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Conspiracy behind ethnic cleansing in Jammu: Advani CM visits
‘zero’ line |
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Two girls try to cross LoC Multi-tier security for Vaishno Devi shrine
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Conspiracy behind ethnic cleansing in Jammu: Advani Jammu, May 14 Mr Advani was talking to the mediapersons here this afternoon after visiting Batote and Doda where he participated in the cremation of the two persons who were killed in the yesterday’s grenade attack on a BJP-backed procession in the Doda town. He also visited the medical college here to meet the seven persons injured in the grenade attack. Former union minister Chaman Lal Gupta and state BJP chief Nirmal Singh accompanied him. Mr Advani said incidents of killing of innocent persons by terrorists have been going on since 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir, but the recent incidents of targeting the Hindus were of a different category. These could not be treated as usual incidents of terrorism as these had a specific design that had to be defeated, he added. Both Centre and the state governments should take cognisance of such happenings. Without naming Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has blamed the BJP for the yesterday’s grenade attack, Mr Advani said those blaming the BJP were legitimising terrorism. He said that the situation in the state continued to cause concern to the country. Mr Advani said the BJP-led NDA government never compromised on the issue of terrorism and had laid the precondition that Pakistan should abjure cross-border terrorism before peace talks were initiated. On the other hand, the Congress-led UPA government started its innings by scrapping POTA, which was the only law against terrorist activities. Anti-terrorism laws were more stringent than POTA in Britain and the USA. He said it was unfortunate that the UPA government did not have any policy towards terrorism as was reflected in the statements of their leaders. The BJP leader wondered as to why various political parties here were supporting Pakistan’s demand for demilitarisation in the state. The Centre has already withdrawn a brigade of the Army from the Mahore area in the Udhampur district. The leader said his party had been demanding that the presence of the Army should be more, particularly in Doda district. The village defence committees (VDCs) should be provided sophisticated arms and ammunition to match with that of the ultras, he added. Meanwhile, members of the media clashed with the police here after they were initially refused entry to the hospital where Mr Advani met the injured persons. DSP Sanjay Kotwal allegedly pushed the journalists when they tried to gain entry. However, matter was sorted out with the intervention of other police officers and senior reporters. |
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CM visits
‘zero’ line Jammu, May 14 The road would be reopened on June 19, over 58 years after it was closed. Mr Azad visited the customs office that is under construction and asked the officials to make emigration and customs complex an ideal spot so that the passengers coming from across the line of control (LoC) felt comfortable. In the first stage the route will be opened exclusively for members of the families that were divided on both sides of the LoC. After easing of tension in the border area, Mr Azad is the first Chief Minister of the state to walk up to the “zero” line on the LoC. All preparations on the Indian side would be completed by June 10. A passenger bus would ply on the route every fortnight. |
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Siachen Pioneers to get more punch Leh, May 14 Known as the 114 Helicopter Unit, the very survival of troops manning posts as high as 22,000 feet depend upon the Siachen Pioneers, as the unit is aptly called, and their Cheetah helicopters, as no other flying machine can land at that altitude. The unit is now awaiting induction of the Cheetal helicopter, a re-engined and more powerful version of the Cheetah. ‘‘We are expecting to be re-equipped with the Cheetal later this year,’’ the unit’s commanding officer, Wg Cdr Jeene Eringery, told The Tribune at the unit’s home base here. ‘‘The Cheetals carried out summer trails over Siachen last year followed by winter trials during the last few months,’’ he added. Cheetals were flown over the glacier for about 50 hours during each trial session by seasoned pilots to evaluate each aspect of the flying machine. ‘‘With the induction of the Cheetal, our operational capability would increase by anything between 25 to 50 per cent,’’ the commanding officer said. The Cheetal has the same airframe as the Cheetah, but is powered by the engine used in the Dhruv advanced light helicopter. ‘‘A more powerful engine means we would be to fly still higher and be able to carry more load,’’ a pilot said. The Siachen Pioneers set a world record when it carried out a casualty evacuation from an altitude of 25,000 feet. The unit, according to Wg Cdr Eringery, is awaiting ratification of this feat from the Gunnies Book of Records. The 114 Helicopter Unit was raised at the 10,600 feet high Leh airbase on April 1, 1964, the IAF's only flying unit to be raised at that altitude. It has seen action in Indo-Pak wars, major operations and other mercy operations. It was the 114 HU that supported the High Altitude Warfare School’s first ‘‘exploratory expedition’’, led by Colonel N Kumar to the Siachen Glacier area in September 1978. The first landing in Siachen (as part of Operation Meghdoot) was on August 24, 1982, by a Cheetah helicopter of the unit. The 114 HU now has the unique distinction of being the only flying unit to be operating continuously in an active war zone for twenty years since Operation Meghdoot was launched in 1984. Since then it has been flying to altitudes as high as 20,000 feet as a matter of routine, holding its motto Apatsu Mitram — A Friend in Distress — in good stead. Till the 1999 Kargil conflict, women pilots also flew with the squadron, but were later withdrawn following a policy decision owing to operational and physiological factors. It was during the Kargil conflict that women pilots flying in hostile environment came into prominence after pictures of Flg Offr Gunjan Saxsena climbing into a Cheetah’s cockpit with an AK-47 rifle sling across her shoulders were published.
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Two girls try to cross LoC Jammu, May 14 The girls, belonging to Thane in Maharashtra and Haldwani in Uttaranchal, were detained by the police while moving under suspicious circumstances near the Chakan-da-Bagh outpost on the Poonch-Rawlakot road. They were not arrested as nothing incriminating was found and were let off after questioning. They were sent here from Poonch under police protection and their parents were informed about the incident. |
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Multi-tier security
for Vaishno Devi shrine
Jammu, May 14 “We have today activated a multi-tier set up involving the Army, CRPF, police and intelligence agency sleuths for fool-proof security for the shrine and pilgrims travelling to Vaishno Devi and the Katra base camp in the wake of the threat from militants,” a top security source said. The manager of the Jalandhar railway station had received a letter from militants of the Lashker-e-Taiba who threatened to blow up the shrine on May 14 along with the railway station and the Golden Temple in Amritsar. “We do not want to take this threat lightly. We have to be vigilant and we have made fool-proof security arrangements,” the source said. Security has been stepped up at all entry and exit points for Katra town and Vaishno Devi shrine. Additional security personnel have been deployed at important places like bus stands, main markets, the Vaishno Devi ticketing counter, Ban Ganga, Jammu Road and Panthal road, they said.
— PTI |
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