Srinagar, March 19
Protests were held in the Pakharpora area of Pulwama district today against the killing of a carpenter, Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik, allegedly by CRPF personnel in Kheegam village last evening.

A case has been registered against the CRPF and the police is investigating the incident.

The CRPF has suspended four personnel, including an Assistant Commandant of 181 Bn, in the wake of the incident and started its own investigations.

A spokesman for the CRPF here said its patrol party was fired upon by militants hiding in the area. It had launched a search operation after it received specific information about the presence of the militants. The patrol party was fired upon and when it retaliated the carpenter was killed, he said.

Meanwhile, Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar visited Kheegam village in Pulwama district today and assured the agitated residents that action would be taken against those found guilty. He said human rights violations of any kind would not be tolerated.

The minister, who later flew back to Jammu, assured people that their demand for shifting the CRPF camp in Bomai village would be considered. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and a government job for one of their family members.

Srinagar: A two-day shutdown began in Bomai, Sopore, on Thursday against the alleged delay in government decision in fulfilling its promises of shifting the Army’s camp located in the village within the stipulated deadline of two weeks that expires tomorrow.

Residents have been continuing their agitation over the killing of two youths allegedly at the hands of Army in the village on February 21, and have threatened to migrate in case the camp was not shifted by March 20.

“We have decided on mass migration from the village,” said Hakeem-ur-Rehman Sultani, president of the Bomai Coordination Committee, who is spearheading the agitation. The committee was constituted three weeks ago in the wake of killings.

He told The Tribune today that even after two weeks time there was no positive response from the government. The residents had been assured that the local camp of the 22 RR would be shifted from the area and action would be taken against the personnel involved in the killing of civilians last month, Sultani said.

He said the civil administration had been giving them assurances but of no avail. “Now that the deadline expires tomorrow, there is no indication that any action is being taken,” Sultani said. He said the decision to migrate en masse could be reviewed only in case there was some positive indication from the authorities.

Referring to the reports of Army having rejected the civil probe, the Coordination Committee leader questioned as to how could the assurances and claims be believed.

Sultani said the agitation had been completely peaceful with no kind of slogans or stone-pelting.

Jammu, March 19
Tightening its noose around contractors, who have been dumping silt and garbage on the bed of the Ranbir Canal,the state Irrigation Department has asked them to remove all silt and garbage from the canal before water is released into it in the next few weeks.

Every year, before releasing water into the canal, the de-silting work is given to the contractors to clean the canal. However, this year some contractors, to embezzle government money, were dumping silt and garbage inside the canal. The Tribune had carried a news two days ago, highlighting that the contractors were dumping silt on the bed of the canal.

Speaking to the Tribune, an officer of the Irrigation Department said, “Every year, the department floats tenders for sanctioning the contact to de-silt the Ranbir Canal. But it was shocking when we came to know that some of the contractors were dumping garbage and silt inside the canal.”

The canal, which is considered as the lifeline of the Jammu region as its water is used for irrigation, is 60 km in length, while its distribution system spans over 400 km. It has a gross command area of 1.67 lakh acres and a cultivable command area of 95,400 acres.

“The department has taken a strong note of the report, which revealed that the contractors to save money were dumping silt and garbage inside the canal. We have asked the contractors to clean all silt and garbage before water is released. Otherwise, their contracts will be cancelled and money won’t be paid to them,” the official said.

Today, the scene at the places where the de-silting work is going on is a bit different, as the contractors have employed JCB machines and tractors to lift garbage and silt that have been dug from the canal.

People living near the bank of the canal expressed happiness, as garbage that was creating problems for them was being lifted.

“A foul smell would emanate from garbage and silt that the labourers dumped in the canal. It could have led to the spread of an epidemic. But now we are happy that you people (The Tribune) highlighted our plight and the contractors have been forced to carry away garbage and silt,” said Ajit Kumar, a resident of Digiana, Jammu.

Jammu, March 19
Devotees from Pakistan today converged near the Sangral border outpost in RS Pura sector during a mela to offer prayers to Sain Syali Baba, popularly known as Nau Gaja Pir.

Over 6,000 people participated in the mela today, seeking blessings of the famous Pir, while more than 50 Pakistanis, including old men and children, accompanied by the Pakistan Rangers, came near the border. The devotees prayed for lasting peace and understanding between the two countries.

Though devotees from Pakistan, accompanied by the Pakistan Rangers, were not allowed to enter the Indian side, as a mark of harmony and brotherhood, for which Sain Syali Baba was known, BSF officials handed over “prasad” to their counterparts.

DIG, BSF, Jammu frontier, C Vasudevan, Commandant of 135 battalion, ML Garg and Suchetgarh legislator Sham Choudhary attended the day-long fair.

