 |
|
Terror threat looms large, says Army
Disrespect to Kuldeep Dogra’s Body
Land Row
Centre criticised over land row
Denied curfew passes, residents a harried lot
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
People urged to maintain peace
Kashmiri Pandits offer to defuse tension
More Cong leaders to join stir: Khajuria
Boycott panel: Bhim Singh
Hurriyat peeved over statehood demand
Attacks on PDP cadres condemned
Pilgrim influx hit
No truck stranded on highway
Govt denies shortage of medicines
Supplies reach valley
Militant shot dead; IEDs defused
Turmoil curtails kids freedom
Jammu judges‘fleeing’ valley
|
|
Terror threat looms large, says Army
Jammu, August 8 General Officer in Command of the Army’s 9 corps Lt-General Vinay Sharma said: “We have intelligence reports that militants might try to exploit the situation and could trigger bomb blasts among the protesters and cause huge loss to life and property”. Lt-General Sharma said: “These situations are conducive for terrorists as they can go to any extent to inflict damage on people and property”. The Army was deployed in Jammu a week ago after the ongoing agitation in Jammu took a violent shape and the administration was unable to control it. “The Army is here on the request of the civil administration that too was done under the Constitution. Once the situation stabilises, the Army will move out”, Lt-General Sharma said. The Army has been keeping vigil on the national highway from Lakhanpur, besides guarding the railway track at various places. “The heavy deployment of Army has been made in Jammu to maintain law and order in the city”, Lt-General Sharma added. Lt-General Sharma said: “The Army would take disruption of the supply lines of the state as an anti-national gesture and will resort to use of force to keep the supply lines on”. “We have no problem with any sort of peaceful protest demonstration. However, if the supply lines, including the national highway and the railway lines are disrupted, we treat the act as anti-national act and can use force to keep the supply lines open”, the GoC said. He said there was no economic blockade in any part of the state as the Army had restored the supply of all vehicles carrying logistics to the entire state. “Ever since the Army took over the charge of the national highway, there has been no economic blockade as the supply line to all parts of the state, including the valley have been restored”, Lt-General Sharma said. He said the deployment of Army in Jammu had not been done on the cost of the vigil at the Line of Control (LoC) and the borders with Pakistan. “Our aim is to maintain pace and we don’t want to impose martial law. Our deployment in Jammu has not been done on the cost of the vigil at the LoC or the border with Pakistan”, Lt-General Sharma said.
|
|
|
Disrespect to Kuldeep Dogra’s Body Tribune News Service
Jammu, August 8 Reportedly hurt over National Conference Omar Abdullah's 'passionate' speech during the trust vote in the Lok Sabha on July 22, Dogra had ended his life. Social activist Sukesh Khajuria has sought stern action against the police and civil administration for showing disrespect to the mortal remains of the deceased. "Such an act on the part of police and civil administration amounts to the violation of human rights and religious beliefs of Hindus," he has stated in his complaint. The social activist submitted in his complaint that around 2.30 a.m. on the intervening night of July 23 and 24 the then SDPO, Bakshi Nagar, M.L. Kaith, DSP, swooped in on the dharna site at Parade Ground where the body of the deceased was kept. "Without any provocation the police started an indiscriminate lathi charge on the family members of the deceased, senior citizens and Sangharsh Samiti leaders sitting on dharna. Subsequently, on the directions of the SDPO, cops brutally dragged the body from the dharna site as if it was that of an animal. They tried to cremate it at Bishnah with tyres, alcohol and kerosene in the dead of night. It is the worst form of human rights violation," submitted the complainant. He lamented that instead of initiating stern action under law the government ordered the attachment of Kaith and deputed him for training after which he will report to the zonal police headquarters for posting.
