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Doda ready to shun ‘pro-militant’ image
Two women have rival candidates on tenterhooks
Nuclear Pak dangerous, says Rajnath
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Major General D.L. Chowdhary, GoC of the Tiger Division, at the war memorial on the occasion of Vjay Diwas in Jammu on Tuesday. Photo: Inderjeet Singh
Voting for 16 seats today
Snow may disrupt polling
Rain likely in
Kashmir
Cong, BJP eye maximum gains
A tough fight for stalwarts in Kishtwar
‘Militant’ held from BJP candidate’s vehicle
Cong has conceded defeat: Omar
Fate of Mufti, Azad to be decided
Vohra for quick work on airport
ANC to facilitate tripartite talks on Kashmir
2 land mines defused
Docs want pay anomalies removed
Unilateral decision on federal agency not acceptable: PDP
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Doda ready to shun ‘pro-militant’ image
Considered to be one of the most communally sensitive constituencies in the state, Doda is all set to shun its past image of being a “militant hub” and vote for the revival of democracy tomorrow.
Amidst reports of foreign mercenaries in the higher reaches of the constituency and many sympathisers and supporters in the city waiting for an opportunity to strike, people are ready to take a chance. People are ready to vote so that when compared to other constituencies, polling percentage in Doda does not appear pale. In a sharp contract to the militant dictates enforcing their “dos” and “don’ts”, development and restoration of confidence of the people after security agencies assumed an upper hand changed the mood. Surrounded by Kargil, Kashmir valley and Himachal Pradesh, Doda was once completely overtaken by the “fidayeens” (militants) and their dictates were gospel. “If they said “lights out”, people would put black paper on the windows and use a candle inside to ensure that no light went out. It was almost impossible to move out of the house at night. There was virtually no security agency on the roads and families would thank Allah evening after a head count of the family,” says Abdul Gani, recalling the past, but actively participating in the polls for a brighter future. On the eve of the polls, all eight beds in the emergency ward of the district hospital are totally empty. Whereas, a couple of years ago, this place was almost reserved for the security personnel who would arrive here, critically injured in a gun battle with militants. This change has enabled the doctors in the casualty to discuss traits of the sitting MLA Abdul Majid, who won as an Independent and was won over by the Congress. Earlier, casualties only meant extracting bullets or a shrapnel to save lives. The influence of Islam is perceptible here. So strong that the people have till date resisted the opening of liquor vend here, despite Doda being a district headquarters. But at the same time, the PDP that used religion and its “self-rule” agenda to garner votes has no virtually takers. The BJP too, which has been trying to cash in on the “Hindu” card in adjoining Kishtwar and Bhaderwah constituencies has put up Ishtaq Ahmed Wani, a Muslim candidate in Doda, pushing back its agenda elsewhere. The Doda constituency that has over 70,000 voters saw around 55 per cent polling in 2002, but despite the extreme cold the mood is upbeat and the polling is likely to cross the previous figures. Despite parties like the BJP, BSP and the CPI having its candidates in the fray, the main contest is perceived to be between Abdul Majid Wani of the Congress and Khalid Najib Suharwardy of the NC. Attauallah Khan of the PDP and Farooq Ahmed Dar of the Panthers’ Party are also in the race, but are not considered to be the front-runners. |
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Two women have rival candidates on tenterhooks
Jammu, December 16 While Shilpi is like any other housewife, Sehar is a postgraduate in political science from London. In Bishna, there are four candidates - G.S. Charak of the Congress, Yashpal Bhagat of the National Conference (NC), Kamal Arora from the BSP and Ashwani Sharma, an Independent who had won the seat in 2002 elections, considered to be the main opponent of Shilpi. Shilpi has two main advantages. First, she is the BJP candidate. Second, she is the wife of Kuldeep Verma who was the first to be killed while participating in the two-month long agitation against the revocation of the Amarnath land order. And today, Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi raked up the issue saying Kuldeep Verma’s wife and other close relations were not allowed to see the body of the “martyr” in the same way the relations of Shaheed Bhagat Singh were not allowed to see his body before the last rites. G.S. Charak was a minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad Cabinet. His forte is the party (Congress) that has fielded him. Yashpal Bhagat was the chief of the BSP. After he quit the party, he was enrolled by the NC, which gave him the mandate for contesting the elections. Kamal Arora as the NC candidate had lost the Bishna seat in 2002 to Ashwani Sharma by a narrow margin. But when the NC preferred Bhagat to him, Arora resigned from the parent organisation to join the BSP. Since the constituency has a sizeable number of Dalit votes, he is considered a serious contender. Ashwani Sharma has been a performing MLA. He also feels threatened by the BJP candidate. He says despite the fact that “I supported the land agitation, the BJP was trying to take the credit for it.” Sehar Iqbal, who speaks English fluently, interacts with the voters in perfect Kashmiri. She is the daughter of Iqbal Khandey, a senior IAS officer, and daughter-in-law of another senior bureaucrat Aziz Wani. Her husband Umar has left a high profile job in Delhi to be with his wife in the election campaign. Field reports say Sehar has created waves in the Kokernag constituency. Her opponents, including Peerzada Mohammad Syed, a former minister and Congress candidate, and Ghulam Nabi Adigami and old-time party worker fielded by the NC feel perturbed by the campaigning prowess that Sehar has demonstrated during the last three weeks. While her fate would be decided by the voters tomorrow that of Shilpi on December 24. |
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Nuclear Pak dangerous, says Rajnath
Jammu, December 16 Moving ahead with a clear cut policy on Pakistan’s involvement in the Mumbai attack, he threw a fresh salvo saying, “I want to bring to the attention of the international community that a country like Pakistan, which is fully equipped with nuclear arsenals and has virtually no control over non-state actors spreading terrorism from its soil, should not be allowed to retain the nuclear arsenal. It spells a fear alarm for the global community.” He did not elaborate much on the issue, but said his party would move step by step and promised to give further information on the issue in future. He said terrorism had emerged as the biggest challenge for the entire world. He also advocated further pressure building on Pakistan by the international community. |
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Army celebrates Vijay Diwas
Jammu, December 16 “On December 16, 1971, Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora, who was the GoC in C of the eastern command of the Army, made 91,000 string Pakistan army headed by Lt. Gen. AAK Niazi along with other Pakistani army officers surrender,” defence PRO S.N. Acharya said. It was the largest surrender in the world’s Army history so far. On the occasion, rich tributes were paid to the valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation. In Jammu, the main function was held at the Jammu Cantonment at the Tiger War Memorial. Wreaths were laid by the GoC, Tiger Division, Major General D.L. Chowdhary, Formations Commanders, serving officers and soldiers of the division also paid their respects at the war memorial. Another function was organised at the headquarters of the Crossed Swords Division to pay homage to martyrs. The GoC of the Crossed Swords Division laid wreath at the Akhnoor War Memorial at a solemn military function. |
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Voting for 16 seats today
Srinagar, December 16 An electorate of 11,76,820 voters would decide the fate of 271 contestants, including two former Chief Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mufti Mohammad
Sayeed, apart from a number of former ministers and legislators in tomorrow's polling. While former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is contesting from Anantnag as a PDP candidate, Ghulam Nabi Azad is in the fray from Bhaderwah on the Congress ticket. Mufti Sayeed represented the Pahalgam Assembly constituency in the previous State Legislative Assembly, while Azad represented
Bhaderwah. Both the former Chief Ministers had been elected to the Assembly in the byelections since the coalition government took over in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002. Out of the 271 contestants, there are 11 women in the fray in the five districts, which is the highest among any of the earlier five phases of the polling. The 16 constituencies, where the polling is being held in the sixth phase, are
Noorabad, Kulgam, Homeshalibug and Devsar in Kulgam district, Anantnag,
Dooru, Kokernag, Shangus, Bijbehara and Pahalgam in Anantnag district, Kishtwar and Inderwal in Kishtwar district, Doda and Bhaderwah in Doda district and Ramban and Banihal in Ramban district. Among the 11 women contestants, four each are contesting from Kulgam and Anantnag districts, two in Ramban district and one in Kishtwar district. There 92 independent candidates also in the fray. Among them, 26 independents are contesting in Kulgam district, 31 in
