 |
|
Monday,
December 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Respond positively to Advani’s
5 ultras, ASI killed in J&K |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEWS ANALYSIS Talibanisation of Kashmir Jammu, December 29 Last year when a teenaged girl in Srinagar was seen wearing jeans, in violation of the dress code issued by militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jabbar, acid was thrown on her. She was bruised for trying to ignore attempts at the Talibanisation of Kashmir. Musical fountain at Bagh-e-Bahu
|
|||||
|
Respond
positively to Advani’s offer: Mufti Jammu, December 29 The Mufti was addressing a meeting at Khwas village, near Surankot in Poonch district, where two persons were killed by terrorists. He said the gun could not solve any problem and only those who were against the restoration of peace could afford to ignore the assurance of Mr Advani. Assuring redress of grievances of people, he said the construction of the 30-km Koteranka-Khwas road would be taken up soon and he had already sanctioned Rs 30 lakh towards the project estimated to cost Rs 3 crore. The local MLA, Thakur Puran Singh, apprised the Chief Minister of the problems of the area and demanded 30 SPOs be recruited from the area and deployed for protection of the people. He also demanded the upgradation of the high school here and improvement in road communication. The Chief Minister met Pawan Kumar, son of slain Thakur Dass at Kwas village and assured help. A cash relief of Rs 2 lakh has already been provided to the family.
|
|
5 ultras, ASI killed in J&K Srinagar, December 29 ASI Bashir Ahmad Ganai was shot dead by militants outside his house at Haff village in the Zainapora area of Shopian in Pulwama district late last night. Two militants in the Army uniform, entered the house of Ganai, who is at present posted as private secretary to Awantipora SP Vijay Kumar, and asked him to accompany them on the pretext that their officer had summoned him. As Ganai came out with them, the militants fired at him from the point-blank range killing him on the spot. In another incident in Pulwama, the spokesman said National Conference block president Ghulam Nabi escaped a bid on his life when militants opened fire at his residence at Kadilbal village of Pampore late last night. Policemen posted at his residence returned the fire forcing the militants to flee. None was hurt in the shootout. No militant outfit had yet owned responsibility for the incidents. An army jawan and a militant were killed in a fierce encounter at Didha village in the Gool area of Udhampur district early today, the spokesman said. The spokesman said security forces killed another militant in an encounter in the Rafiabad area of Baramula district. The body of a Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami militant, Ghulam Mohammad alias Hajam Shikari, was recovered by the police from the Daggar nullah in Doda district. The police recovered two rifles, a light machine-gun and some ammunition from a hideout at Suranga in the Gandoh area of Doda district. Two security personnel were injured when service rifle of one of them went off accidentally at the high security Gupkar road, official sources said. The incident took place when special security bureau (SSB) jawans, posted at a guest house, were cleaning their weapons. Meanwhile, a surrendered militant Niyaz Ahmad Sheikh, alias Kinga is suspected to be the main accused in the killing of PDP MLA Abdul Aziz Mir, a senior Jammu and Kashmir police official said. The SP Awantipora, Mr Vijay Kumar, said five persons were yesterday arrested in connection with the murder and during their interrogation the name of the surrendered militant, a resident of Konibal, the native place of Abdul Aziz Mir, came to fore as the main accused. Efforts were on to nab Kinga who has been on the run, he said. JAMMU: The security forces today killed two Pakistan-trained militants in Domana, about 5 km west of the city. According to the police, on receipt of information from people of the area, who had spotted militants having gone into hiding in a field, a police party was rushed to the area. When the militants tried to flee soldiers, who had cordoned off the area, opened fire killing both of them on the spot. Some weapons and explosives were seized from the spot. |
|
NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, December 29 This incident, coupled with death threats from some rebel outfits, saw people purchasing burqas. Within days of this incident, tailors hiked the burqa stitching charges by Rs 50 per piece. Cloth merchants exhausted their stock of black cloth used for sewing burqas. Fresh orders were booked and cloth worth over Rs 30 lakh was imported from outside the state. And one fine morning pretty damsels were seen going to offices and educational institutions wearing burqa, hiding their beauty. It lasted for not more than three months. Now jeans, jackets and “tight kameez” are back. The scene has shifted to the border towns of Rajouri and Poonch where the Al-Badr has circulated posters, asking women to wear burqa whenever they move out of their houses or go to attend classes. Three girls were recently killed by militants in Rajouri. Though the main provocation for their elimination was that their parents were serving in the paramilitary forces, shivers went down the spine of people who attributed the attack to the violation of the dress code. During the past five days, 5,000 burqas have been sold in Rajouri town and tailors have received a demand for another 15,000. Some traders plan to visit Delhi where readymade burqas are on sale for Rs 150 per piece, whereas the stitching charges alone in Rajouri have been hiked to Rs 200. Three days ago, a youth in Srinagar, received serious burn injuries after being set ablaze. The attackers announced that the youth had been selling drugs. Following this incident, the Hiyalalfala, a little known militant outfit, announced a deadline for closure of shops selling tobacco and cigarettes. The sellers have been given a week’s time. As tension mounted in the summer capital, the Hizbul Mujahideen announced that the call for the closure of tobacco and cigarette shops lacked the support of militant outfits. It alleged that the Hiyalalfala was a government-sponsored organisation. The same allegation was levelled when people started opposing the dress code of the Lashkar-e-Jabbar. The response to the dress code died gradually. Women in Kashmir actually did not pay much heed to the dress code issued by various organisations from time to time. Fear had forced them to accept the dress code, but only for a limited time as they felt suffocated in the atmosphere, which they termed as “dictatorial.” How could they accept the dress code when they have encouraged the latest designs in jeans and jackets, most of them imported from foreign countries. They have, over the years, defied the ban on beauty parlours and cable television network. A senior police officer, commenting on these incidents, said “these are nothing but various manifestations of the plan of carrying out the Talibanisation of the Muslim-dominated areas in the state.” He said the plan had “almost fizzled out” in Kashmir and “it is to be seen how long and to what extent fundamentalists will be able to carry their Islamisation plan in Poonch and Rajouri districts.” However, besides the Talibanisation plan, the militants try to create scare among the people so that they do not cooperate with the security forces. Scare is writ large on the faces of people in Poonch and Rajouri. Government agencies are not inclined to intervene on the plea that any step against those who have issued the dress code could be exploited by the militants by accusing the state administration of interfering in the religious affairs of people. Government functionaries seem to have left it to the people to defeat the plan, as had been done in the Kashmir valley. |
|
Musical
fountain at Bagh-e-Bahu Jammu, December 29 The installation of the musical fountain will add to the scenic splendour of Bagh-e-Bahu and provide additional recreational facilities to the visitors. The beautification plan of the garden taken in hand at a cost of Rs 91 lakh envisages the construction of modern seating pavilions on its slopes. The pavilions are expected to be completed at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. The Union Tourism Ministry has provided Rs 30 lakh for the beautification of the garden. Speaking on the occasion Mr Sharma sought liberal Central assistance for the development of tourist spots like Patnitop, Sanasar, Mansar, Sudhmahadev, Bani, Bhaderwah and Kud in the Jammu region. Mr Sharma said the government was trying to revive the tourism sector in the state which had received a great setback during militancy. The tourism industry, besides being the backbone of the economy of the state, provided gainful employment to thousands of people. For attracting tourists in large number, the restoration of peace was imperative, Mr Sharma said and sought the cooperation of people in wiping out militancy from the state. Meanwhile, Mr Sharma yesterday inspected work on the first underground aquarium at Bahu Fort temple on the banks of Tawi river. The first phase of the Rs 3 crore project will be commissioned in March. It will comprise museum having different types of aquatic fauna that will be beneficial for students of colleges and universities and other academicians. It will also have a well-equipped laboratory. So far, over Rs 1.50 crore have been spent on the project. Explaining the salient features of the project, the Commissioner, Fisheries, Dr N.A. Jan, said work on the project taken up in 1995 would be completed in two phases. The first phase would be completed by March next year while the second phase would be ready by March 2004. The second phase will have aquaria in caves, Singapore-type oceanarium and a toy shop. In addition, it will have well designed charts and posters depicting biologists, different varieties of aquarium fish, including sea fish, aquatic eco-system, etc.
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
