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Thursday,
June 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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PoK must be on agenda: J&K BJP Security tightened for Amarnath Yatra Registration for yatra ends HC orders langars at Pahalgam 15 Amarnath yatris injured |
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Antyodaya scheme to
benefit 600 families Over 1000 militants active in
Poonch, Rajouri
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PoK must be on agenda: J&K BJP Jammu, June 27 Dr Nirmal Singh and Mr O.P. Gupta, General Secretaries of the BJP, told newspersons here today that security in the state had deteriorated and called for strict measures to meet any challenge from militants. The BJP leaders alleged that as long as the National Conference (NC) remained in power, there would be no improvement in the situation. They made a strong plea for the release of a special economic package for the Jammu and Ladakh regions. Referring to the proposed Indo-Pak summit, Dr Nirmal Singh said the Government of India should implement the resolution adopted by Parliament seeking integration of occupied Kashmir and Pakistan’s northern areas gifted to China with India. The BJP leaders demanded steps to include Dogri in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and said the executive committee of the party at a meeting in Jammu recently, had adopted a resolution in support of this demand. The party also called for steps which could make the return of Kashmiri migrants to the valley conducive. Meanwhile, the state unit of the Congress too, has demanded improvement in the security arrangements in connection with the Amarnath yatra. Condemning the bomb blast at the railway station here on Monday, Congress leader Raman Bhalla said the security measures needed to be tightened all over the state. He said additional companies of security forces should be deployed at focal points. |
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Security tightened for Amarnath Yatra Baltal, June 27 Tight security arrangements have been made in view of the militants’ attack in Pahalgam last year in which about 30 persons, most of them yatris, were killed. The Army and the Border Security Force (BSF) have taken up the task of providing security cover for the month-long annual pilgrimage here. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, assisted by the Jammu and Kashmir police, have been deployed along the yatra sites to assist the pilgrims. The Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Mr Bipul Pathak, who visited the Baltal base camp yesterday, said arrangements were being given a final shape. Efforts to ensure proper supply of drinking water, electricity, LPG and kerosene oil were being made so that there was no difficulty for the yatris scheduled to arrive in the base camp from July 3. The darshan of the ice lingam of Lord Shiva will start on July 4. The 14-km-long Baltal cave trek is being maintained by the Roads and Buildings Department of the PWD. Tented accommodation and community kitchen have been set up at the base camp for the convenience of the yatris. In order to provide ponies and labourers to the pilgrims, the registration of ponywallahs and labourers from the neighbouring areas has already started. A final list will be made by the end of this month, according to officials of the Revenue Department and the Tourism Department. Various businessmen from near by Kangan area have also started to set up their vends at the site to provide various basic items to the yatris. The businessmen, mostly hoteliers at Sonmarg, 14 km downwards on the Srinagar-Leh highway, await the flow of tourists to the area. The Tourism Department is stressing on the development of tourism in the state. Over 1.5 lakh yatris, most of them coming via Pahalgam base camp in the south Kashmir district of Anantnag, visit the holy cave shrine every year. Though the Baltal cave route is the shortest possible route to the cave, the track is very steep. “Therefore, the number of pilgrims is regulated to below 1,000” the Deputy Commissioner said. He said the capacity of the track was not sufficient to accommodate more, and therefore, lesser number of yatris were being allowed from this side. Adequate precautionary measures are being taken for the smooth conduct of the yatra in view of last year’s attack by militants, besides natural calamities like heavy rain in 1996 when over 250 pilgrims died on the Pahalgam cave route. The Nitin K. Sengupta Commission, set up following the tragedy of 1996, recommended that the number of yatris be regulated so as to minimise casualties in future. Thus, it was recommended that only 3,500 yatris should be allowed from the Pahalgam side daily. |