Anantnag, 13 from Kishtwar, 10 in Doda and 12 in Ramban district. Out of the 26 independent contestants in Kulgam district, five are in the fray in
Noorabad, 10 in Kulgam, five in Homeshalibug and six from the Devsar Assembly constituency. Similarly, out of the 31 independents contesting in Anantnag district, eight are from the Anantnag Assembly constituency, four in
Dooru, seven in Kokernag, six in Shangus and three each from Bijbehara and
Pahalgam. Likewise, out of the total 13 independent contestants in Kishtwar district, six are contesting from the Kishtwar Assembly constituency and seven from the
Inderwal Assembly constituency. Similarly, out of the 10 independent candidates in the fray in Doda district, eight are from the Doda Assembly constituency and two from
Bhaderwah. In Ramban district, out of the 12 independents, two are contesting from the Ramban Assembly
constituency and 10 from Banihal. |
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Snow may disrupt polling
The militants may have failed to disrupt the election process, but Gods appear to have willed it otherwise. Heavy snowing has been taking place in the higher reaches that spread across the Kishtwar segment or the land of sapphire and saffron that goes to the polls during the sixth phase of the elections in the state tomorrow. Temperature has already dipped to sub-zero at many places.
Though candidates and their supporters have been doing a door-to-door campaign, but looking at the extreme chill and possibility of rain and snow, many people today preferred to stay indoors. Candidates are now praying for a clear day, else it could alter electoral fortunes for
some. Kishtwar is one place where the contest is between the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) and the BJP, with the Congress and the National Conference (NC) trailing. While the BJP has support in the town, the PDP has a large number of Muslim voters living in far-flung areas, and the snowfall tonight could lead to a big setback to the PDP in one of the seats it is hoping to win outside the Kashmir valley. This town was today virtually converted into a cantonment with forces from the Border Security Force
(BSF), CRPF, CISF, the J&K Police and the Amy taking over every place to ensure a violence-free polling. With a whole-day power failure on the eve of the polling and forces that were positioned here finding themselves unprepared for this extreme temperature, many of them were seen buying caps and woollen scarfs to keep themselves warm. “If it rains tonight, as it appears from the weather or worse if it snows, most of the security personnel will find themselves ill-equipped to perform the election duty. I have just bought myself some woollen inner wear to go out on a patrol duty”,
Murli, a CRPF jawan, said, hoping that he would be able to survive the extreme cold without any heating. Many poll observers, including micro observers that have been deployed in the region from states like
Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, said they would become non-functional if it rains. Some from south Indian states had never seen so much cold in their
lives. Aslam, a local from Kishtwar town, said last year the town had seen one-and-half metre of snow in the main bazaar and Chogan (central ground), while the region had a record snowfall in slightly higher areas. “With snow in the nearby mountains, it is very likely that the constituency will have the season’s first snowfall anytime
now. Wardwan, Dechhan and Marwah, that has about one-third of the total vote borders, Anantnag district of south Kashmir, if it snows tonight, the polling would become a Herculean task in these remote areas. This is an inaccessible area and the polling staff has been deployed here after air-lifting them. The administration is keeping its fingers crossed and hoping that it does not snow tonight in the area that is cut-off from the rest of the state for six months in a year. If it does snow, it will become very difficult to retrieve the electronic voting machines and the staff deployed there. |
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Rain likely in
Kashmir
Srinagar, December 16 According to Aamir Ali, project coordinator, Disaster Management and PRO with divisional commissioner, Kashmir, under the influence of western disturbance light to moderate rainfall or snowfall is likely in state on December 16 and 17. Higher reaches of the Kashmir valley have already experienced snowfall during this season more than once. Plains have also received snowfall with Srinagar city witnessing snowfall on November 14. |
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Cong, BJP eye maximum gains in last phase