|
|
Muslims one with Hindus
Tribune News Service
Majalta , August 8 Muslim Gujjars of the Majalta area of Ramnagar organised an impressive rally along with locals to support the ongoing agitation.They took out a rally to give a message to the whole country that people of Jammu region were more secular than others in the country. After Reasi, Majalata is the second place, where Muslim leaders have taken lead to counter, what they called, false and provocative propaganda of the Kashmiri separatists as well as mainstream leaders. “We don’t want any sympathy from Kashmiri leaders,” Mohammad Latif said, who was carrying tricolour in his hand. He asked where these Kashmiri leaders were when militants killed families of innocent Gujjars at Poonch and and Rajouri.” “We are not afraid of Hindus of Jammu but are afraid of Muslims of Kashmir,” Mohammad Din, another leader, said and appealed to the Gujjars to remain cautious from politicians who had been desperately trying to create communal division to reap political benefit. Meanwhile, the samiti’s district convener, Vikram Slathia, took a serious note of the statement made by Yasin Malik and Hurriyat leader Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani to provoke the Muslims turn the situation more violent.
|
|
Centre criticised over land row
Jammu, August 8 Addressing mediapersons here today Darakshan said, “If the people of Jammu are demanding that the Governor be changed then there is no harm in going for it.” We could not ignore aspirations of the people for our political whims, she added. She said the Governor landed in the controversy since he assumed office and anybody who lived in controversy could never be effective in restoring peace and goodwill of the people. His failure came to light when he failed to resolve the issue with the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti that closed all doors for him to meet the samiti leaders again, she added. Appointing a four-member committee was now again a wastage of time, said Darakshan, adding that New Delhi should now act consciously and appoint somebody at the Governor’s office, who has public acceptability in both the regions.This was a must for resolving the crisis, she added. “PM’s meet ended with a mere appeal for peace and that is all. Such a burning situation and a stale, ineffective and unconvincing appeal has insulted us all,” she added. She also lashed out at the PDP, the NC and the Congress, which have failed to cater to the aspirations of all communities and regions. “It was also shocking to listen to the shortsighted approach of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq dividing the state on Hindu-Muslim grounds in his press conference in Kashmir.” Extending support to the samiti, she said the land should be restored immediately to the shrine board to end the impasse. She also asked the administration to reconstitute the shrine board and proposed the name of Dr Karan Singh to head the new board.
|
|
Denied curfew passes, residents a harried lot
Jammu, August 8 The district administration had appointed four officers to issue curfew passes. However, when The Tribune team visited the deputy commissioner’s office today, no officer was present on duty and people could be seen running from pillar to post to get their passes made. “I have been coming here for the past three days. But to my dismay, the officers deployed here don’t listen to our grievances and even the clerk behaves in an autocratic way. They treat us like second class citizens”, Manohar Lal (40), a resident of Khacchi Chawni in Jammu, said. Manohar said: “Firstly the forms are not available here and the person in charge of issuing the form says the forms have finished. If somehow one gets a form, one has to strive hard to get it signed”. People alleged that the officers authorised to issue curfew passes were mostly absent from duty. “For getting a curfew pass made, one has to spend two to three days to get the work done”, Ashok Gupta, a local resident, said. “They don’t even bother if one has an emergency and needs the pass immediately. My wife is ill and admitted to the hospital for the past three days. I have been coming here regularly to get three passes for myself and my children so that we can attend to my wife unhindered. But nobody is issuing the pass”, Alok Sharma (70), a resident of Pucca Dunga in Jammu, said. Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner could not be contacted as he was busy in a meeting.
