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Tuesday,
January 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Clipping’ of DGP’s wings raises eyebrows Farooq focuses on NC victory "No Resettlement Act" to be Cong poll issue |
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APHC to constitute election commission
30 shops gutted
in Kupwara
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‘Clipping’ of DGP’s wings raises eyebrows Jammu, January 28 In fact, the government order, issued on a public holiday and that too when the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and the Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, were in Delhi, has caused ripples in the higher echelons of the police. It is stated that the clearance was given by the Chief Minister from Delhi and accordingly the Commissioner, Home, issued the order. Sources said the Chief Minister has nothing against Mr Suri but he wanted the ADGP to be answerable for any lapse in operations and law and order. Under the existing system, the Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir Range, and his counterpart in Jammu province will be responsible for law and order and operations under the direct command of the DGP. This way the ADGP had become redundant. Mr Gill has been known for his professional skill as IG, Law and Order, and IG Security. According to the sources, the DGP should have delegated his powers to the ADGP as the government has done now. The sources said when Mr M.M. Sabharwal was the DGP, Mr Suri as ADGP, Law and Order, had to supervise the work of the two IGPs. It was Mr Sabharwal who had issued the order. However, this time Mr Suri concentrated all powers in his hands with the result that the IGPs did not feel it a duty to either report to Mr Gill or to seek his approval for certain policies. The government had come to the conclusion that since Mr Suri, as DGP, had to look after activities of varied nature he could not concentrate on law and order and operations. Hence the government favoured a talented officer like Mr P.S. Gill to take charge. However, some senior officers said the government step was in a bad taste and Mr Suri should have been asked to issue orders in which Mr Gill could have been given more powers. Fearing that the government step would further aggravate groupism in the police, they said it depended on the two IGPs whether they would work directly under the control and command of Mr Gill or would surpass him to keep the DGP in good humour who otherwise continued to be the head of the police organisation. There are fears among the officers that the government step may give rise to a parallel authority in case Mr Suri refuses to surrender part of his authority which his post has vested in him. |
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Farooq focuses on NC victory Jammu, January 28 He has asked his ministerial colleagues and party legislators to devote their energies to cultivating the electorate in their constituencies and has entrusted the party General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, and Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Public Works, with the task of ensuring the "conservation" of the National Conference base in the Kashmir valley. The Chief Minister is not against the appointment of any number of observers to ensure that the next Assembly poll is not rigged, as feared by his opponents. However, he has expressed his opposition to the demand of some separatist leaders that international observers be appointed to monitor the polling. Dr Abdullah seems more confident than he was a year ago about winning the Assembly elections on the plea that there is no party that has as much mass support as the National Conference. What seems to pain him is the way several mainstream political groups have "grouped together" to work for his ouster. Without naming Mr Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Dr Abdullah believes that he is his major political enemy who is hatching one conspiracy or the other with agencies in Delhi for the overthrow of his government. Dr Abdullah is not ready to oblige him. The ensuing byelection in the Jammu Lok Sabha constituency will be a test of his and his party's popularity. It is in this context that he has asked his party legislators and ministers to work hard for the success of the party candidate, failing which many of the legislators may not get the party ticket in the Assembly poll. The National Conference was the runner-up in the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections. There are indications that if the National Conference wins the Jammu Lok Sabha seat, the Chief Minister may go in for an early Assembly poll. But if it does not happens Dr Abdullah may have to think twice before ordering the Assembly poll before October, 2002, when the term of the House expires. |
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"No Resettlement Act" to be Cong poll issue Jammu, January 28 Disclosing this to mediapersons here today, the PCC chief, Mr Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, said if the Resettlement Act was implemented it could further endanger the security of the state as the measure had the potential of leaving doors open for anti-national elements to return to the state under a legal and constitutional umbrella. He said his party would make it a main poll issue. Mr Qureshi said with the support from the dissidents the problem of infighting had ended in the party and “we will also raise the issue of rampant corruption during the five-year rule of the National Conference (NC).” He alleged that corruption touched new heights under the NC rule in Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress, he said, would also mobilise voters’ support for resolving the problems of ex-servicemen. It would campaign for reservation for people belonging to the Gujjar and Bakeral community in state services and other fields of activities. Mr Qureshi expressed fear that the poll may be rigged both by the government and by the RSS which had deputed several hundred workers for this task. Mr Satyajit Gaekward, general secretary of the AICC, who was present at the press conference blamed the BJP for trying to rake up the Ram janam bhoomi issue during the poll period and in this context he referred to the demand of the VHP and other groups of sadhus for constructing the temple. He said this strategy was being adopted to win the poll in Uttar Pradesh. He alleged that the RSS had been in the forefront of communalising the situation in various parts of the country. The Congress leader also accused the RSS of following a dual policy. On one hand, he said, the RSS would cry loud over its patriotism but on the other it would not show its respect for the tricolour. |
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APHC to constitute election commission Srinagar, January 28 The “democratic process”, according to an APHC statement, will be completed in three phases. The first will cover Kashmir, the second, Jammu and Ladakh, and the third, PoK. A committee for the “democratic process” has also been constituted that will submit its comprehensive report shortly. “Since the APHC represents historical and political aspirations of the people of the state, and considering its firm belief in democracy, an autonomous, independent and honest election commission is being constituted”, said a statement of the APHC. The statement was issued after a five-hour-long executive committee meeting of the party at its headquarters here today. Those who attended the meeting included its chief, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, former chairmen Moulvi Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ghani Lone, Mohammad Yasin Malik and Moulvi Abbas Ansari, while the Peoples League was represented by Khalil Mohammad Khalil in place of Sheikh Abdul Aziz. The statement in Urdu was read out to mediapersons by a spokesman of the APHC while its senior leadership declined to comment. Reiterating the APHC stand on tripartite talks for a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue and the right of self-determination for the people of the state, the statement said it was necessary for questions to be raised about the representative character of the conglomerate. Without giving any further details on the nature of the “democratic process”, the spokesman urged India and Pakistan in particular and the major democracies in the world in general to help make it fruitful and meaningful without creating any hurdles. |
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30 shops gutted
in Kupwara Baramula, January 28 Official sources told UNI that the fire, which started from a shop, engulfed the entire shopping complex in the main market. Sources said before fire engines could reach the spot, about 30 shops were reduced to ashes, resulting in damage to property worth Rs 2 crore. The cause of the fire was not known. No one was injured in the fire, sources said.
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