Jammu, December 16 Realising the fact that the mounting tension in the India-Pakistan relations in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attack may affect its poll prospects in the Kashmir valley, the Congress sent Union external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to Srinagar today. Mukherjee’s statement that the Mumbai attack had nothing to do with the bilateral relationship on matters relating to the border state was apparently aimed at assuring the voters that the peace talks would not be abandoned. His statement becomes all the more significant on the eve of the polling for the penultimate phase, which will see voting in 16 constituencies, including 10 in Kashmir valley. The last phase, too, has eight seats from Kashmir that takes the tally of the valley seats going to the polls in the last two phases to 18, which the Congress cannot afford to take lightly. Noted political analyst Prof Rekha Chowdhary sees Mukherjee’s visit as the Congress’ attempt to recover the space that might have been lost due to “hawkish statements” coming from the Centre against Pakistan after the Mumbai attack. She felt that there were apprehensions among the Kashmiris regarding the possible derailment of the peace process in view of the recent developments. “The Congress, which has been selling itself in Kashmir on the plank of the peace process and the CBMs like cross-LoC travel and trade, realised that its hawkish attitude may not serve the purpose. By sending Mukherjee to Srinagar the Congress is emphasising on the irreversibility of the peace process,” she added. The BJP, on the other hand, has gone all out to woo the electorate in the Jammu region, as 13 Hindu-dominated Assembly seats of Jammu and Samba districts, which were hub of the Amarnath land agitation, will go to the polls in the last phase on December 24. The party’s star campaigners have already hit the campaign trail. While BJP President Rajnath Singh and TV actress Smriti Irani have already held a series of rallies, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also addressed a couple of meetings here today. Cricketer-turned-politician and BJP MP Navjot Sidhu will seek votes for the party tomorrow even as BJP stalwart L.K. Advani, actors Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha are also expected to join the campaign in the remaining few days ahead of the last phase of polling on December 24. |
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A tough fight for stalwarts in Kishtwar
Thathri (Inderwal), December 16 Unlike other parts of the Jammu region, the impact of Amarnath land controversy, that erupted massive protests in both the regions, was very much visible in the two Assembly segments of the district and the BJP candidates seeking to reap all benefits of the emotional issue. While Shakti Parivar, contesting from the Inderwal assembly segment, has given sleepless nights to both Congress and National Conference (NC) candidates, Sunil Sharma, a political novice, has forced both the PDP and the NC to devise fresh strategies to win elections from the Kishtwar assembly segment. Although the BJP has faced a revolt in the party after ticket was given to Sunil Sharma, this youth has created a lot of problems for political stalwarts Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo of the NC and Sayed Asgar Ali of the PDP. As the minority Hindu votes ranged between 46 to 48 per cent in the Kishtwar segment, Sunil Sharma, through his aggressive campaign, has consolidated this vote bank and changed the political equation. With the emergence of Sunil, the contest in Kishtwar has turned triangular as MLA of the dissolved House Sajjad Ahmed Kitchoo and Sayed Asgar Ali have also consolidated their votes during the campaign. Although the Congress has given ticket to a Hindu and BJP rebel Anil Parihar and the Panthers Party also fielding a candidate, they are not in a position to garner a good number of minority votes. Riding on the Amarnath land controversy, Sunil Sharma has consolidated Hindu votes. As victory of all candidates to a large extent depends on Hindu votes, parties are trying to woo the minorities. While PDP and NC candidates are projecting themselves as well wishers of the minorities, the BJP nominee is blaming these parties for the prevailing sense of insecurity among the Hindus in this belt. Interestingly, the Congress, which got more than 16,000 votes in the 2002 Assembly elections, is not contesting, as a young BJP candidate has changed all political equation in the belt. Similar is the situation in Inderwal, where Shakti Parihar of the BJP has spoiled all calculations of the stalwarts. Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, who had won the 2002 elections with a record margin and Mohammad Karim Wani are contesting from here. |
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‘Militant’ held from BJP candidate’s vehicle
