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House adjourned amidst noisy protests
NC not to soften stand
Azad ready to discuss report
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Township for displaced Kashmiris by 2009
Captain’s body taken to Kathua
NC to cash in on anti-incumbency wave
NC-PDP showdown in offing
1st superspeciality hospital soon
Protest for release of detained youths
Infiltrators take advantage
of hilly terrain
Militancy fails to break Hindu-Muslim unity
Bandipore slow on progress, development
Import of poultry declines in Kashmir
Delimitation panel to be poll issue
Victims of insurgency hope for better future
Govt scheme for aspiring candidates
Documentary on child labour chosen for film festival
Guv inspects work on cancer hospital
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House adjourned amidst noisy protests
Jammu, January 28 The ghost of corruption refuses to die down as National Conference legislators didn’t budge from their stand, demanding sacking of forest minister Qazi Mohammed Afzal and finance minister Tariq Hameed Karra purportedly involved in the forest scam. The House met this morning after it was adjourned on January 24 following noisy protests by opposition parties on the same issue. As soon as the House assembled this morning at 10 am for the day’s business, National Conference (NC) legislators along with Panthers Party (PP) legislators raised slogans demanding resignation of two ministers, dissolution of legislative assembly and imposition of President’s rule. Though Speaker Tara Chand informed opposition that a discussion on Kundal report would be taken up immediately after question hour yet pandemonium continued till 10:18 am forcing him to adjourn the House for half an hour. When the House reassembled again at 12.30 pm in the presence of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the opposition Abdul Rahim Rather made it clear that the government should better drop the two ministers first before having discussion on the report. “Precedence says that indicted ministers should resign first to pave the way for an impartial probe and we too reiterate our stand that they should go,” he asserted. Seeking attention of the Chief Minister, Rather said, “Whosoever has been accused in the report you should take action against him and we would prove how green gold has been plundered.” He continued, “People are looking up to you and you should act like you did in the case of previous minister (Peerzada Mohammed Sayeed). We too are serious in running the House and assure all cooperation to you but not on selective basis.” However, Azad expressed his inability to take any decision without having discussion on the Kundal report. He further said, “How can I deliver the judgment without hearing the arguments of opposition, treasury and ministers (allegedly involved).” However, Azad’s logic failed to convince National Conference legislators, who eventually staged a walkout. Meanwhile, the PDP has outrightly rejected NC’s demand. Party sources said PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and party president Mehbooba Mufti had told Azad that the opposition’s demand was baseless. |
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Kundal Report
Jammu, January 28 The Upper House of the state, Legislative Assembly, today witnessed a heated exchange of words following the protest by the members of the Opposition National Conference, who were demanding resignation of the two cabinet ministers who have been named in the Kundal Committee Report. The opposition members staged a walkout from the House as they demanded resignation of the two ministers, forest minister Qazi Mohammed Afzal and finance minister Tariq Hamid Karra. The protesting opposition members demanded that a “free and fair” inquiry into the report was not possible till the “tainted” ministers remain in power. However, the members of the Treasury Benches were seen protecting the stand of the government. Later, some members of ruling coalition partner Peoples Democratic Party said the government was ready to hold a discussion into the report but the Opposition was not ready to discuss the issue in either of the House. Meanwhile, the opposition does not seem to be giving any concession to the government and is stiff on its demand of removal of the ministers from their ministerial posts. Pressing their demand, Opposition MLC staged walkout from the House, boycotting the proceedings of the Upper House for the entire day today. Later, the House functioned normally after the walkout of the opposition members. |
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Azad ready to discuss report
Jammu, January 28 Azad rose to intervene when the opposition members led by leader of the Opposition, Abdul Rahim Rather, said they would not participate in the discussion unless the two ministers allegedly mentioned in the report resigned. The chief minister reminded Rather that his party had said it was not running away from discussion on the Kundal Report. He said since the discussion had been listed for today, the Opposition members should participate. He did not agree with the Opposition demand that ministers should resign first and said they were asking for judgement without the case being pleaded by the two sides. The chief minister requested the Opposition to initiate discussion on the report as per the business of the House today. However, he said if they so liked they could convey the date on which the discussion could be taken up. He suggested that instead of the Opposition taking up the matter in piece meals, it would be proper that a discussion was held and the members of the Opposition put forward their opinion and get reply from the government. |
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Township for displaced Kashmiris by 2009
