udhampur districts. Work on the project was suspended in 1995 when the Pakistani Rangers resorted to heavy fire in areas where labourers had started digging pits for the fencing project. New Delhi has taken a firm stand and the Army authorities have been directed to provide logistic support and other assistance to enable the BSF jawans to raise the fence. So far the work has been very slow because of the Pakistani firing. Official sources said Pakistan should have no objection to the project because the initial plan had been amended and a new fencing alignment had been prepared. According to sources, barbed wire was to be raised on the Indian territory and the alignment was as deep as 400 meters to 800 meters from Zero Line. New Delhi has rejected Pakistan’s claim that India is trying to change the “pattern” of the IB, which Islamabad treats as a working border. Islamabad had approached the United Nations military observers group (UNMOG) to intervene and restrict the Indian forces from fencing the IB. India has stopped giving any recognition to the UNMOG since 1977. Reports say UNMOG officials are being carried to areas across Samba and the Chicken Neck area by Pakistani troops to see if fencing has been started by the Indian forces. The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has said that fencing of the IB is necessary to check infiltration. He told the Assembly here yesterday that he hoped the fencing would be completed shortly so that security personnel deployed on the IB could be sent to the LoC for checking arms smuggling and infiltration. New Delhi feels that Pakistan has started protesting against the fencing because once the IB is blocked by barbed wire, it will be difficult for the militants to sneak into the Jammu Sector. |
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Four Harkat militants
held Jammu, April 5 Two of the four, Shafkat Ali and Shahid, were arrested in Jammu city’s Bathindi area, which is fast developing into a VIP colony where several ministers, legislators and bureaucrats have built palatial houses. The two others, Zahoor Hussain and Muzaffar, belong to Basohli in Kathua district. The four were involved in a bid to loot Rs 1 crore which government treasury officials were carrying from Kathua to Basohli on March 1. The rebels opened fire on the van carrying the cash. Two policemen were killed and five were wounded. According to Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Dr S.P. Vaid, the four rebels were involved in several militancy-related incidents. He said while Shafkat Ali and Shahid belonged to Bhadrewah in Doda district, Zahoor Hussain and Muzaffar hailed from Basohli. All four had received arms training across the border and their plan was to extend terrorism in Kathua district. Two senior police officers, Mr Manohar Singh, SSP, Kathua, and Sheikh Mehmood, SSP, Special Operations Group, have received appreciation from the state government and the police chief for their contribution in arresting the four hardcore militants. Two police teams have left for Batala in Punjab where the Punjab Police has arrested four dreaded militants, three belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and one to the Babbar Khalsa — Manjit Singh, alias Fauji, who was in league with Mehmood-ul-Haq, an M.Phil student of Jammu University hailing from Rajouri, Sher Khan, Gouri Khan and Danish, alias Dagga Khan. Mehmood-ul-Haq had disappeared a month ago. This had rocked Rajouri town with protests against his “kidnapping” by the police. The Punjab Police arrested Mehmood-ul-Haq along with Sajjad Hussain of Bhaderwal. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the driver of a Congress leader in Doda and a doctor had helped them forge links with Sikh militants so that militancy was revived in the border areas of Punjab. The state police teams have gone to Batala to get details of the hotel in Jammu which was being used as a ‘control room’ for ISI sleuths. The teams will also interrogate the four rebels. After the Punjab Police completes interrogation, they will be handed over to the Jammu police. |
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APHC blames Centre for impasse Jammu, April 5 A senior Hurriyat Conference leader, Mr Abdul Gani Lone, told newsmen here today that the first month of the ceasefire had generated hope among the people in Kashmir. However, when during the past three months, there was no check on the operations carried out by the security forces people had felt disillusioned with the Prime Minister’s peace initiative. Mr Lone, who had been placed under house arrest here yesterday to prevent him and his party colleagues from organising a public rally in Kathua, said that step had been taken by the government to carry the peace process to its logical conclusion. He said the government was committed to allowing a five-member Hurriyat team to visit Pakistan to pave the way for a meaningful dialogue. He said during the past four months, the government had not cleared “our visit to Pakistan” and “our passports continued to be impounded.” He explained that if the Hurriyat team failed in their mission in Pakistan it would be beneficial for India and lack of any response to the peace initiative by agencies across the border could be construed as part of Islamabad’s and militants’ belligerent attitude. “Even if we were able to come back with a solution it could be discussed with the Government of India and again New Delhi would receive accolades for being sincere in its peace process,” he said. He lamented that the Government of India had no concrete Kashmir policy and after four months of dithering, the name of Mr K.C.Pant was being mentioned as a negotiator. He said it was unfortunate that there was no formal order for his appointment as a negotiator. Mr Lone said that the Government of India should have concentrated on “what after the ceasefire?” and so far it has not done any exercise in this direction with the result “we have no other alternative but to continued political and armed struggle.” In reply to a question he said that “we welcomed foreign mercenaries when they came to Kashmir to assist us. They are our supporters and not our owners.” He added “they have not to decide the Kashmir issue and they came from different parts