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Azad to contest for Assembly seat
Jehad council shelves ceasefire plan
Red alert in Jammu
Four militants among 6 killed
Army Chief to visit Uri
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Probe ordered into Lone’s killing
7 from Poonch to cross LoC
Accidental firing creates panic
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Azad to contest for Assembly seat
Jammu, November 20 Mr Azad is so far a member of the Rajya Sabha and has to be a member of either the Assembly or the legislative council within six months of having become Chief Minister of the state. He has never been a member of the Assembly even when he was president of the youth Congress in the state. He contested the Lok Sabha election and won from the faraway state of Maharashtra. Interestingly, the coalition between the Congress and the PDP this time has provided an opportunity to Mr Azad and his predecessor, Mufti Sayeed, to fulfil their long cherished desire of being members of the Assembly. The Mufti became a MLA from the Kashmir valley for the first time almost after giving 37 years in politics. He was a minister in the Congress government led by Syed Mir Qasim in 1971 as a member of the legislative council. Now it is the turn of Mr Azad. Now that he has become Chief Minister, he has to fulfil the constitutional obligation of being a member of either of the Houses in the state by April next. One of his close relatives, Mr Mohammad Sharief Niaz, who is an MLA, has offered to vacate his Bhaderwah Assembly seat for Mr Azad to contest. The segment is within his home district of Doda and is considered safe for him. However, sources said that some more options were being probed and Mr Azad would take his own time in finalising the future course. To play safer, he could get himself nominated as a member of the legislative council, but in that case the stigma would remain that he has not contested any election directly. In case he decides to contests from his Doda district, the choice might fall either on the Bhaderwah segment or the Inderwal constituency. But some of his supporters were of the opinion that he should contest the Assembly election from some seat in Kashmir to satisfy the aspirations of the people of the valley that he was representing them. In case Mr Azad chooses to contest from the valley, none of his supporters shall have to vacate his seat for him as the three constituencies of Pattan, Rafiabad and Sangrama, are now unrepresented in Kashmir. A senior leader, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari and Mr Dillawar Mir, both of the National Conference, had resigned from Pattan and Rafiabad, respectively when they quit the party to join the PDP. The Sangrama seat was vacated due to the assassination of Mr G.N. Lone, a minister, recently. However, the Chief Minister shall have to carefully gauge whether to sail in the troubled waters of the valley or not.
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Jehad council shelves ceasefire plan
Jammu, November 20 The plan can not yield results following the escalation in violence in the state by activists of those rebel outfits that do not come under the umbrella of the council. Inside reports said that field commanders of Hizbul Mujahideen realised that their ceasefire could prove meaningless so long as activists of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and other foreign mercenary-dominated orgainsations opposed the plan. In fact, veiled threat from leaders of these outfits had forced Syed Salahuddin to change his mind on getting involved in the trilateral talks for the settlement of the Kashmir issue. It is in the context of these differences that militant groups keep on changing their strategy from time to time. While several rebel groups, including Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, condemned recent bomb blasts, Al- Arifeen, which had claimed responsibility for these attacks, maintained silence. The rebel groups issued statements condemning these blasts after sensing the mood of the people who had enraged over these incidents. The reports said the militant outfits berated these incidents in order to convey to people that they were with them so as to retain some support from a section of the public. Political observers opine that the type of condemnation by the rebel groups was nothing new because in the past also was militant outfits expressed annoyance over incidents in which civilians were killed. What seems to have complicated the situation is that militancy is neither under the control of one agency or an individual nor Pakistani agencies are now in a position to hold the strings of insurgency in their hands. The mushrooming of rebel groups is said to be a calculated move to cause confusion among the security and intelligence agencies which have not succeeded in zeroing in on all hideouts of the rebel groups. Security experts call for a multi-dimensional operations against rebels who have, of late, carved out hideouts not only in the remote rural belts but also in the towns and the cities of Srinagar and Jammu. |
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Red alert in Jammu
Jammu, November 20 Policemen have started checking vehicles at pickets that have been established around the city and at certain strategic places. Night patrolling has also been intensified. The airport has been fortified and only passengers were being allowed to enter the main gate. The IGP, Jammu, Dr S.P. Vaid, today held a high-level meeting to review the security arrangements to forestall militants’ strikes here. Security at hospitals and religious places, at the Secretariat, Chief Minister’s residence and other crowded places was reviewed. The DIG and the SSP of Jammu were also present at the meeting. A police spokesman said inputs by different intelligence agencies point out that terrorists might strike in a big way at some sensitive place like the railway station or at the Raghunath temple. The IGP ordered the strengthening of night patrolling and checking of all suspicious persons. Recent intelligence reports indicated that a group of dreaded terrorists had entered the city with an assigned task of targeting top leaders and sensitive places. The police raided various areas in the suburbs and have so far arrested two persons suspected to be activists of a terrorist outfit. |