Jammu, January 28 The township coming up under the Prime Minister's Reconstruction Programme, will accommodate about 4,000 families. The Governor said the township comprised 4,218 sets consisting of 176 blocks and would cost Rs 253 crore. Spread over an area of about 700 kanal, the project is likely to be completed in September, 2009. The township would have a hospital, 3 schools, 3 community halls and 40 parks. The facilities of sewerage, drainage, drinking water and electricity are part of the integrated project. Relief commissioner Vinod Kaul told the Governor that Rs 27.57 crore would be spent on roads, community centres, educations institutions, sanitation, drainage, while Rs 19. 39 crore had been earmarked for power supply. |
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Captain’s body taken to Kathua
Jammu, January 28 In a soldier's life, honour comes after martyrdom. But here the honour and the martyrdom came in close succession. It is an irony that Capt Chaudhary was martyred the next day after being awarded the Sena Medal for his outstanding courage in dealing with militants in Assam. The body of the martyr was flown in a special aircraft from Dibrugarh to Pathankot this morning from where it was transported to his native place in Kathua district where he would be cremated with full military honours. Capt Chaudhary, was martyred late afternoon yesterday in a counter insurgency operation in Barapathar village (Tinsukia), in Assam. In the operation, the brave officer killed two militants of the 28 Battalion of the ULFA, even after being shot in his neck. He later succumbed to his injuries. Capt Chaudhary was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry in the awards announced on the Republic Day. The award was for an operation in Nabjothi (Tinsukia) in Assam in July last year in which two militants, including self styled Sergeant Palash Moni, an action group commander of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) was killed. Son of a serving Army Officer, Lt. Col P.L. Chaudhary, Capt Chaudhary’s brother Ankur is a flying officer in the Indian Air Force. He had his early education at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore, graduated from Pune and did his postgraduation from Garhwal University. Capt Chaudhary was commissioned from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun into 7/11 Gorkha Rifles on December 10, 2004. He had excelled in Platoon Weapons and Machine Gun courses at Infantry School, Mhow. Before moving to counter terrorism operations, he was posted at Kolkata. |
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NC to cash in on anti-incumbency wave
Jammu, January 28 In the election year, Congress loyalist Peerzada was the first casualty followed by storm over the Kundal report allegedly indicting two People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders, Tariq Hameed Karra (finance minister) and Qazi Mohammed Afzal (forest minister).
Though the NC topnotch in the recent past had given feelers of a possible pre-poll tie-up with the Congress, yet the party is back with a vengeance to corner the
PDP. A senior NC leader said, “The overwhelming response to party rallies before this Assembly session has amply conveyed that people are fed up with the coalition government.”
“Definitely we would cash on anti-incumbency wave against the present dispensation,” he added. He said, “The startling revelations of Shoaib Lone (Sangrama legislator) on the floor of the House followed by involvement of two ministers in the forest scam exposed the rot within the government.”
Sources said party patron Farooq Abdullah and party president Omar Abdullah had issued instructions to NC legislators not to bow to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s pressure and at the same time keep the coalition government on tenterhooks. |
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NC-PDP showdown in offing
Jammu, January 28 Apparently the party has its eyes on the ensuing elections to the Assembly and wants to build the momentum from inside the legislature itself. The NC has been insisting that the two ministers allegedly implicated in the Kundal Committee Report be sacked. The People's Democratic Party (PDP), to which the two ministers belong has already made it clear that it will not allow any of its ministers to be removed from the government merely on the basis of an inquiry which has not established anything conclusively. The genesis of the NC demand lies elsewhere in Ganderbal and Batamaloo. Ganderbal is the traditional stronghold of the NC. However, Qazi Afzal surprised everybody by defeating NC's president Omar Abdullah from there. This was for the first time in so many years that the NC lost Ganderbal. Similarly Tariq Hameed Karra has won from Batamaloo, again a stronghold of the NC. Besides, he has remained active in Srinagar city, where the NC has a stronghold over the electorate. A PDP leader said the NC had targeted two trumps in PDP's pack, which the party (PDP) would never let to be hit come what may. The NC had earlier demanded that the Kundal Committee Report be tabled in the House. The government tabled the report in the Assembly and also listed it for discussion. However, the NC has been insisting that it would be ready to discuss the report only after the two ministers resigned. It maintains that in case the two ministers are allowed to continue in office, they might influence the inquiry. The PDP leadership has been asking the NC to come forward and debate the Kundal Committee Report in the Assembly. Even Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad reiterated the government's resolve to discuss the issue. On the demand of the NC to remove the two ministers, he said, “It was not possible for him to reach the judgement without hearing everybody involved in the case, the treasury and opposition Benches, besides the two ministers.” Interestingly only a week ago, Azad had sacked his education minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, who was also the Pradesh Congress Committee president, after an Independent legislator levelled allegations of corruption against him. |
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1st superspeciality hospital soon