of the world when they came to know that Muslims in Kashmir were facing atrocities at the hands of the government agencies. In reply to another question Mr Lone confirmed that he had his colleagues in the Hurriyat Conference had ideological differences with Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He said, “We have written to the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami to recall Mr Geelani from the Hurriyat Conference and the chief should attend the Hurriyat meetings as a representative of Jamaat-e-Islami.” He hinted that the Jammat chief would take action against Mr Geelani or discipline him so that he followed the majority decision taken by the executive committee of the APHC. The Hurriyat leader condemned the demand for the trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir. He blamed the RSS and other fundamentalist groups for raising the demand for a separate statehood for Jammu. He said that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh should remain as one unit and the people of the state and those living in occupied Kashmir should decide the main Kashmir dispute or the government should hold a dialogue with the representatives of the people of the state. |
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Better facilities for
migrants in Jammu Jammu, April 5 The Chief Secretary directed that a proposal be formulated in consultation with the engineers for maintaining the grants of all the camps. In view of the ensuing summer, schemes will be formulated to upgrade various facilities at the camps. These include drinking water and power supply, health, hygiene and sanitation, etc. The Director, Employment, was asked to visit all migrant camps and look into the loan requirements of the traders and unemployed youth who want to avail these facilities under the self-employment schemes. He also asked the Executive Director, State Rehabilitation Council for Militancy Victims, to conduct a survey regarding the requirement of the artificial limbs and other such facilities for the physically challanged persons putting up in the camps and submit a report within 10 days. The Chief Secretary asked the Commissioner/Secretary (Revenue) to issue instructions for providing copies of revenue records, particularly the girdawari of land holdings, orchards, etc of 1989 to the migrants. The matter regarding the release of promotional benefits and payment of house rent allowance and city compensatory allowance to the migrant employees will be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration, he said. Mr Jaitley assured the representatives of migrants that the water supply at Udhampur would be improved. He also issued instructions for repairing the ambulances stationed at the migrant camps. |
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Centre approves food
park for J&K Jammu, April 5 This was stated at the 121st meeting of the Board of Directors of SIDCO, Jammu and Kashmir, held here on Tuesday. The Minister for Industries and Commerce, Dr Sheikh Mustafa Kamall, who is also the Chairman of the Corporation, presided. The Corporation has resumed disbursement of loans and also advanced loans amounting to Rs 1 crore in the last fiscal year. The corporation plans to advance loans to the tune of Rs 15 crore during the current financial year. The rehabilitation of sick industries in the state was also discussed at the meeting. It was decided that the Corporation and various financial institutions, including state Finance Corporation will evolve a comprehensive mechanism to implement rehabilitation scheme for the sick units. The Corporation has taken up various infrastructural projects with the assistance of the government of India to promote industries in the state. A software technology park was commissioned at Rangreth, Kashmir, with an investment of Rs 6.12 crore. A call centre is being set up at Rangreth with an investment of Rs 10 crore in a joint sector by the SIDCO and a Delhi-based company. The Managing Director of the SIDCO informed that the Department of Food Processing, Government of India, has sanctioned Rs 4 crore for setting up a food park at
Khanmoh. The Corporation has also obtained sanction for setting up an inland container depot in Jammu and a proposal has been submitted to the Department of Commerce for sanctioning a grant of Rs 3.37 crore. The project will boost the export. The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for setting up a growth centre at
Lassipora, Pulwama. |
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Cong raking up shawl
controversy: BJP Jammu, April 5 Congress workers held a protest rally in front of the Raj Bhavan here yesterday demanding a probe by a Supreme Court judge. Initially, the Congress had demanded The Congress workers torched an effigy of Professor Gupta. The BJP today hit back and burnt the effigy of the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. The BJP leaders here said since the Congress had no issue to talk about it decided to rake up the shawl controversy, which had been resolved by the CID investigating team that had gone to Ludhiana, where it was confirmed that a factory had manufactured those shawls and pasted labels of different countries to generate market for selling them. The BJP leaders said after the Chief Minister’s statement on the floor of the Assembly there should have been no room for the Congress to protest, but the party leaders wanted to prove their existence by crying foul against a senior BJP leader. |
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Pashmina to be made village industry Jammu, April 5 This was announced by the Industries and Commerce Minister, Dr Mustafa Kamaal, while speaking at a function organised here to distribute loan cheques among the entrepreneurs of the district. The function was organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Khadi and Village Board. The District Development Commissioner, Jammu, Mr R.K. Goel, and Chairman, J and K Khadi Village Industries Board, besides a large number of entrepreneurs were present at the function. The minister said the issue to declare the carpet industry a village cottage industry was also under consideration of the Union Government. |
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