Before Partition, a large number of people used to throng the famous “mazar” and even today people from Pakistan turn up near the border to pay obeisance.

Though the standoff with Pakistan after the Parliament attack and intense shelling from the Pakistan side had resulted in a steep decline in the number of devotees, since 2004 the fair had again started attracting devotees.

It may be stated here that the Chamliyal Mela in Ramgarh sector in Samba district also attracts devotees from Pakistan. The Chamliyal Mela is organised every year in June with much pomp and show, where people gather on both sides of the border and exchange “shakkar” and “sharbat” under the supervision of the BSF and the Pakistani Rangers.

Leh, March 19
“The recognition of Sowa-Rigpa under Ayush as a medicinal system is in the final stage,” said Dr Padma Gurmet, member secretary of the panel of experts committee on Sowa-Rigpa constituted by the Union Health Ministry.

Sowa Rigpa is commonly known as Amchi or Tibetan medicine, a traditional health healing system practised all over the Himalayan regions of the country.

Dr Gurmet was speaking at the inaugural function of the three-day workshop on Sowa-Rigpa and Tsis (astrology form practised in Ladhak) at SNM Hospital in Leh today.

The committee has reportedly proposed Sowa-Rigpa to be recognised as a medicinal system under Ayush and included while implementing the National Rural Health Mission in the district.

Organised by the Sowa-Rigpa Research Centre, Leh, in collaboration with the Ladakh Amchi Shaba, about 100 Amchis and astrologers from all regions of Ladakh, including Zangkar region of Kargil district, are participating in the workshop.

SNM Hospital medical superintendent Dr Tsering Mutup said referral systems in diagonising the disease of certain patients between the Amchis and the doctors of SNM Hospital had considerably increased in the hospital. An Amchi OPD is operating in SNM Hospital for the past few years.

Sowa-Rigpa was recognised by the general council of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, in 2008 and a resolution was passed by the council to strengthen Amchi in Ladakh,” said Tsewan G Gonbo, secretary of the Ladakh Traditional Medicine Society.

Jammu, March 19
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice MA Mir, while dismissing an appeal filed by the state of Jammu and Kashmir, has held that “there is no scope for interference with the judgement and the order under appeal except that the reliefs granted by the judgement and the order would count from the date of presentation of the writ petition and not prior to that. It is made clear that until such time, on the basis of re-verification, it is communicated to the petitioner that he is not entitled to relief and reasons thereof, in law, he is entitled to the same.”

The petitioner, Shabir Ahmad, contended that in terms of the government policy he was entitled to subsistence allowance by way of migrant relief, for he had left his place of dwelling on threat perception. The single Judge considered the claim when it was reported that such allowances could be had by the petitioner on its report by the CID that he had left the valley due to threat to life and was residing in the province of Jammu. A direction was accordingly issued for the release of such allowances for the period they had not been paid.

Being satisfied of threat perception as contained in the certificate of August 23, 1997, by the IG, CID, Jammu, the appellant started giving such relief to the petitioner. The government order of March 10, 2000, directed the re-verification of all cases of migrants registered after March 25, 1996.

The Division Bench, while negating the contentions of the state counsel, held that “the relief proposed to be granted was and still is in the nature of subsistence allowance so as to enable the helpless migrants to survive. The direction for re-verification is not restricted only to threat perception, but in respect of many other aspects, including whether the migrant concerned has been able to earn his own subsistence. In the event after re-verification, it appears that threat perception is no longer there as such or the migrant has left the province of Jammu or he has become capable of supporting himself without allowance, it will be within the competence of the state to stop relief meant for migrants accorded in favour of the petitioner. However, an intimation at least to the migrant concerned indicating the result of re-verification coupled with reasons for stopping the relief must be communicated to the migrant.

“The petitioner was not informed that he was no more entitled to the allowance, for, on re-verification, it had emerged that there was no further necessity of supporting the petitioner by way of relief.”

Jammu, March 19
The memories of the horrific killing of 35 Sikhs in Chittisinghpora village in Anantnag district on March 20, 2000, are still fresh in the minds of two survivors.

Nanak Singh was one such survivor, who despite sustaining a bullet injury in his thigh managed to save his life.

It was around 7:45 pm when some gunmen in Army fatigue entered our village and asked all men to come out of their houses. They told us that a search operation was being conducted as some militants were suspected to be hiding in the village, says Nanak Singh. The gunmen then made all men to gather outside the two gurdwaras in the village.

“They made us to stand in two groups of 18 and 19. The one who was pretending as their commanding officer asked one of his subordinates to check our identity cards. As he was checking the card, the officer fired a round in the air after which all gunmen started firing on us,” narrates Nanak Singh.