Jammu, January 28 State minister for health Mangat Ram Sharma, who launched the construction work of the Rs 120 crore super specialty hospital Jammu today, said the hospital would not only provide quality-medicare on the pattern of All-India Institute of Medical Sciences to the residents of the state but to the people of the neighbouring states as well. He said the construction work of the similar hospital in Srinagar would also be started soon and added that land for the purpose had already been acquired in the vicinity of Srinagar city. He said the state had become the first in the country to start the upgradation of its health institutions under the National Rural Health Mission. “Steps have been taken up for the expansion and upgradation of the health institutes of the state”, he said. He said: “The installation of modern healthcare gadgets in government medical institutions across the state has not only strengthened the health centres, but provided large canvas for investigation of the diseases and its treatment.” |
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Protest for release of detained youths
Srinagar, January 28 They added that the arrest of five persons, including four Bangladeshis, in connection with the blasts was ample proof that the five Kashmiris were not involved in the case. Mohammad Yasin Shah, father of one of the detained Kashmir youth, Mohammad Rafiq Shah, said even the Kashmir University authorities had confirmed that Rafiq was present in the campus on the day of the incident. How could he (Rafiq) be involved in the case, he questioned. The five persons from Kashmir valley had been taken into custody about a month after serial blasts in Delhis’ Sarojini Nagar and Pahar Ganj areas on the occasion of Diwali on October 29, 2005. They included Tariq Ahmad Dar, Mohammad Hussain Fazli, Mohammad Rafiq Shah, Ghulam Ahmad Khan and Ghulam Ahmad Taploo. They were reportedly taken into custody in connection with these blasts in different raids on November 21, 2005. |
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Infiltrators take advantage
of hilly terrain
Rajouri, January 28 Defence sources said the infiltrators crossing over to this side of the LoC had been able to exploit the hilly terrain along the LoC in these frontier districts. They said since troops could not show their presence everywhere along the LoC, so the infiltrators found it easy to sneak to this through the hilly terrain. They added that the fact that the infiltrators had managed to exploit the hilly terrain in forward areas in Mendhar, Balnoi, Balakote, Krishnaghati in Poonch district and Bhimber Gali, Kanga Gali, Nowshera in this district, to infiltrate to this side of LoC could be gauged from the increase in the bids made by them during this year. “We acknowledge the fact that infiltrators try to take advantage of the hilly terrain to sneak into this side. Sometimes they manage to successfully infiltrate, but in most cases, where they make infiltration bids, they are killed”, said a senior Army officer serving in a forward area along the LoC in Mendhar sector. “The fact that they are acclimatised to hilly terrain helps them to sneak into this side. They know the terrain better than us.” The officer further said it was not easy to maintain guard along the whole length of LoC particularly in hilly stretches. This prompted the infiltrators to use hilly stretches along the LoC to sneak to this side, he added. Jammu-based-defence spokesperson said “Till the time the training camps are intact in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), the infiltration bids will continue.” The Tribune early last year had reported that with security forces plugging the traditional routes used by the militants in Kashmir to infiltrate through the Line of Control (LoC), infiltrators seemed to have changed strategy by attempting to infiltrate through the “not-so-common” routes mostly in the hilly stretches along the LoC in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. It had also reported that infiltrators were using a Chinese liquid to dissolve the wire of fencing to cross over to this side. |
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Militancy fails to break Hindu-Muslim unity
Reasi, January 28 The unprecedented rush of devotees during annual Urs Sharief of Bajee Mian Mohammed Ismail at Jandi Morh Ziarat located at Pouni, authenticates that Hindu-Muslim unity is deep-rooted in this area and Sufism still knitting people of different faiths together. Ajeet Kumar came all the way from Sherpur, a border village of Kathua district, along with his family to participate in this Urs and to seek blessing from the most revered Ziarat respected equally by the people of all faiths. “For the last four years I am regularly coming to this Ziarat during Urs”, he said. Echoing similar views, Vikas Baru of Reasi said this shrine was a symbol of the Hindu-Muslim unity. “Now the situation has been improved. Even during the peak of militancy, members of both the communities jointly participated in the annual Urs”, Baru said and asserted that secularism would definitely blossom in this belt as this area is blessed with shrines Shiv Khori- an ancient natural cave of Lord Shiva and holy shrine of Dera Baba Banda Bahadur. Pertinent to mention here that militant had struck this belt a number of times and executed even worst ever carnages like Prankote massacre, in which more than 38 members of minority community were hacked to death, but unity among Hindus and Muslim remained intact. “Even at the crucial time, members of minority community had overwhelmingly participated in the annual Urs”, said Haji Mohammed Sharief, a regular visitor of the shrine while recounted early 1998 period when migration was started from the upper reaches of Reasi district. Ziarat of Bajee Mian Mohammed Ismial Sahib is located at Pouni. Thousands of devotees visit this Ziarat through out the year, but during the Urs days, thousands of devotees irrespective of caste, creed or colour or religion from all districts of Jammu and Kashmir and outside the state visit this holy place to pay obeisance and seek blessings.