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Registration for yatra ends New Delhi, June 27 The registration for the yatris to the holy cave of Amarnath has come to an end. The number of yatris registered in Delhi alone is 30,000. Of these nearly 24,000 will take the Pahalgam route while the remaining 6,000 will have to trek their way up through the picturesque Sonmarg. The yatra this year is again fraught with risks. Threats issued by militant outfits have prompted the government to beef up security and make arrangements more reassuring and elaborate. “The Army has been deputed and specially equipped to handle any untoward incident. The yatris too have been issued directives to cooperate with the security personnel,” said the Assistant Director of Tourism Sonam Dorjay. The faithfuls have left their concerns to the almighty. “I am confident that the God himself will be there to save us. We are travelling to the kingdom of the divine, nobody can harm us,” said Mukesh, a resident of Ambala. “I am already counting the days apart from the excitement of visiting the icy-abode of Shiva. The very thought of trekking through the steep and challenging climbs is overwhelming for an adventurist in me,” says a very exuberant Deepak for whom this maiden trip to the risky valley is a “dream come true”. There are, however, those who have not been as lucky. Ram Veer from Patiala had to return disappointed as the registration office has closed its doors. “This is injustice” yells Prakash who
believes that all should be allowed to embark on the pilgrimage. “It is very difficult to make people understand that it is not practically feasible to allow unlimited pilgrims to embark on a journey as complicated as this”, adds Mr Dorjay. |
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HC orders langars at Pahalgam Ludhiana, June 27 The court also issued notices to the respondents asking them that if they wished to contest the writ petition, they may “enter appearance within 15 days of the receipt of the notice either in person or by an advocate” appointed by them in that behalf. The copy of the interim order was faxed to The Tribune here today. The court also directed, “In the meantime, the respondents are directed to permit the petitioner, after observing the formalities, to set up his free langar for the yatris at the site where last year 10 langars were set up as admitted by the respondents”. While every year free langars are set up at Pahalgam, the base camp for the Amarnath Yatra, this year the Jammu and Kashmir Government had asked all NGOs organising langars to set up them at Naunwan village , a few kilometers ahead of Pahalgam. About 30 NGOs contested the government decision in the high court after the government rejected their plea for reviewing the decision. The petitioners pleaded that it would be very difficult for the pilgrims if the langars are set up few kilometers away from the main base camp. They also pleaded that the religious sentiments of thousands of pilgrims were attached to this place and denial of permission amounted to interference in their religious matters. The petitioner Mr Rajinder Sharma, a resident of Ludhiana, while presenting the petition on behalf of the NGOs had sought direction to the government to permit them to set up free langar for serving the pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra 2001 at the Pahalgam base camp, near the ancient Shiv Temple, the resting seat for the Chharhi Mubarak (the holy mace). Thousands of pilgrims participate in the yatra every year. This year the yatra will start on July 1, 2001. About two lakh pilgrims have already registered themselves for the yatra which will continue till Raksha Bandhan on August 4. |
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15 Amarnath yatris injured Srinagar, June 27 The injured, barring a woman, were discharged after first aid, an official spokesman said. Bharti, a resident of Paschim Vihar, Delhi, is still receiving treatment in Soura Medical Institute, the spokesman said.
PTI |
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In a foreign land she lives for her child Jammu, June 27 This is the story of 25-year-old Shehnaz Parveen hailing from Ambdial village across the Nowshera sector in Rajouri district. Shehnaz was married to Ashraf Ali seven years ago. Within two months she had a tiff with Ashraf Ali and fled from his house. She unwittingly strayed into the Indian territory from across Nowshera and was arrested by the troops. After preliminary questioning she was handed over to the police. During her custody she was “raped” by Constable Mohd Din. Her complaint to the police landed Mohd Din in trouble. He was arrested and lost his job. He was also sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Mohd Din is a free man now but Shehnaz continues to be in the jail even after having completed her two-year sentence which the court had awarded on charge of having crossed illegally into the Indian territory. According to the Director-General of Prisons, Mr S.S. Ali, “We had included her name in the list of prisoners that were to be exchanged with Pakistan but twice her name was rejected by the Pakistani authorities. Since she has nobody to look after her she has been lodged in the women’s wing of the Jammu jail.” Shehnaz is a daughter of Ghulam Rasool of Abowal village in Pakistan. They are five sisters and five brothers and one of her brothers, Mohd Yusuf, is working in Saudi Arabia. When the medical report confirmed that Shehnaz was pregnant she was sent to Nari Niketan in Poonch where she gave birth to her baby. She said, “During my stay in Nari Niketan I was in touch with my parents and my brother in Saudi Arabia.” She added, “My parents would talk to me on phone and I would exchange letters with them and my brother.” After being discharged from Nari Niketan Shehnaz