Rajouri, December 16 Reliable intelligence sources said on specific information, a team of special operation group of the Rajouri police led by DSP Operations Farooq Qaisar apprehended Satpal, son of Amar Singh of Mora Daraj in Buddhal, belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfit. The police apprehended him from the vehicle bearing registration number JK02E-9545 from near Sunderbani today. They alleged that the vehicle belonged to Dev Raj who is contesting assembly election as BJP candidate from the Darhal assembly segment. “Satpal along with his wife, two brothers and father-in-law Shiv Charan Yadav was on the way from Jammu to Rajouri in a private vehicle belonging to Dev Raj. He was apprehended by the police near Sunderbani,” an intelligence source said. “Satpal is being interrogated by the police to dole out his involvement in various militancy incidents,” the source said. Meanwhile, police sources revealed that Satpal was working as a peon in Kalakote tehsil office in 2001 before joining militancy. They added that Satpal remained active in the Buddhal and Dharamsaal areas in Rajouri district and Mahore area of Reasi district. The sources said Satpal was one of the close aides of HM area commanders Kirpal Singh and Sham Lal, who remained active in Kalakote, Budhal and Dharamsal areas. In 2004, Satpal went underground and was arrested by the police after he made first appearance in the Rajouri district. Even as senior officers of the police declined to divulge anything about the operation, police sources confirmed the arrest of the alleged militant from the vehicle belonging to the BJP candidate. Repeated attempts to contact the BJP candidate didn't materialise as he didn't attend the phone calls. |
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Cong has conceded defeat: Omar
Srinagar December 16 He said the arrival of external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee only to address the media to announce that the Congress was ready for post-poll alliances indicated that the party now realised that “it is miserably failing in these elections”. Omar held that at the beginning of the elections and until now the Congress state and central leadership had been claiming that it would get “enough numbers to form the government on its own, and now that they are talking of alliances clearly indicates that they have seen the writing on the wall”. Omar, while addressing an election rally in the Batmaloo constituency here, said he was confident that the state would not have a coalition government and instead there would be a single party National Conference government. He said some people in New Delhi had never wanted a stable one-party government in the state and instead had been trying their best to somehow divide the mandate of the people. |
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Fate of Mufti, Azad to be decided
Jammu, December 16 Sixteen Assembly constituencies in five districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban will vote in the penultimate phase tomorrow. While former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is contesting from the Anantnag Assembly constituency, another former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is in the fray from the Bhaderwah seat. There are 22 other candidates in the fray from the Anantnag constituency, including NC provincial president and former minister Mirza Mehboob Beigh. Similarly, there are 13 contestants in the fray for the Bhaderwah Assembly constituency, including former legislator and former state BJP president Daya Krishan Kotwal, besides former advocate general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Mohammad Aslam Goni, who is the National Conference candidate. Among former ministers, Abdul Aziz Zargar of the PDP and Sakina Itoo of the NC, along with 13 others are contesting from Noorabad in Kulgam district. Abdul Gafar Sofi, a former minister in the Mufti Sayeed government, is contesting from the Homeshalibug in Kulgam district. A former minister in the Farooq Abdullah government, Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad Shah, and MLC Mohammad Amin Bhat, a Congress candidate, are contesting from Devsar. In Anantnag district, former Congress ministers Peerzada Mohammad Syed and Ghulam Ahmad Mir are in the fray from Kokernag and Dooru Assembly constituencies, respectively. Former minister Mohamamd Akbar Ganie is also contesting from Dooru. Likewise, former minister Abdul Rehman Bhat Veeri of the PDP is in the fray from Bijbehara. In Jammu division’ Kishtwar district, former minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad government Ghulam Mohammad Saroori is contesting from Inderwal. In Doda district, former ministers Abdul Majid Wani of the Congress and Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy of the NC are in the fray from Doda. |