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Bandipore slow on progress, development
Bandipore, January 28 This northwestern township, 57 km from Srinagar, is host to the new district headquarters, comprising three tehsils and as many Assembly constituencies of Bandipore, Sonawari and Gurez. Gurez which is 85 km from here and falls along the Line of Control (LoC), remains cut-off from the rest of the country by road surface for six months of winter, while parts of Bandipore and Sonawari play cradle to the world famous Wular and Manasbal lakes. The 57-km-long swirling road to this township from Srinagar passes through planes and cuts through the sloping hillocks on the peripheries of the Manasbal and Wular lakes as it crosses over Jhelum river. The initial hiccup that one comes across before reaching this historically significant township is the damaged link at Papchan over Nallah Erin for the past two decades. The bridge that had been among the early casualties of militancy in Kashmir, was damaged in 1989, and still awaits a concrete structure. Though a steel bridge facilitated by the Army serves the purpose, an amount of Rs 7 crore is being spent on the construction of the bridge with a deadline of 18 months. Deputy commissioner Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad assured that the bridge would be completed by mid 2009. “There are both short-term and long-term measures for providing all basic facilities”, he adds.
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Import of poultry declines in Kashmir
Srinagar, January 28 Meanwhile, the import of poultry has declined after a drop in the local consumption, sources said, adding that more than 30,000 birds were being sold in the valley daily. However, veterinary expert Dr F A Kaloo said that there was no report of any bird flu case from any part of the state. He said all measures had been taken to prevent transportation of any such virus into the state. Dr Kaloo said two birds were found dead in Gharana wetland near the border in Jammu. However, official sources said half a dozen birds had died due to some mysterious disease. ''Nobody should draw a conclusion that birds have died due to bird flu. We have collected samples of the dead birds and sent them to Bhopal for tests,'' he said, adding that people should not panic. Dr Kaloo said ''we are waiting for test results and will act accordingly.'' There was no question of bird flu virus reaching the state from West Bengal. There are several states in between which are still safe, he added. He said constant check is being carried out at different places even though there was no case of bird flu reported from any part of the state so far. We have organised awareness camps to make people aware of various ailments afflicting cattle and poultry birds, including bird flu, Dr Kaloo said. He said so far the samples, taken for bird flu, were found negative and there was no need to worry. A checkpost had been set up at Lakhanpore, the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir, bordering Punjab, where doctors and other staff members of the Animal Husbandry Department were posted to check poultry birds before allowing them to enter the state. Similarly, checkpost had been set up at Qazigund, they said, adding that they have made all arrangements to prevent the virus to enter the state. Dr Kaloo said our sky was also safe as the migratory birds, coming from different parts of the world, tested negative. Our officials were keeping a constant check over migratory birds, he added. However, for precautionary measures the department has decided to impose ban on the movement of poultry during night when proper checking was almost impossible, they said. — UNI
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Delimitation panel to be poll issue
Jammu, January 28 Leader of the Panthers Party, Harsh Dev Singh, today said a majority of people in Jammu region wanted to have as many Assembly constituencies in the province as was in the Kashmir valley, due to larger area and population. He said though his Bill for seeking approval of the House for setting up of the Delimitation Commission was yet to be tabled, the stand taken by the Congress and the National Conference was already known. He also demanded that Section 6 of the State Constitution providing settlement to those people who had migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and who wished to return be abrogated. Instead refugees from Pakistan settled in Jammu for 60 years need to be rehabilitated and granted citizenship rights, he added. Harsh said these were burning issues and the Panthers Party had decided to expose the “political hypocrisy on part of the NC and the Congress” during the 2008 Assembly polls. |
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Victims of insurgency hope for better future
Jammu, January 28 Ashraf and Tanveer both residents of the newly formed Kulgam district of south Kashmir study in XI class of Government Higher Secondary School, Kulgam, share a common ambition to become doctor. Nine years back, both of them lost their father to the bullets of “unidentified gunmen” and since then they have come closer and live together to earn livelihood for their families. For the past six years, both of them regularly travel to Jammu during the winter season and sell “bakir khani, girda, chuchworu” (traditional Kashmiri bread) outside the Civil Secretariat Complex in Jammu, as they say that Kashmiri bread being rarely available in Jammu fetches a good profit as Kashmiri population living in Jammu is fond of eating bread. “When we get winter holidays, we come to Jammu with our mothers who bake this bread and we sell it to people”, said Ashraf. Ashraf