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Wednesday,
June 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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J&K poll on schedule: EC BJP questions
NC demand for autonomy
Mela
site shifted due to shelling Pak firing
in Ladakh region, jawan hurt |
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ultras killed, 16 arrested in J&K Srinagar, June 25 A member of the Hizbul Mujahideen and a Lashkar-e-Toiba ultra were among three militants killed overnight in Jammu and Kashmir, while the uptown witnessed demonstrations against the alleged custodial disappearance of a youth. Withdraw
tax on pilgrims’ buses: Hindu bodies
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J&K
poll on schedule: EC New Delhi, June 25 “The tenure of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly ends on October 17 and as per the provisions of the Constitution, the new House has to be in place before that date... So, we are going ahead with the preparations,” EC officials said here. An exception could be made only if the state is put under Governor’s rule, they said. When their attention was drawn towards news reports that the Centre and some political groups in Jammu and Kashmir wanted the elections to be postponed to November-December, they said the Commission had not been sounded out by anyone about this. Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh had visited Srinagar and Jammu last week and is in Leh at present. Senior Commission functionaries have also been deployed in the state to prepare the groundwork for the elections, the officials added. A team of EC officials headed by Secretary C. Brahmam is presently training local officials and representatives of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir in the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), to be used in all 87 Assembly constituencies. Deputy Election Commissioner Sayan Chatterjee and Secretary K J Rao would be undertaking a four-day visit to the valley beginning tomorrow to take stock of the preparatory work, including computerisation of rolls and distribution of voter identity cards. |
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BJP questions NC demand for autonomy Jammu, June 25 The Union Minister for Food Processing, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, has posed several questions in this regard to Dr Farooq Abdullah. He has asked whether it befits a state government to seek greater autonomy when the Central Government provides full financial support to the state’s Annual Plan. “When the state has no resources even to meet the wage bill of the employees, what sort of autonomy is the NC aspiring for,” he asked. “Has Dr Abdullah and his party men realised that if the pre-1953 constitutional status is allowed to be restored to the state, will its people get benefit without the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, Chief Election Commission and several labour and other laws which have been applied to the state with the concurrence of the state legislature”, Prof Gupta asked. “Has it not dawned on the NC leadership that if greater autonomy is granted to Kashmir, will not other states, especially Punjab, seek similar status”, he asked. Prof Gupta told TNS that the demand for greater autonomy was fraught with serious consequences. He said Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani had suggested to Dr Abdullah to come forward for a detailed discussion on the devolution of more powers to the state. Prof Gupta said the NC leadership had not done so and when “it found that the Assembly poll was drawing near, it favoured raking up the demand to woo voters.” The minister said: “By doing so, the NC leadership may not be able to retrieve its position and the erosion it had suffered in its strength will not be restored by raising such a frivolous demand.” Prof Gupta said the restoration of pre-1953 constitutional status would amount to making Kashmir a semi-independent state within the Union of India.” |
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Mela site shifted due to shelling Jammu, June 25 Stating this, the DIG, BSF, Mr
P. J. Sebstian said: “We cannot risk the lives of thousands of pilgrims when Pakistani guns have not fallen silent.” “Yesterday, a BSF soldier was injured in Pakistani firing in Ramgarh area of the Samba sector and hence we have to prevent pilgrims from visiting the tomb which is within the firing range of Pakistani gunners,” he said. If it is bad news for Indian pilgrims, it is worse for Pakistani people as they have been denied permission to come to the zero line for receiving “shakkar” and “sharbat” which, during the past over 200 years, have been found effective for treating chronic skin diseases. This faith in the miraculous powers of the Baba’s “shakkar” and sharbat” attracts over two lakh Pakistani annually to the border to receive the same from BSF jawans. Asked whether the Indian side had not initiated a meeting of field commanders, a senior BSF officer said. “We did not receive any message from across the border. In the past, we would be approached by the field commanders of Pakistan Rangers for finalising details about the annual mela. But this time we did not receive a word indicating that the other side is for continued hostility. Mr Sebstian said though the level of firing and shelling by Pakistani troops had declined considerably, it had not totally stopped. “Hence, we do not want to take any risk,” he said. He made it clear that “shakkar” and “sharbat” would be carried to the new site for distribution among “our pilgrims”. But there are many who feel dismayed over the Pakistani attitude. A number of believers said: “It is one thing to receive ‘shakkar’ and ‘sharbat’ and another to have a bath near the well at the shrine site.” Many recall vividly how thousands of Pakistanis would cross the border and pray at the shrine. This lasted till the 1971 war, after which permission was denied to the people living across the border. In stead, BSF Jawans were asked to carry “shakkar” and “sharbat” to the border for distribution among the believers in Pakistan. Whenever Indo-Pakistan tension on the border remained low, Pakistani Rangers would come to the shrine and lay a “chaddar” on the tomb of Baba Dilip Singh Manhas, a saint of the area. “It will be a miracle if Pakistan agrees to suspend firing so that pilgrims on both sides are allowed to visit the shrine,” a BSF officer said. |
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Pak firing in Ladakh region, jawan hurt Jammu, June 25 The Pakistani troops targeted several forward positions on the Indian side in Battalik, Kaksar and Mashkoh in Kargil district of Ladakh region with artillery fire last night, forcing the Indian troops to retaliate, a spokesman of the Northern Command here said. The artillery duels between the two sides continued till 6 a.m. today. However, no casualty or damage on the Indian side was reported, the spokesman said, adding that the damage on the enemy side could not be ascertained. He said small arms fire exchange in other sectors along the LoC and international border in the state continued during the period. A BSF spokesman said mortar shelling exchange along the international border continued in Sangral area of R.S. Pora sector last night. One BSF constable was injured due to Pakistani firing in Ramgarh sector last evening, he said, adding that his condition is stated to be stable. Intermittent small arms fire exchange was also reported at several places in Hiranagar, Samba, Akhnoor sectors since yesterday without causing any damage on the Indian side, official sources said here.
