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Processions banned as durbar opens Five militants surrender News Analysis Project to save Dal Lake |
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Processions banned as durbar opens Jammu, November 2 The District Magistrate has banned the assembly of five or more persons in the order which shall remain in force for two months. Security arrangements have been made and employees of the secretariat will be escorted by the police. The CRPF and other forces have been deployed in strength on the streets leading to the secretariat. Opposition parties, including the BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP, have called for a bandh in all six districts of Jammu in protest against the “discrimination” with the Jammu region and the “future” to check terrorism. Prof Hari Om, spokesman for the BJP, said representatives of the main vegetable and fruit markets and warehouses had decided to close trading tomorrow. He said the call included a “chakka jam” and no vehicles would be allowed to ply on the Jammu-Pathankot highway. State BJP chief Nirmal Singh said people of the Jammu region had been left with no option but to take recourse to agitation to force the government to accept their demands. |
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Five militants surrender
Srinagar, November 2 Three militants of the Hizb-e-Islami surrendered at Hamam in the Dangiwacha area of Anantnag district, he said. They handed over three AK rifles, 12 magazines, 360 rounds, six hand grenades, one UBGL, three wireless sets, 15 UBGL grenades and a pistol to the authorities. A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant gave himself up at Ziran in Anantnag district and handed over an ak rifle, three magazines, 90 rounds, a hand grenade and a wireless set. Another militant surrendered before the security forces along with an AK rifle, four magazines, 120 rounds and a wireless set in Anantnag, he said. The Chief Minister, addressing a public meeting in Pulwama yesterday, had asked the militants to come back home in a dignified manner and lead a normal life as gun cannot solve any problem. Meanwhile, the security forces arrested Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militant Zaffar Ahmad Wani of Kalantra-Kreeri village of North Kashmir Baramula district at Tangwari village in Anantnag today, the spokesman said.
— PTI |
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News Analysis Jammu, November 2 The Mufti has managed to muster support not only from the Congress but also from the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and Third Front leaders, Mr V.P. Singh, Mr I.K. Gujaral and Mr Chandra Shekhar. During his visit to the valley, Mr Vajpayee made the historic announcement of extending a hand of friendship towards Pakistan. The Mufti has succeeded in improving the tourist inflow to Kashmir. As many as 1.75 lakh tourists visited the valley this summer and 1.50 lakh pilgrims visited the Amarnath shrine. The Centre accepted the Mufti’s proposal for a dialogue with a cross section of leaders in the state and appointed Mr N.N. Vohra as its interlocutor. Mr Advani has now been nominated to hold talks with the separatists who were demanding a dialogue at the highest level. The President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visited the valley. During his two visits to the valley Mr Vajpayee announced a package of Rs 582 crore for the state. A meeting of the Inter-State Council was presided over by Mr Vajpayee and all chief ministers participated in it. Mrs Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting of Chief Ministers of 15 Congress-ruled states at Srinagar. The former Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah and former Union Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah, were mitted at the Vajpayee government. Dr Abdullah said his government was denied financial and other support despite being an ally of the BJP-led government at the Centre. However, a series of major terrorist strikes in the Jammu region in the recent days have made people here to accuse the Mufti government of failure to check the spread of militancy. Earlier, the Mufti government faced severe criticism when a number of persons involved in terrorist activities were released by it without prior approval of the Centre. This held up further release of detainees. The Mufti faced much embarrassment when one of his ministers was accused of harbouring Akshardham temple attackers. Another loss of face when a minister claimed that he had sought help of certain militants during the Assembly elections. The Mufti has yet to do a lot towards building confidence among the people of Jammu. The allegations of discrimination by the government is fuelling the demand for separation of Jammu from the valley and statehood for it. At the forefront of this demand are the RSS and its like-minded organisations. Many promises made in the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition, most of those relating to the Jammu region, remain unfulfilled. No steps have yet been taken to establish a statutory body to oversee equal development of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions and the statutory finance commission for equitable distribution of funds to the region. The accountability commission for checking corruption at high places has not been appointed although a Bill for this was passed last year. |
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Project to save Dal Lake Srinagar, November 2 A sewage plant project to save the lake from pollution had been approved by the Central Government, the Chief Minister said at a function here. The Mufti said Chunti Khul would also be cleared of silt that had accumulated in the water body near the Dal Lake. In this connection, the World Bank was being approached for additional financial assistance, he said. The Chief Minister said the issue regarding the lifting of the ban on shahtoosh would be taken up at the appropriate level.
— PTI |
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