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Vohra for quick work on airport
Srinagar, December 16 A spokesperson for his office said the Governor would take up the matter regarding the immediate establishment of instrument landing system (ILS) and installation of the approach lights, high density and fog lights at the airport with the Union ministries of civil aviation and defence. Reviewing the pace of progress on the expansion project at a high-level meeting here today, Vohra said the Srinagar airport was poised to emerge as one of the most attractive destinations around the world in view of abundant tourism potential in the region. The need for immediate installation of the ILS is being felt to enhance the visibility range in view of the geographical and topographical location of the airport. The Srinagar airport requires 2.2 km visibility for operation of all scheduled flights, as in the wake of poor visibility, most of the flights get cancelled. The Governor noted with concern that during the past over one month, 75 to 80 flights, including Haj flights, got cancelled due to poor visibility conditions. The Srinagar airport ranks at number 15 among the 46 top domestic airports of the country with a runway of 12,000 feet. The airport is being developed and expanded as an international airport. The Airport Authority of India is enhancing the capacity of the existing terminal building for handling 450 international passengers and 500 domestic passengers during peak hours. In the upcoming two-storey terminal complex, all modern amenities like aerobridges, central heating system, central air-conditioning, inline X-ray, baggage inspection system along with conveyor belts for departure and inclined arrival baggage conveyor systems, escalators, lifts, modern public address system, flight information system, CCTV are being provided. The main feature of the new airport is that the terminal area has been expanded to 17,900 sq meters against the earlier 6,190 sq meters. |
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ANC to facilitate tripartite talks on Kashmir
Srinagar, December 16 “Huge turnout in the Assembly elections does not mean that the Kashmir issue has been put in back burner. The issue has to be resolved in accordance with aspirations of the people in state,” Shah said while addressing a press conference. The ANC vice-president said political workers and innocent people would be released within 48 hours if ANC was voted to power. He said it could be done by the Chief Minister of the state as he/she enjoyed special powers under Article 370. He said law and order of the state would be handed over to the state police. He said his party would dissolve the Srinagar Municipal Corporation ensuring that there was no political influence in its working. |
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2 land mines defused
Jammu, December 16 According to a police source, a farmer, Sagra Singh, informed the police about some unidentified objects lying in his fields in the Rakhwal border area in the district. “The police team reached the field and found two mines. It then called for an bomb disposal squad,” the source said. The bomb disposal squad reached the area and diffused both the mines. However, the police has so far failed to ascertain from where the mines reached the fields. |
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Docs want pay anomalies removed
Jammu, December 16 A delegation of doctors, headed by DAJ chairman Dr Arshad Bhat and president Satyainder Singh, yesterday met the chairman of the state pay committee, S.L. Bhat, and apprised him of various anomalies in the existing pay structures of the doctors. Dr Bhat requested the pay committee chairman to remove the anomalies while implementing the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. He also hoped that the government would not place the doctors in the scale of lecturers and other gazetted officers, as had been done previously while implementing the Fifth Pay Commission. The delegation also asked the review committee to merge the non-practising allowance (NPA) with the basic pay for further calculating the percentage of the dearness allowance. The medicos also sought the rural health allowance, medical risk allowance and disturbed area allowance. |
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Unilateral decision on federal agency not acceptable: PDP
Srinagar, December 16 Addressing the election rallies in the Eidgah constituency here today, PDP president Mehbooba said introducing fresh curbs on civil liberties in the state would be antithetical to the process of democratisation of the state. The state, she added, was already reeling under the impact of the laws like the AFSPA and the Disturbed Areas Act.
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