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Saturday,
May 5, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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APHC pessimistic about talks Involve
Pak in talks at later stage : JKDFP Tight security for ‘Durbar move’ 6 ultras among 10
killed in J&K Jailed ultras prove costly |
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| 70 cr earmarked for PSUs Jammu, May 4 The Jammu and Kashmir Government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 70 crore to support public sector undertakings (PSUs) during the current financial year. 
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APHC pessimistic about talks Jammu, May 4 In fact, the APHC leadership is amazed and intrigued over the stand taken by Mr Shah, on the invitation from the chief negotiator, Mr K.C. Pant. A senior APHC leader said that at a detailed discussion with three separatist leaders, Shabir Ahmed Shah, Mohd Azam Inquilabi and Nayeem Khan, they had supported the Hurriyat stand on the issue, but within days, they had made a U-turn. The Chairman of the APHC, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, refused to comment on the stance of Shabir Ahmed Shah. He said that whatever his two emissaries had conveyed to Mr Pant was not different from “our stand.” He was not hopeful of any positive results from the dialogue the government negotiator may have with Shabir Ahmed Shah, renegade militants and mainstream political leaders. “If you expect guns to fall silent with an agreement reached between the government and Shabir Shah and others, you are mistaken,” Professor Bhat said. When asked whether he expected the gun to fall silent if the Government starts a dialogue with the ABHC, he said, “No, the gun will continue to roar. That is why we have been insisting on either involving Pakistan in the talks or allowing the Hurriyat team to visit Pakistan.” Professor Bhat said, “I and my colleagues had shown considerable flexibility. I had suggested to the Government of India that in case it had any reservations in issuing passports to all the five members, let three Hurriyat leaders go to Pakistan for discussion with Islamabad and leaders of different rebel outfits and four of us would initiate talks with Mr Pant.” “I had conveyed to Mr Pant and others that in case they moved one step, I will move a mile,” he added. He wanted the government and others to dispel the impression that “we have buckled under threats from the militants and rejected the offer for talks.” He said, “We are for a permanent solution of the Kashmir issue and for this talks with Islamabad and leaders of militant outfits in occupied Kashmir should precede the dialogue with Mr Pant. We have shown the path to the settlement of the dispute and for the restoration of peace, but a section within the BJP-led NDA government has adopted a belligerent posture which may not help any side,” he said. Those supporting the ongoing armed campaign are of the opinion that the turmoil in Kashmir has its source across the border. They opine that “you have to talk to the source directly and through interlocuters.” The role of mediators could well be played by none other than the APHC. However, the ruling National Conference circles have appreciated the plan of the Government of India to talk to every political group and every ethnic entity because the state’s people were not represented only by the APHC. Though the APHC cannot claim to represent even 50 per cent of the over one crore people in Jammu and Kashmir, pressure is mounting on the Centre to allow the APHC team to visit Pakistan. “Let them have the way because on their return, they would be more disillusioned than they are at present,” a senior National Conference leader said. |
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Involve
Pak in talks at later stage : JKDFP New Delhi, May 4 The party, led by senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, however, insisted that New Delhi must engage only “genuine representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir” in a constructive dialogue to search for a viable solution to the Kashmir problem. “We are not insisting that all three parties — India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir — should be at the table at the same time. India can hold talks first with Kashmiris and then negotiate with Pakistan at a later stage,” JKDFP Secretary-General Maulana Abdullah Tari told newspersons here. Maulana Tari and Mr Salim
Geelani, the two emissaries who had yesterday delivered a letter from JKDFP chief Shabir Shah to Mr
K.C. Pant, the Centre’s negotiator on Kashmir, said their party would take further steps only after receiving a “right response” to the four “clarifications” sought from the government negotiator. Claiming that Pakistan was a party to the Kashmir issue “historically and geographically”, Maulana Tari said: “Peace in the state could be restored only when the core issue is solved.” Ruling out the possibility of resolution of the issue through bilateral negotiations, Maulana Tari said that keeping in view the complexities of the Kashmir problem, a serious, well-meaning beginning had to be made to a gradual peace process aimed at the final settlement of the issue. “For this, bilateralism should evolve into a comprehensive dialogue involving each of the three parties to the dispute,” he said. Maulana Tari also criticised Mr Pant for sending invitations for talks to certain groups, organisations and individuals who were “in line with New Delhi”. Listing the JKDFP’s four-point agenda for talks, Maulana Tari claimed that there were not any major differences between the Hurriyat Conference and his party on the Kashmir issue. However, the means and the approach could be different, he said. Mr Pant, who had briefed Union Home Minister L.K. Advani on Tuesday about the progress made by him on Kashmir talks, had said that the Centre would respond with an “open mind” to the clarifications sought by the
JKDFP. |
