J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Pandemonium in J&K House
Opposition wants reinstatement of Class IV employees
Jammu, March 18
For more than 15 minutes members of Opposition disrupted proceedings of the House here today on their feet demanding the reinstatement of those class IV employees whose services have been terminated by the Education Department.

RSS indulging in cheap politics: Omar

Court defers order on Katiyar till tomorrow
Srinagar, March 18
The district court today deferred its order till March 20 pertaining to complaints filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, a Supreme Court lawyer and a journalist against the alleged remarks of BJP MP and Bajrang Dal leader Vinay Katiyar on the holy relic in Hazratbal.

‘Hurriyat colony’ springs up in valley

Srinagar, March 18 It is not a diplomatic enclave but separatist political parties have set up their offices at Kursoo Rajbagh, across the Jhelum, opposite the high-security zone here, during the past six years.
The head office of Hurriyat Cnference at kursoo Rajbagh.  — Photo Amin War.

Pandemonium in J&K House
Opposition wants reinstatement of Class IV employees
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 18
For more than 15 minutes members of Opposition disrupted proceedings of the House here today on their feet demanding the reinstatement of those class IV employees whose services have been terminated by the Education Department.

Despite repeated warnings from the Deputy Speaker, Mr Ghulam Haider Malik, that they would be marshalled out of the House, members belonging to the BJP and the Congress indulged in slogan shouting in the House.

The matter was raised as soon as the House met in the morning the matter was raised by Congress and BJP members. Mr Lal Singh, Mr Jagdish Raj Dubey, Mr Dorjee, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Ashok Sharma of the Congress and Mr Prithvi Chand and Mr Bali Bhagat of the BJP besides Mr Abdul Rehman Veeri of the PDP were on their feet demanding discussion on the issue.

They were pressing for the acceptance of motion for adjournment of the House moved by the Congress member Mr Ashok Sharma. The Deputy Speaker disallowed the members from raising the issue. He said he would listen to them after question hour ended.

As soon as the question hour ended Opposition members were again on their feet shouting slogans demanding the reinstatement of the dismissed Class IV employees whose number is nearly 400. When the members insisted on knowing the fate of the adjournment motion the Deputy Speaker announced that the motion had been disallowed as per the rules.

This further infuriated the members who kept on shouting slogans. The Deputy Speaker while admonishing the members said in case they did not resume their seats action would be taken against them.

The House continued discussion on the demands for grants despite continued slogan shouting. At this stage the Minister for Housing, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah intervened and objected to the way the Opposition members were wasting the time of the House. He said that opposition members were trying to play to the gallery. Losing his cool he announced that if the members did no resume their seats he would move a resolution recommending the expulsion of the members for the rest of the session This threat worked and the members resumed their seats.

During question hour a number of Congress and BJP members staged a walkout over the refusal of the government to declare holiday on Guru Nabha Das’s birthday. The member wanted the government to respect the sentiments of all categories of people by including revered saint’s birthday as holiday, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, Minister for Housing, said the government planned to reduce the number of holidays and the state was following the guidelines issued by the Centre on the matter.

Mr Harsh Devi Singh of the Panthers Party and Mr Prithvi Chand and Mr Bali Bhagat of the BJP staged a walkout from the House in protest against the government’s pick and choose policy adopted in enrolling special police officers and members of the village defence committees. The members criticised government’s raw deal to members of VDCs who were denied even the honorarium. The Minister for Home, Mr Najid Sohrawadhy, informed the House that the state government had enrolled VDC members more than the strength sanctioned by the Government of India. He said when the Centre released additional funds honorarium to VDC members would be released.

In reply to another question the government told the House that 13 public sector undertakings in the state were running in losses. It said it had been decided that Jammu Kashmir industries, except the one in the silk sector, were going either to be privatised or closed if their losses were more than the wage bill.

In addition, some of the corporations were being restructured and a golden handshake scheme for the surplus workers in these undertakings had been approved by the government.

Later the House adopted the demands for grants for the year 2002-2003 after a series of cut motions moved by several Opposition members were rejected by the House.

RSS indulging in cheap politics: Omar

Sopore (Kashmir), March 18
Minister of State for External Affairs Omar Abdullah today charged the RSS with indulging in “dirty politics” and said the resolution adopted by the organisation at Bangalore was “only aimed at creating communal tension” in the country.

Addressing a large gathering of apple growers here, he said “The resolution adopted by the RSS was only to create a wedge between Hindus and Muslims of the country and could do no good. PTI

Court defers order on Katiyar till tomorrow

Srinagar, March 18
The district court today deferred its order till March 20 pertaining to complaints filed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, a Supreme Court lawyer and a journalist against the alleged remarks of BJP MP and Bajrang Dal leader Vinay Katiyar on the holy relic in Hazratbal.

The Srinagar District Magistrate, who granted permission to the complainants, said he had pursued the petition and the draft complaint and also the newspaper report. PTI

‘Hurriyat colony’ springs up in valley
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 18
It is not a diplomatic enclave but separatist political parties have set up their offices at Kursoo Rajbagh, across the Jhelum, opposite the high-security zone here, during the past six years.

Activists of these groups claim that a “political culture” has developed in the area as houses are easily available and, therefore, these organisations prefer to establish their offices not far from central Lal Chowk.

The Hurriyat Conference set up its office in a three-storeyed building in 1995.

The office was then shifted from the Mirwaiz Manzil, party headquarters of the Awami Action Committee Mirwaz Moulvi Umar Farooq was the first APHC chairman. Over the past six years, offices of seven other groups, five of them constituents of the 23-member conglomeration of the Hurriyat Conference, have sprung up in the vicinity of the APHC headquarter.

Former hijacker, M. Hashim Qureshi’s Jammu Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party (JKDLP) is the last of these groups to have set up its office here.

Some of the supporters of these groups want to call the area “Hurriyat colony” or Hurriyat “abad”. The autorickshaw stand at in the area has already been named as Hurriyat auto stand.

Residents, however, reserve their comment on the growing number of these offices.

The police claims that none of these offices fall under the purview of POTO and hence action can be taken only when “illegal activities” take place. None of these parties are banned. “If they resort to unlawful activities, law will take its own course”, senior police officer said.

The Hurriyat headquarters and the office of DFP leader Shabir Ahmad Shah become the focus of attention when foreign dignitaries, mostly Delhi-based diplomats from various countries, come to meet separatist leaders. On such occasion, the police and security forces are deployed.

The APHC headquarters has got nearly 50 employees working in various sections. More than 14,000 cards were issued by the office in favour of the kin of a martyrs or “victims” of the security forces for getting a monthly relief. The relief supplies were suspended about two years ago, according to Mohammad Hussain Altaf, office secretary.

As one enters Kursoo Rajbagh locality, the first office is that of the JKDFP. The office was established in 1999 and a large number of foreign officials and Union Government representatives have been visiting the office.

Other offices include that of the Islamic Students League, a constituent of the APHC. Five employees working in the office, established in 2000, hold that the party “created a vision about the freedom struggle in Kashmir”, adding that at the same time it was only a “political struggle”.

Two factions of the People’s League, one led by Sheikh Abdul Aziz and the other by Farooq Rahmani, are also located in the vicinity of the Hurriyat headquarters.