|
|
Clashes continue in valley
Srinagar, August 8 The bandh, called by the JKLF in protest against the “economic blockade” of the valley and targeting of a particular community in the Jammu region, hit the normal life. All the shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the roads. JKLF chief Yaseen Malik, who had undertaken indefinite fast and was admitted to Sher-e-kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura yesterday, is stated to be stable, though he had refused to take oral fluids or juice. This was for the fifth consecutive day today that the Kashmir valley observed a complete bandh even as hardline APHC chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani had called for peaceful protests. Former Hurriyat chief Abdul Ghani Bhat at the Jamia Masjid said there would be no strike from tomorrow and asked people to resume normal work. Major towns of the valley including Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramulla, Kupwara and Sopore also observed a complete bandh in response to the call. The separatists also tried to take out a protest marches to the office of the UNMOGIP at Sonwar. Bhat was held along with dozens of his supporters. Two other processions led by the APHC leaders and bar members were also prevented by the police from reaching the UN office. Several separatist leaders from both factions of the Hurriyat Conference were kept under house arrest as precautionary measures. Those under house arrest included moderate APHC leaders chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabir Ahmad Shah and Nayeem Ahmad Khan besides hardliner chairman Geelani and some of his colleagues. Geelani is under house arrest since Monday last. The moderate APHC leaders, Sheikh Abdul Aziz and Javeed Ahmad Mir, who planned to submit a memorandum at the UN office, were not allowed to move out of the party office at
Rajbagh.
|
|
|
People urged to maintain peace
Jammu, August 8 Forum president Maj-Gen Goverdhan Singh Jamwal (retd) has appealed to the people of Jammu to elect their own representatives who can fight for their state themselves. The retired Army official has asked the people to forget their old affiliations and come under one banner of Jammu United Front in order to fight for the delimitation of Assembly constituencies before the next elections. “It will need understanding, spirit of cooperation and adjustment to forge a political unity out of diversity,” he said. Ladakh had shown the way and now there was no other alternative, Jamwal added. Requesting the people to maintain communal harmony, he said, “Kashmiris are not our enemies and we should not cause any harm to them.” Saluting the nationalist people of Jammu for waging a fight for their rights, Jamwal said people of Jammu were known from their patriotism and sacrifices for the safety and security of the county and the state. |
|
|
Kashmiri Pandits offer to defuse tension
Srinagar, August 8 “It is high time to appeal and suggest our viewpoint to defeat the communal forces who are once again bent to divide the state on a regional and communal basis as they did in 1947”, Sanjay K. Tickoo, president, KPSS, said here. He suggested constituting a “peace committee” comprising members from all walks of life across the Jawahar Tunnel to stop and defeat the “vested interests” and communal forces. The peace committee, comprising 27 prominent personalities representing a cross-section of society, should have members from the Hurriyat Conference and other mainstream political parties and lawyers like Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and the High Court Bar Association presidents from Srinagar and Jammu. In a statement, the KPSS president expressed the hope that these persons leaving aside their political thoughts would come to a single platform for the uplift of masses of the state and try to generate a consensus to defeat the nefarious designs of the vested interests.
|
|
|
More Cong leaders to join stir: Khajuria
Jammu, August 8 Addressing a press conference here today, Khajuria denounced the “negative attitude”of state Congress chief Saif-ud-Din Soz and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and said they were only “trying to sabotage the people’s movement in Jammu by their utterances”. Khajuria also condemned Governor N.N. Vohra for his “ulterior move to convert the Jammu region into a cantonment and terrorise the people of Jammu by deploying more Army personnel”. He said the Army’s duty was to protect the people. Khajuria said the policy of “senseless brutalities” against the peaceful demonstrators across the Jammu province would further aggravate the situation as people were determined to take the stir to its logical conclusion. He said Vohra’s continuation as the Governor was “only complicating the situation” and hence it would be desirable if the Union government removed him forthwith to create a “congenial atmosphere” in the Jammu province, which had been “put on fire by the Congress, the PDP, the NC and separatists”. Khajuria also renewed his demand of lifting of curfew and curbs on the freedom of expression and movement. He said: “The only way to defuse the situation was to concede the genuine demands of the Sangarsh Samiti. He also asked Governor Vohra to “give up his biased approach” towards the people of Jammu.