was brought to the Jammu jail where she has been for the past three years. She has had no letter from her parents or brother. She said, “My parents wrote to me to return to Pakistan and had agreed to accept my child.” “I would have ended my life but the sweet face of Mobin has developed in me an urge to live,” she said. Shehnaz is tall and slim and her child is pretty with chubby cheeks. The jail staff besides the inmates are seen playing with five-year-old child. They offer her cakes, candies and toffees. “Mein Pakistan jaoongi aur Mamoo sey miloongi” (I would go to Pakistan and meet my maternal uncle), is her usual refrain. She has learnt to write the English alphabet. But her mother is keen to go back to her parents, brothers and sisters. As she has to wait for permission from the Pakistani authorities Shehnaz keeps on brooding. She recalls that when she was pregnant she was advised to go in for abortion. “But I refused. I was keen to have the baby and now I live for her,” she said. She is highly perturbed over the future of the child who is neither an Indian nor a Pakistani citizen. Mr A.K. Sawhney, a leading lawyer, said Mobin “cannot become an Indian citizen. The Constitution is against her.” The only way to get Indian citizenship for Mobin is to wait for another 13 years and if she marries a boy in Jammu. That way she can be a citizen of India. But her mother pines for returning to Pakistan. Whether she is able to do so depends on the attitude of the Pakistani authorities. |
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Antyodaya scheme to
benefit 600 families Kathua, June 27 More than 600 poor families of the block have been brought under the scheme and 25 kg of rice would be supplied to each family at Rs 3 per kg. The Director, Food and Supplies, Mr S.C. Jamwal, said 4,602 families, which includes 1,283 in Kathua, 1,486 in Hiranagar, 712 in Billawar, 518 in Basohli and 603 in Bani blocks, had been identified and covered under the yojna. He said the department had made arrangements for providing the rice to these families in a phased manner. The Director along with Assistant Director and Tehsil Supply Officers inspected different godowns and instructed the staff to distribute ration through the PDS. |
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Over 1000 militants active in Poonch, Rajouri Jammu, June 27 When the Army and the police authorities tried to question the veracity of the infiltration figure the police officer concerned confronted them with the figures they had issued two months ago. He informed them that two months ago they had disclosed that there were not more than 150 militants active in Poonch district. “If this is the case 130 of them have been eliminated. Does it mean that there are only 20 to 30 militants left in the district?” Senior police functionaries had no answer. Officer concerned, basing his information on field sources, informed them that more than 650 infiltrators had crossed into Poonch district during the past two to three months. He also conveyed to the senior officers that an equal number of militants had crossed into Rajouri district during the same period. According to informed sources the police officer said that the latest field reports had clearly indicated atleast 50 areas in the two districts where the militants had set up their hideouts. The government functionaries were also informed that groups of militants had started moving around in the villages when operations against them were being carried slowly. The police officer has informed his higher authorities that officers manning different security agencies were trying to follow the rules of the game strictly with the result security personnel deployed in one belt were not allowed to chase rebels who might the cross to another belt. “It is our area, your men need not interfere in our work.” This was the stock reply from one area chief to the commander of another security agency. The police officer concerned admitted during a meeting with his senior officers in Jammu that the rate of elimination of militants in Poonch and Rajouri districts had gone up but he expressed concern over the increase in infiltration in geometric proportion. He is said to have suggested senior police functionaries to convene a meeting with senior Army officers so that anti-insurgency operations were launched jointly by all forces on a massive scale which alone could save the two border districts from escalated violence and sabotage. Other reports received from Poonch and Rajouri said despite adequate manpower the police force in these two districts was not fully equipped. They had no rocket launchers nor grenades to blow up the rebel hideouts whenever they came under heavy fire from the militants. They needed all those weapons and ammunition which the Army jawans had so that the police could take on the militants without assistance from the Army. Invariably it has been seen that whenever the police received specific information the request for the Army assistance for carrying out joint operation would take some time because the field commanders had to seek permission from the higher authorities. If such measures were not taken in hand immediately situation in Poonch and Rajouri could assume serious dimensions. |
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