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| Tuesday,
July 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India   
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NEWS ANALYSIS
No discussion on autonomy: CM 19 bodies unite, form Jammu State Morcha US TV channel briefed on border fencing |
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Top Hizb militant among 13 killed 130 trucks to ferry commuters in J&K Army opens twin-bridge
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NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, July 15 With the demand from the BJP, the state unit of the Congress, the PDP and other political groups, including a section of separatists, for placing the state under the Central rule before the poll schedule is announced gaining ground the Centre has been left with two options. First, it has to persuade the Chief Minister to recommend the imposition of Central rule. Initially both Dr Farooq Abdullah and his son, Omar Abdullah, President of the NC, were vehemently opposing it. They argued, that when the Central rule was not imposed in UP and three other states where the Assembly elections were held recently why should Jammu and Kashmir be singled out. He declared that he was ready for the Central rule in case it was imposed in Gujarat where elections are expected to be held shortly. However, the BJP leaders, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, mounted pressure on Dr Abdullah and his son that the recommendations for the imposition of Central rule should come from the Chief Minister so that nobody blamed the Centre for having dislodged the duly elected government. It was ultimately Mr Advani who made a startling disclosure that both Dr Abdullah and Omar Abdullah had told him that they were not opposed to the imposition of Central rule before the holding of the poll. His claim was not contradicted by Abdullahs but instead Mr Omar Abdullah announced, during the Martyrs Day function in Srinagar on July 13, that his party had no problem contesting the elections under Governor’s rule. “We are not scared of that because I am confident the NC will return to power with a thumping majority.” Secondly, the Centre could wait till the expiry of the six-year term of the current Assembly in the first week of October. As per the Constitution the term of the Assembly cannot be extended without going in for a major amendment to the state Constitution. The moment the term of the Assembly expires the Governor can step in and assume to himself all powers of the state legislature and that too with the concurrence of the President of India. Constitutional experts are of the view that by resorting to the second option the Centre will act in a dignified manner and avoid giving to the NC a chance to win sympathy of the voters if the Farooq regime is dislodged. As the Central Government is examining all these possibilities indications are that the poll in Jammu and Kashmir may be postponed atleast by six months. It is learnt that fresh poll may be held in March or April and by that time the issuance of identity cards would have made much progress. Till date out of over 54 lakh voters not more than 10,000 voters have applied for identity cards. The NC leadership has already become suspicious on this count as it believes that slow progress in the issuance of the identity cards to the voters is part of the “conspiracy” to postpone the poll schedule, which is otherwise due in the first week of October. According to experts, if the identity card printing process is not completed by March and the talks with different separatist groups failing to achieve desired result the state could be placed under the President’s rule because the Governor’s rule “can last only for six months” as per the state Constitution. At present top leadership of the BJP is not only engaged in evolving a definite plan for tackling the menace of cross-border terrorism but in finding a suitable alternative to the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, and in suitable rehabilitation of Dr Farooq Abdullah who is planning to quit in favour of his son as the state’s Chief Minister. Two names had figured for the post of the Governor. If the BJP leadership accepts the suggestion of Dr Abdullah, Mr Saxena will be allowed to continue. In case it is keen to have a new man in Raj Bhavan Mr K.C. Pant is said to be a favourite after Mr A.S. Daulat lost the race as he could not give a firm commitment to the Centre that separatists will take part in the elections. In the light of these developments the state is in for a major political and constitutional change. What shape it will assume may become clear within next two to three months. |
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No discussion on autonomy: CM Srinagar, July 15 Talking to mediapersons outside the Assembly lobby after casting his vote for the president election, the Chief Minister said his party would also appoint its member to take up the issue with the Centre. The ruling National Conference had autonomy as its main election plank. A resolution on autonomy passed by the Assembly, last year, was rejected by the Central Government. Allaying fears over the reports regarding the imposition of Governor’s rule in the state prior to the forthcoming Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said those had no base. He added that in the case of Gujarat, which also goes to the polls later this year, should also be brought under Centre’s rule. “Nobody can threaten us that they will take part only if there is Governor’s rule in the state. Dr Abdullah said this while replying to questions of mediapersons. He said the elections would be held as per the schedule before the expiry of the term of the House. He evaded the queries whether his son Omar Abdullah would take over as the Chief Minister. Referring to the massacre of over 27 labourers in Jammu, the Chief Minister squarely blamed Pakistan for such dastardly acts. He claimed that such incidents indicated that the situation was out of hands of the agencies in Pakistan. Replying a
question over the protest at the carnage site in Jammu on the visit of
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani yesterday, the Chief Minister held that there was anger against the assailants. |
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19 bodies unite, form Jammu State Morcha Jammu, July 15 The JSM would be based on the pattern of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference and former RSS vice-president Shree Kumar would act its convener, a JSM spokesman told PTI here today. Prominent organisations which are part of the JSM, include the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, the RSS, the Jammu Hoteliers Association, the Jammu Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Confederation of Lawyers, the Ex-Servicemen’s
Association, the Nationalistic Front, the All-Party Statehood Front, the Sikh Subha, the Jammu Joint Students Federation and the Panthers Party. The JSM, formed at a meeting held recently, would soon formulate a multi-pronged strategy to press for Jammu state, the spokesman said, adding a signature campaign would be started by the end of the month. JMM chief Varinder Gupta, who is an executive committee member of the JSM, said “the platform was an example of unity and oneness for a common cause of the people who had suffered for the past 55 years.” “Some political parties want to defame the movement for Jammu’s statehood terming it communal, but we have Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs on the panel,” he said.