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Tight security for ‘Durbar move’ Srinagar, May 4 For smooth reopening of the Civil Secretariat and other offices here for the summer months, security has been beefed up in and around the Civil Secretariat and other vital installations, where offices of the government will reopen on Tuesday after these were closed in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, late last month. The police and paramilitary forces have increased the vigil in the areas around these vital installations in the summer capital. The number of Flying Squads has been increased while high rise buildings occupied by the police and security forces to keep a strict vigil on the miscreants. Patrolling on the roads in the Civil Lines area has also been increased while surprise checks of the vehicles and pedestrians are undertaken. A high-level meeting of the Divisional administration here yesterday decided that seven medical camps would be set up in clusters where employees have been lodged. It was also decided that vehicles of Secretariat employees and officers be allowed to use Moulana Azad Road through Budshah bridge from 9 a.m. to 10-30 a.m. The traffic police has made certain changes in the movement of traffic in Civil Lines area here. All vehicles plying from Moulana Azad Road towards Batamaloo are allowed to move via Commercial Chowk, Clock Tower and Alamdar Bridge or the Ist Bridge, Hari Singh High Street to Exhibition Crossing towards Batamaloo. There would be no opposite movement of traffic on this route, while all vehicles coming from Batamaloo and Exhibition Crossing only would be allowed to cross Budshah Bridge towards Moulana Azad Road. “These arrangements have been made to avoid traffic hazards on the Budshah Bridge”, footpaths of which have been closed due to the work on the new Budshah Bridge, Mr Jagjit Kumar, SP Traffic said. Work on the new Budshah Bridge is going on at a cost of Rs 11 crore, and is to be completed within a period of two years. Footpath vendors in the area have also been removed to provide free movement of pedestrians who otherwise were forced to come down on the roads. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah here the other day visited the area to see the problems arising out of traffic pressure on roads and encroachments by vendors on footpaths. The Chief Minister asked the officers to ensure free flow of traffic on roads and clearing the footpaths of vendors to allow free movement of pedestrians. |
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6 ultras among 10 killed in J&K Srinagar, May 4 The foreign militants were identified as Abu Bakar, Abu Talib and Habibullah. Some arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession. The spokesman said a security jawan was killed and another seriously injured when militants ambushed a patrol team in Rajouri district’s Thanamandi sector. A BSF Sub-Inspector, Kamaljeet Sharma, injured in a militant attack in Baramula district yesterday, succumbed today, he said. A Lashker-e-Toiba militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kupwara district early today. Ultras shot dead a contractor in Anantnag district while the body of a person, kidnapped by militants a few days ago, was fished out from a nullah at Kandi in frontier district of Kupwara. Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police assisted by the CRPF unearthed an arms dump in the Bandipora area in Baramula district. The haul included two rockets, seven Chinese mortar bombs, an IED with pre-time device circuit, five grenades, one-kg explosive and two rocket boosters. Reports said a newly-elected sarpanch was arrested in connection with the recovery of arms. The police when contacted declined to comment. The security forces arrested two militants of Al-Bader outfits in Srinagar and seized some arms and ammunition from them. A rifle, two hand grenades, 40 rifle grenades, two remote control devices, two magazines and 50 rounds of ammunition were recovered when the security forces raided a militant hide-out at Awoora forest in Kupwara district.
PTI |
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Jailed ultras prove costly Jammu, May 4 Expecting a pat on his shoulder, the officer was taken aback when his boss shot back, “What do you mean by caught. I want them to be caught and shot.” Following this direction on phone, the 11 foreign mercenaries were no more alive. The incident allegedly took place in a forest village near Surankot in Poonch district of Jammu. Between April 29 and May 3, more than 30 militants have been eliminated in Poonch and Rajouri districts. Most of them were foreign mercenaries. Of late, the government has found it a costly affair to maintain these mercenaries in jails. They eat a lot and allegedly expect several facilities and comforts. Several lakhs of rupees are spent a day only in Kot Balwal Jail of Jammu where the militants are lodged. Since International Red Cross officials visit these jails often, the government has to ensure that the IRC team does not receive any complaint from the mercenaries. Apart from the economic factor, lodging the foreign mercenaries in jails has become a security risk. Besides jail breaking bids, militants have carried out several armed attacks in close vicinity of the jails to secure their release. When an Indian Airlines plane was hijacked from Nepal to Kandahar, 150 passengers were released in exchange for three hardcore militants, including Maulana Azhar Masood, who now heads the Jash-e-Mohammad, a pro-Pak rebel outfit. The government does not want to take the risk of stuffing the jails with more foreign mercenaries who expect mutton and other non-vegetarian dishes everyday. Official sources said that the security forces have been directed not to spare foreign mercenaries. They should be caught and shot or simply shot. The security forces have been told to deal firmly with the infiltrators, irrespective of the region they belong to under the directions, local militants should be spared if they do not launch an armed attack. They are our boys and will, sooner or later, join national mainstream.” This is another direction to the troops. One senior police officer said, “We do not want Jammu and Kashmir to have a sizeable population of foreign mercenaries who could launch cultural aggression also on our people.” He said it was because of the new strategy that the police killed 1,027 militants last year and arrested only 419 in the state. Other security agencies killed over 1,520 militants during the same period and not more than 50 were arrested. He said it was because of this new strategy that the number of detenues in various jails in the state had dwindled from over 5,000, at one stage, to over 700 at present. Over 40 per cent of the detained militants had turned renegades, others had been set free by the courts and others surrendered their weapons and were rehabilitated. |
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70 cr earmarked for PSUs Jammu, May 4 This was announced by the Industries and Commerce Minister, Dr Mustafa Kamaal, at a rally organised as part of the May Day celebrations at Katra on Tuesday. The rally was organised by the State-Centre Labour Union under the presidentship of Mr Chain Singh Dehati. The ministers said the government was committed to paying the cost of living allowance and the arrears of workers of PSUs. He called upon PSU workers to shun the path of agitation and resume their work. The minister announced that daily-wage workers would get their wages at the rate of Rs 60 against Rs 45 per day. Dr Kamaal also announced that a labour sarai would be constructed at Katra at a cost of Rs 48 lakh. |
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