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Srinagar, November 20 The police recovered a bullet-riddled body of Irshad Ahmad Mir from a field at Frastkhan Darpora in the Sopore area of Baramula district today. One more body was recovered from a Matador at Thajiwara Kanetwal in Anantnag today, the spokesman said. The security forces shot dead two militants during an encounter at Kither Kishtwar in Doda district last evening. An AK rifle, one pistol, four magazines and two hand grenades were seized from them. Another militant was killed by the forces during a search operation at Drabgam Rajpora in Pulwama district last evening. An AK rifle, three magazines and one hand grenade were seized from him, the spokesman said, adding that the slain militant was identified as Mushtaq Ahmad Wai, alias Sher Khan, of Hizbul Mujahideen. Another Hizb militant was killed by the security forces during a gunbattle at Pathana Pir, near Mendhar, in Poonch district. Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Poonch-Rajouri) V.K. Singh said Special Operation Group personnel and the 37 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) troops were making searches at Pathana Pir last night when militants fired at them. The fire was returned. In the ensuing exchange of fire, lasting more than an hour, the jawans shot dead one Hizb militant, he added. The slain militant was identified as Mubasaq Bashir. One AK rifle, four magazines, one hand grenade and one diary were seized from him.
— UNI |
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Srinagar, November 20 The defence spokesman Lieut-Col V.K. Batra, said the Army Chief, accompanied by his wife, Jyotsna Singh, will first visit Teethwal soon after his arrival here on a day-long visit tomorrow. At Teethwal along the Line of Control (LoC), he will interact with the quake affected people, he added. The Army Chief will then visit the quake-hit Uri. He will meet the quake survivors at Charunda, Col Batra said. Ms Singh, who is also the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) President, will distribute relief material among the victims in the quake-affected areas. Meanwhile, a moderate aftershock hit quake-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir once again today, triggering panic among survivors of the catastrophic October 8 tremor. The earthquake, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, hit the Indo-Pakistan border region in Jammu and Kashmir at 11.5 am the India Meterological Department (IMD) said. The aftershock had its epicentre at 34.7 degree north latitude and 73.9 degree east longitude in Pakistan. However, no casualties or damage to property were reported. — UNI
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Probe ordered into Lone’s killing
Srinagar, November 20 The Kashmir Divisional Commissioner had been assigned the job to inquire into the slaying and “ascertain failure, if any, in the chain of command and control that allowed the militants to break the security cordon in the Tulsi Bagh area here on October 18 and assassinate Lone,” an official spokesman said. The probe would examine the security arrangements for protected persons, especially in the context of the attack on Lone and CPM leader M.Y. Tarigami, MLA, who escaped that day, he said. It would locate and assign responsibility for “lapses at the relevant level, if any, and examine whether these form part of a systematic failure”, he said. Lone was slain by militants in the fortified residential area of ministers and bureaucrafts. His official residence was also broken into that day, with gold and cash worth lakhs of rupees taken away. PDP leader and former Tourism Minister G H Mir had refused to buy the police version of the attack and asked the new Chief Minister to order a probe in a communication recently. — PTI |
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7 from Poonch to cross LoC
Jammu, November 20 Chakkan-da-Bagh has been declared the point from where the crossing will be allowed. Those cleared for crossing from this point will first report at Titrinote in PoK from where they will be taken to Hajira. This is the first officially cleared crossing of civilians ever since Partition of the country. However, occasionally some families illegally cross the LoC. Among the seven, whose names have been cleared for crossing the LoC, are Quateel Sarvar, his wife, Parveen, daughter Sakina and son Feroze. Another couple, Javed Iqbal and his wife Gulrez Anjum (all from Mendhar village), have been cleared for the crossing. A resident of Nangali, Mohammad Aslam, will also accompany them. |
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Accidental firing creates panic
Jammu, November 20 Head Constable Dalip Kumar was standing at the platform No. 1 when his finger hit the trigger and the automatic weapon started spraying bullets. However, no one was injured. Fearing a terrorist attack, all the police pickets in the area got alerted and passengers started running helter-skelter for safety. The railway station has been targeted by terrorists a couple of times. Senior police officers said it was a case of accidental firing and an inquiry had been ordered into the incident. It was a usual practice that weapons were cleaned on Sundays and the Head Constable was checking his AK-47 when his finger accidentally hit the trigger.
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