|
|
|
Boycott panel: Bhim Singh
Jammu, August 8 He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also been misled about the existing ground situation in Jammu. He called people to boycott the all-party delegation as well as the committee.
|
|
|
Hurriyat peeved over statehood demand
Jammu, August 8 Senior party leader Abdul Gani Bhat said the Hurriyat Conference had always been opposed to trifurcation or bifurcation of the state but if “some in Jammu campaign for it, we will not oppose it.”
|
|
|
Attacks on PDP cadres condemned
Srinagar, August 8 “By selectively targeting PDP cadres and publicly threatening the party leadership against stepping on Jammu soil, the fanatics are setting the stage for the state’s division on regional lines as they have now unabashedly started striking at the roots of its composite culture”, Mehbooba said in a statement here today. “Threats are openly being issued to our cadres in Jammu and their houses are frequently attacked by hooligans”, she said. Expressing shock over the continued economic blockade of the Kashmir valley, Mehbooba said the people of Kashmir were not only denied life-saving drugs but shamefully even milk powder for babies had been stopped now. “The valley is already facing an acute shortage of essential items, including foodgrains and petroleum products”, Mehbooba said.
|
|
|
Pilgrim influx hit
Jammu, August 8 Yesterday, 198 pilgrims left Jammu for their onward journey to the cave shrine and today, the number further dropped to 76. On August 6, only 381 pilgrims had left the base camp. A
police officer on the condition of anonymity said: “When both the
regions have been set on fire by our politicians and the gap between the
two regions has widened, who will like to put himself into trouble”. “Today
only 35 men and three women, besides 38 sadhus left for the cave shrine
in two buses,” the officer added. The police official said: “Politicians
have achieved the dubious distinction of dividing the people on communal
lines. Even the militants could not do so in their 20 years of terror
activities”. |
|
|
No truck stranded on highway
Srinagar, August 8 No truck was stranded on the national highway between Ambala, Punjab, and Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir, an official spokesman here said adding that details of trucks and tankers arriving in Srinagar and leaving from here was daily given out to the media and there was no blockade of the highway. Giving details, the spokesman said 274 load carriers and tankers arrived in the Kashmir valley while 136 trucks and empty tankers returned from here on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway since yesterday afternoon. The valley has been facing shortage of essential commodities, petroleum products and foodgrains over the past several days due to the “economic blockade” against Kashmir with attacks on valley-bound vehicles in the Jammu region. However, the authorities here claim that the supplies, though not optimum, were satisfactory with adequate security measures along the highway that was being supervised by the Army. A spokesman of the divisional administration, Kashmir said out of 274 trucks and tankers, 34 carried rice, 20 sheep, 6 flour, five chicken, 21 diesel, 18 kerosene oil, 11 petrol and 2 LPG. He said 157 more load carriers came with other merchandise. The spokesman said that during this period, 24 trucks carrying fresh fruits, 30 loaded with vegetables and 29 with that had other merchandise also left Srinagar for Jammu. Meanwhile, the All-Kashmir Fruit Growers and Dealers Association has denied the reports that 250 truckers were missing, the official spokesman said.
