J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Five militants among nine killed
Srinagar, March 29
Nine persons, including five militants, were killed and two boys kidnapped in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said. The security forces also arrested two militants and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including RDX, mortar and grenades, in the state, an official spokesman said.

Cong leaders resent allotment of ticket to ‘losers’
Jammu, March 29
A section of the ruling Congress here is fuming over the last minute selection of candidates today for the legislative council seats by the party high command, completely ignoring senior leaders.

Hilal War’s warning on bus
Srinagar, March 29
Sensing that the Jammu and Kashmir Realistic Front (JKRF) leaders would not be granted permission to travel across the LoC on April 7, its Chairman, Mr Hilal Ahmad War, has threatened to proceed on its own, defying the authorities.

Punjabi to be taught in J&K schools
Jammu, March 29
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to start teaching of Punjabi language in various schools, including those run by private bodies, from the current academic session.

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Five militants among nine killed

Srinagar, March 29
Nine persons, including five militants, were killed and two boys kidnapped in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said.

The security forces also arrested two militants and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including RDX, mortar and grenades, in the state, an official spokesman said.

He said troops killed two militants in an encounter in the Nonial forests in Rajouri district of Jammu region today. One AK rifle, two magazines, two hand grenades and one wireless set were seized from the slain militants.

The operation was still going on when the reports last came in, he said, adding the encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants.

Three more militants were killed by the security forces at Arwani in Anantnag district last night.

Militants kidnapped and later killed a postman, Nazir Ahmad Bhat, at Checkoora Pulwama.

The spokesman said Alam Din, who was injured in a grenade blast at Batmaloo on March 27, died in the hospital today.

He said militants kidnapped and later killed another person, Imtiyaz Ahmad, at Jameeri in Udhampur district last night, while the beheaded body of a driver, Ghulam Mohammad, was recovered at Kupwara.

The security forces arrested two militants, one of them belonging to Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT), and seized one AK rifle, two magazines and 80 cartridges at Chandhara in Pulwama and Tangmarg.

The security forces busted a hideout and recovered 22 UBGL grenades, 11 hand grenades, seven detonators, four IEDs, one mortar shell (60 mm) and two kg of RDX at Pallulian Banni. However, no one was arrested. — UNI

Cong leaders resent allotment of ticket to ‘losers’
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 29
A section of the ruling Congress here is fuming over the last minute selection of candidates today for the legislative council seats by the party high command, completely ignoring senior leaders.

The list of three candidates was finalised in Delhi this afternoon for filing of papers tomorrow, the last date for this purpose.

Election for the six vacant seats of the Upper House will be held here on April 11.

The PDP, which is heading the coalition government, has also finalised the names of three candidates, as both partners will share three seats each.

There is also resentment in the Panthers Party, another partner in the coalition, which has been denied any share in the vacant seats. The party chief, Mr Bhim Singh, has sought the intervention of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, patron of the J&K coordination committee, in the matter.

It is learnt that certain Congress leaders were annoyed as the party high command has given the ticket to those persons who lost the recent elections in the state.

Those who have been given the Congress ticket are: Mr Abdul Gani Vakil, Mr Shiv Dev Singh and Mr Ashok Sharma. The PDP is learnt to have selected Mr Tasadaq Hussain, Mr Basharat Bukhari and Mr Nizamuddin Khatana. It is being pointed out that Mr Vakil had lost the recent Lok Sabha election in the Kashmir valley, while Mr Sharma lost the Assembly election from Rajouri district.

Among the senior Congress leaders who have been denied the ticket were Chaudhary Aslam, former PCC chief, Mr Dharampal Sharma, Mr Ravinder Sharma and Mrs Swaran Lata.

To make its presence felt in the Jammu region, the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has managed to convince the Congress high command to spare one seat for the PDP from here and has fielded Mr Tasadaq Hussain.

The National Conference (NC) is expected to finalise its candidates tonight.

Meanwhile, Mr Bhim Singh has said that his Panthers Party, the CPM and the third front, with whose support the Mufti government came to power, were being ignored completely by the PDP and the Congress. He has urged Mrs Sonia Gandhi to spare at least one seat for his party.

An official announcement said that papers for the six vacant seats of the legislative council could be delivered by 3 pm tomorrow. The scrutiny would be held on March 31 and withdrawals can be made till April 2.

Hilal War’s warning on bus
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 29
Sensing that the Jammu and Kashmir Realistic Front (JKRF) leaders would not be granted permission to travel across the LoC on April 7, its Chairman, Mr Hilal Ahmad War, has threatened to proceed on its own, defying the authorities.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said though he and his party colleagues had applied for the issuance of necessary permit to travel by the first bus to Muzaffarabad, yet it was felt that such permission would not be granted to them. “In such a case the JKRF leaders would proceed by its own coach without caring for the consequences because such travel is the inherent right of the people of the state”, he stated.

The JKRF had also kept a bus termed as “goodwill mission coach” ready for proceeding to Muzaffarabad from here on April 7. The separatist organisation in February last year had held a token bus ride to Muzaffaon here. Mr War claims that the beginning of bus service on the road had been the first demand of his organisation.

The Peoples Conference Chairman, Mr Sajjad Lone, here today welcomed the Muzaffarabad bus service and termed it as the first step towards “complete psychological integration of the two sides of Kashmir.” In a statement here today, he however, cautioned the Prime Minister not to “convert the bus service into a farce.” The bus service was not a product of visionary statesmanship of the Indian and Pakistani leadership but a product of a “heroic and defiant struggle of the people of Kashmir”, he said. “It is a sacrificial product not a ceremonial product”, he added.

“The right to flag off the bus or board the bus lies with the local people and not with those people who have been a part of the annihilation process of the Kashmiris. The bus service has the right psychological content to set the stage for realistic reconciliation. Please do not make it impotent by pondering to politically impotent section of leadership keen to thrive on the sacrifices in which they have no role. At a time when we have the opportunity to make a history, please do not repeat a history”, Mr Sajjad Lone, Chairman of the People’s Conference stated.

Punjabi to be taught in J&K schools
Our Correspondent

Jammu, March 29
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to start teaching of Punjabi language in various schools, including those run by private bodies, from the current academic session.

This was conveyed to a delegation of senior Sikh leaders, who called on the Education Minister, Mr Harsh Dev Singh, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Ghulam Nabi Lone, and the secretary, Education, here today.

The delegation was led by Mr Rangil Singh, senior vice-president of the ruling PDP, and comprised Mr Amar Singh, president, Sikh Welfare Society, Mr Jagdev Singh, president of the state Akali Dal, Mr Paramjit Singh, AISSF chief, Mr Mohinder Singh.

The Sikh leaders complained to the ministers that the government had not fulfilled its promise of introducing Punjabi teaching in schools.

In response to the pressure mounted by the Sikh leaders, Mr Harsh Dev Singh instructed Secretary, Education, to take immediate steps in this direction. The members of the Sikh delegation also demanded creation of the post of Punjabi teachers in various schools so that students keen to study the language did not suffer.

The members of the delegation were assured that a training programme for teaching Punjabi would be conducted for the teachers and its duration would be three to six months.

One killed in tanker blast

Jammu, March 29
One person was killed on the spot and three others were injured when a tanker, carrying liquified petroleum gas, exploded in the Narwal area here today, official sources said. — PTI