PTI |
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3 ultras killed, 16 arrested in J&K Srinagar, June 25 Sixteen militants, including a foreigner, were nabbed, while ultras abducted a counter-insurgent during the period in the state. An official spokesman said Hizbul Mujahideen militant Zakir Ahmad Bhat was killed in an inter-group clash at Dhooda in the frontier district of Kupwara last night. The Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was shot by security forces in an encounter at Dhok Seri near Chore Gali last night. A Kalashnikov rifle, 3 magazines, 600 rounds, four under-barrel grenade-launchers and four grenades were seized from the site of the encounter. Another militant was killed by security forces at Mangota last evening. Some arms and ammunition, including 1 kg RDX, were seized from the site of the encounter, he said. Militants had kidnapped counter-insurgent Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Chopan, alias Mahi Pahool, from Lider Pahalgam in south Kashmir, he said. Security forces arrested a foreign militant at New Colony Bijbehara in south Kashmir, while a suspected militant was nabbed at Waribal in Kupwara district last night.
UNI |
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Withdraw
tax on pilgrims’ buses: Hindu bodies Jammu, June 25 In a memorandum submitted on behalf of several Hindu organisations, Mahant Swami Virendranand Giri has requested the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, to use his constitutional powers to persuade the National Conference government to reverse its “anti-Hindu” policy. Mahant Giri said such taxes would discourage pilgrims planning to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine and the Amarnath cave. He said the government was expected to announce a special package for the pilgrims but instead of sanctioning subsidy on travel and stay, it had imposed entry tax. The Mahant has also requested the Governor to ensure that STD and ISD facilities are made available to the Amarnath pilgrims from Pahalgam to the holy cave. He has demanded that Amarnath yatra cards should be issued to pilgrims free of cost. He has also urged the state government to ensure the safety of the Amarnath pilgrims by beefing up security arrangements from Pahalgam to the cave and from Jammu to Khannabal. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the state government said other states had already imposed the entry tax on all buses belonging to the state road transport corporation and private transporters belonging to Jammu and Kashmir. “We used to charge a nominal entry tax and to avoid heavy losses, we were forced to introduce entry tax on the pattern adopted by other state governments.” He said in case other states dropped the entry tax on “our buses”, the state government would follow suit. KANGRA:
The state chief of the Shiv Sena, Dr Gulshan Kumar, in a statement issued here on Tuesday, criticised the state government for the imposition of entry tax on Amarnath and Vaishno Devi pilgrims. He demanded that the decision should be revoked. SRINAGAR (PTI):
The pilgrim buses bound for Amarnath and Vaishno Devi shrines will now have to pay only one-time entry fee for seven days instead of the earlier notified three days. This was conveyed by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to a delegation of the Association of Small Scale Industries, Jammu, which met him here. |
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J&K
Sikhs oppose VHP demand Srinagar, June 25 In a 20-point resolution adopted at Chhattipadshahi Gurdwara today, the SGPC said; “Our community will oppose any such move”, and added that Jammu and Kashmir would remain one. The resolution moved by Mr Joginder Singh demanded that Kashmiri Sikhs should also be given visa to visit place of worships in Pakistan. Demanding immediate measures to end violence in Kashmir, the resolution said bullet-for-bullet was no answer to any problem and all issues should be resolved through talks. Meanwhile,
Gurpurb, the birth anniversary of Guru Hargobind, was celebrated across the valley with religious fervour. Jammu and Kashmir Governor
G.C. Saxena and Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah greeted people on the occasion.
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