|
|
|
Govt denies shortage of medicines
Srinagar, August 8 He said as per the past practice the supplies for the whole year has been issued to all health institutions in the rural areas as well as those at block and district levels in May-June. Quoting the principal, Government Medical College, Srinagar, who looks after the associated hospitals in Srinagar, the spokesman said there was no shortage of medicines and drugs in the hospitals under his control. Likewise, the stockists and distributors of medicines and drugs in Kashmir had assured that there were adequate and sufficient supplies available in all districts of the valley. They (stockists) assured the deputy controller, drugs and food control organization, Kashmir, who has been in close touch with them that more quantities of medicines and drugs would be airlifted from outside the state to ensure their smooth supply in the valley, he said. The Srinagar Chemists and Distributors Association has through newspaper advertisements stated that the Kashmir valley was not facing any shortage of medicines. The association told the divisional administration that it would make all-out efforts to procure medicines directly from Delhi or any other state to ensure that there was no shortage of medicines and drugs even in future, he said.— PTI
|
|
|
Supplies reach valley
Udhampur, August 8 As many as 1,000 trucks carrying essential commodities, medicines and LPG cylinders have passed through Udhampur town during the past six days and safely reached the valley. “Today 168 vehicles including 150 trucks, escorted by the Army troops, safely crossed Udhampur town,” official sources told The Tribune. “Supply remained affected just for a couple of days after the protesters disrupted vehicular movement at different places from Lakhanpur to Udhampur,” the sources said. As Kathua and Samba towns have been witnessing massive protest of people during the last four days, the authorities have diverted traffic to the Dhar Road to ensure smooth movement of traffic towards Kashmir. As some villagers had stopped some trucks at Mahanpur three days back, hundreds of jawans of the Army,
para-military forces and the police have been deployed all the way from Lakhanpur to Udhampur to provide safe passage to Kashmir-bound vehicles.
|
|
|
Militant shot dead; IEDs defused
Jammu/ Srinagar, August 8 Another IED filled with 15 kg RDX was detected at Kulhand later, they said. The troops stopped vehicular traffic in the area and got both these IEDs defused by the experts, they said adding that vehicular traffic was restored later. Militants, on the other side, made an abortive attempt to target a security patrol with a grenade in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.The grenade was hurled by ultras at the main market here, they said. It fell short of the target and exploded near the roadside without causing any damage, while one person, Ali Mohammad Khan, a PDP worker, suffered a heart stroke and died due to the sound of the blast. While an unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. The sources said the area was immediately cordoned off and a hunt had been launched to nab the militants. Meanwhile, PDP leader Nizamuddin Bhat has sought an inquiry into the blast that rocked Bandipore, leading to the death of a PDP worker. He said the timing of the blast was suspicious as no security personnel were on guard in the market. A Hizbul Mujahideen militant, identified as Mohd Iqbal Malik, surrendered before the police and the Army last evening, sources said. Another militant, identified as Mehmood Ahmed, was arrested with two grenades in the Bhaderwah area of Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said.
|
|
|
Turmoil curtails kids freedom
Jammu, August 8 Although the Directorate of School Education had increased the summer vacations up to August 11, the enhanced holidays proved bane instead of boon for them as children had no other choice but to remain in their houses and resort to ‘monotonous’ indoor games or curriculum books instead of enjoying break from monotony of schools. Most of them lament incompletion of special courses offered in summer camps arranged by their schools. While some remorse that their parents could not take them on an outing. “Our parents had promised to go to Shimla in the wake of summer vacations but things could not get materialised,” said Priya and Prince. “We had arranged summer camps for our students but keeping in view the volatile situation and security of children, we had to suspend our programmes in the midway last month,” said chairman of a private school.However, some parents termed the present crisis as blessing in disguise. “Now we are able to devote more time to the up bringing and studies of our children as we are bound to stay at home,” said a working couple. But the worries for the aspirants of Common Entrance Test (CET) are increasing with each passing day. The frequent rescheduling of the entrance examination, according to them, was disrupting their
preparations. “Our crash courses and mock tests ended last month and now each passing day is mounting psychological pressure as there is no let up in the prevailing circumstances in the state,” said CET aspirant Ashish Gupta. Santokh Ram, chairman of the Board of Professional Entrance Examination, said, “The date of examination has been further extended. The exams have been rescheduled on August 18 and 19.” He said as many as 40,000 students have been appearing in the examination across the state in 24 centres and the decision was made by taking into consideration students drawn from far off districts like Rajouri, Poonch and Doda etc.
|
|
|
Jammu judges‘fleeing’ valley
Jammu, August 8 He said he will appeal to the Chief Justice of India and also that of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to provide them adequate security if they want the services of these judges in the valley. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