PTI |
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US TV channel briefed on border fencing Jammu, July 15 They have been telling this to foreign mediapersons who visited the Pakistani side of the border since the armies buildup. Mr Dilip Trivedi, IG of the BSF, told The Tribune here today that a team of a US TV channel, which came to India after visiting Pakistan, had to be debriefed and told that the fence being built on the Indian side of the border was necessitated by the Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism. Mr Trivedi reportedly told the TV channel team that if the Pakistani allegation of India exporting terrorism was true it should not prevent us from building the fence which would also address their complaint. He said that the infiltration on the 187-km-long international border between Paharpur near Pathankot and Munnawar Tawi beyond Akhnoor had come down to “almost zero” due to the mobilisation of forces and mining of a major portion of the border area. Mr Trivedi said that the second phase of the border fencing had been put behind the schedule because of the mining of the border area and the migration of labourers. But this would not affect the work for long, he added. He said that the fencing work was initially assigned to the CPWD in 1994, but it could not undertake the work as the Pakistani troops used to fire on its workers. Thereafter, the BSF was assigned the job in January last year. The fencing was being fabricated at the BSF headquarters at Palaura, near here, and then carried to the border for being installed. He said 15 km of the border had been fenced in the first phase and the work had gathered momentum in the second phase as the BSF personnel had gained experience now. Mr Trivedi said that 10 km of the fenced area had been floodlighted to prevent infiltration. A total of 40 km of the border had been fenced despite regular firing from across the border. A target of fencing 43 km of the border had been fixed for this year and the entire border was expected to be fenced in the next two to three years. The fencing of a kilometre of the border was costing Rs 22 lakh. Mr Trivedi was personally monitoring the day-to-day progress of the work. Reports indicate that there has been a decline in exchange of wireless messages between various terrorist outfits and their mentors in Pakistan as they have realised that such messages are being intercepted. However, this is not an indicator of Pakistan having washed its hands of sponsoring terrorism, security forces believe. |
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Top Hizb militant among 13 killed Jammu, July 15 Zubair Ahmad Khan, alias ‘Azad’, a battalion commander of the Hiz-bul Mujahideen, was killed in an encounter with Rashtriya Rifles at Kawcharwan on the outskirts of Srinagar. Another Hizbul militant identified as Noor Mohammad was killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel in the Gandoh area of Doda district. In another encounter in the Warwan area of the district, two militants were killed during the period. Militants fired upon a search party near Palhallan on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, killing a Junior Commissioned Officer of Rashtriya Rifles, Ateeq-ur-Rehman, sources said. The security personnel retaliated and while chasing the militants, came across a group of farmers. Suspecting them to be militants as two of them tried to escape, they opened fire, killing both on the spot, the sources said. The killings sparked off protests and thousands of residents took to street and staged a dharna on the highway. They dispersed only after an assurance from the Army and police that the matter would be looked into and the guilty punished. Three powerful IEDs planted by militants were detected on the Kishtwar-Doda road by security forces this morning. Traffic on the road was disrupted for four hours till the IEDs were defused. Two unidentified militants were killed in a gunfight with Army personnel in the Mandi area of Poonch district while another was killed in the forward area of the district. A woman was kidnapped and shot dead by militants in the Rajdhani area of the district while an activist of Ikhwan was killed at Samboora village in Pulwama district and a militant in Nasnoor forests of Anantnag.
PTI |
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130 trucks to ferry commuters in J&K Srinagar, July 15 With this, the number of vehicles operated by the Corporation every day on district and city routes would cross 400, he said. The JKSRTC would soon increase the number of vehicles in rural areas as per directions issued by the state Chief Secretary, the spokesman added.
PTI |
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Army opens twin-bridge Srinagar, July 15 The twin-bridge, constructed by the Army with the active support of the locals near Thalli village, was inaugurated by the Commander of the Machhal Brigade, Brig C.S. Sandhu. Brigadier Sandhu appreciated the participation of the locals in accomplishing the task.
PTI |
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