at first was reluctant to speak to this reporter, as he feared that the reporter and his cameramen to be police personal. “The police beat us and ask us to sell our stuff anywhere else, but as this place is mostly frequented by Kashmiri people, we get a good sale here”, said Ashraf. Ashraf who dreams to become a doctor says that the violence in Kashmir has not only spoiled his childhood but has made life harder to live, as he has no option but to single-handedly manage meals for the entire family besides taking care of the studies of his two younger siblings. Tanveer who has a similar tale to tell says that turmoil in the valley should end so that youth like him should get ample avenues to work and study without leaving the valley. “For a person like me there is no future in the valley. Armed insurgency in the valley has created lot of problems for us; we have no avenues to work. I lost my father and all the household burden has fallen on me”, said Tanveer. In Kashmir valley there are hundreds of young men like Tanveer and Ashraf who after falling victim to the armed insurgency were forced to leave their studies and were compelled to work hard to take the responsibility of their families. Ashraf and Tanveer both work at a local bakery here to earn their livelihood. “In Kashmir we work at a local bakery, before and after our school hours as making and selling our own bakery there is not possible as there it needs a lot of investment”, said Ashraf. But both of them are hopeful that the day would soon come when the violence in Kashmir would end and they would have ample avenues to fulfil their dream to become doctor.
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Civil Services
Jammu, January 28 The scheme is part of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s policy to build capacity among government employees and widen opportunities for candidates to successfully compete at the national-level. The Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration (JKIMPA) and the Rural Development designated by the government as the nodal agency for the purpose has invited applications from desirous candidates. Aspiring candidates should submit their applications at the offices of the Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development in Srinagar and Jammu till February 9. Giving details of the scheme, director general JKIMPA, Madhav Lal said, “The coaching programme would be of six months and would be conducted in two phases.” “The first phase of two months coaching would be for the preliminary examination and the second phase would be of four months for the main examination,” he said. Lal said the eligibility criteria for the open merit had been fixed at 65 per cent marks for commerce, science and engineering graduates, 60 per cent for arts graduates, 55 per cent for post-graduates in commerce, arts, science and engineering subjects. “In case of candidates belonging to reserved categories of SC/ST and OBC, the minimum percentages would be uniformly 5 per cent less than for the open merit candidates,” he added.
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Documentary on child labour chosen for film festival
Srinagar, January 28 Bilal A. Jan, director of “The Lost Childhood”, a 32-minute documentary depicting the child labour and digging into its reasons, told The Tribune that child labour in the valley was more of a result of abject poverty and to blame it on militancy would not be fair. The figures available with them says there were 1.75 lakh child labourers in 2001 and the devastating earthquake in 2005 had added close to a lakh children to it, he said. The screening of the documentary made by Arooj Productions is likely to bring a rare but welcome focus to a social issue that has long bedevilled society here. Jan said militancy had overshadowed all other important concerns of Kashmiri society in official and popular discourse on the region. “We have spoken to a senior officer of the state’s Labour Department on prevalence of child labour and he said they were looking into it. They could not have been a more hackneyed and insensitive explanation to such a sensitive issue,” he said. The film was released on November 17 (last year) by the then Kashmir University vice-chancellor, Prof Abdul Wahid Qureshi, and its makers have been trying hard to make it a talking point in the valley with their promotional effort. Shot on a budget less than Rs 2.5 lakh, The Lost Childhood’s selection in the festival has come as a reward for their efforts. Jan said Kashmiri kids were employed in shawl and carpet industries and also work as a mechanic in repair shops. There were kids who left work after suffering from knee and waist problems and other complication depending on their nature of job, and it was so unfortunate for them, he said. Experts, however, say a big dilemma for the government is how to differentiate between working children and child labours as hundreds of families have household shawl and carpet industry and it is most common for their children to work with the elders. Making available education and employment to destitute families was the strongest antidote to the child labour, the director said. “For these families sending kids for work is a compulsion.”
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Guv inspects work on cancer hospital
Katra, January 28 The first phase of Rs 100-crore mega cancer hospital, sponsored by the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, is likely to be completed in May this year, the governor, who is also the chairman of the board, said during his visit to different segments of the upcoming hospital building. |
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