“Everybody was in a pool of blood. But I was lucky that I fell under the heap of bodies,” he says. To make sure everyone was dead the gunmen scanned everyone and fired on all bodies.

“In the second time, when they fired a single round on bodies lying on the ground, I was hit in my thigh. Though it was very painful, I kept mum to save my life,” Nanak Singh says.

He says he heard the gunmen talk in Hindi and using names like, Bahdur, Bansi, Pawan, Raju and were raising slogans like “Bharat mata ki jai”.

Though Nanak Singh was lucky to survive, his son and a brother were among the 35 Sikhs killed.

Karamjeet Singh was another lucky survivor.

Karamjeet says “I was asked to stand in the queue. I requested them to allow me to go home as my child was not feeling well. I apprehended something bad was going to happen as the gunmen were in a drunken state.” He adds, “They refused. But somehow I managed to give them a slip.”

The village that had no connectivity with the outside world, after the mayhem some of the villagers had to travel 3 km to make a phone call to the police.

“Till date, it remains to be proved as who were the people behind the massacre. But the memories of the tragic night would continue to haunt us for the generations to come,” says Karamjeet.

Srinagar, March 19
The Kashmir divisional administration organised a disaster management training programme, followed by a mock drill, for 150 police commandos at Police Training School, Manigam, in Ganderbal district today. The programme was organised in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

GM Dar, head of disaster management, IMPA, explained in detail various precautionary measures required to prevent damage due to disasters in the state. Aamir Ali, project coordinator UNDP and OSD with the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, gave safety tips to the elite commandos. Earlier, MS Punnu, SSP, principal of Police Training School, Manigam, welcomed the experts and urged the commandos to actively participate in the training programme, as the police is usually the first responder in case of any disaster.

A mock drill was also conducted, wherein the commandos displayed their skills and were shown how to handle any disaster situation. A commando, Nazir Ahmad, said in the event of any disaster the priority would be to save maximum number of lives and ensure minimum damage. If all policemen were given commando training, much time could be saved.

The commandos have been handpicked from the police and are given special training to tackle any situation. It requires a lot of energy, exercise and special diets to become a commando.

The training was organised under the Urban Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction Project with the intention of establishing a better trained, better equipped and specialised force to combat any situation in the event of any disaster.

Jammu, March 19
Four dignitaries of Dogri language were felicitated by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL) in a function held at K L Saigal Hall today.

The function was presided over by secretary, Cultural Academy, Zafer Iqbal Manhas while additional secretary Savita Bakshi was also present in the function.

While complimenting Prof Ved Kumari Ghai and Prof Lalit Magotra for their lifetime achievement awards, Manhas said: “Our state has excelled not only in the field of literature and theatre but folk music has also brought National and International honour to the state.”

He also applauded the achievement of Prof ND Jamwal, renowned painter, sculptors, Dogri writer, scholar and play wright for his excellence in the field of Dogri play wright and Prof Champa Sharma who has been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, for her book ‘Cheay Di Rhol’ a collection of Dogri poetry.

Manhas congratulated the winners for their excellence in their respective fields of literature.

Jammu, March 19
Though Chief Minister Omar Abdullah picked up from where his predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad had left speeding up completion of health infrastructure in the state, dismal health scenario in the government sector has not changed much.

On an average 3,097 persons depended upon one health institution in the state as against 2,662 in 2000-01. To aggravate miseries of people, acute dearth of manpower and resources continue to mar basic purpose of proper health care in the state.

In 2007 there were 3,705 health institutions dispensing health services to the people and figures of 2004-05 to 2006-07 revealed that on an average 3,097 persons depended upon one health institution.

Regional profile of such institutions rate Ladakh on top with low dependence; for every 900 persons one institution has been formed while the Jammu region occupied position in between the Ladakh and Kashmir regions having on an average 2,738 persons per institution, says report of Directorate of Economics and Statistics. However, in the Kashmir region 3,930 persons depend upon one health institution.

Drawing parallels between districts, report listed Kargil and Leh at the top with 858 and 948 persons per institution, respectively. Likewise, Srinagar and Baramulla figured at the bottom with 5,143 and 4,611 persons, respectively.

Statistics of three years from 2004-05 to 2006-07 indicated that one health institution has to cover an area of 27.14 sq km in the state not reflecting any visible improvement when compared to 27.12 sq km in 2000-01.

Ladakh region showed heavy dependence of 197.38 sq km followed by Kashmir division (39.75 sq km).

Official sources told The Tribune that shortage of doctors, paramedics and other staff besides resource-crunch were the major bottlenecks in ensuring proper health care to the people.

The upgradation of Government Medical College, Jammu, at a cost of Rs 120 crore, expansion of GMC emergency block at a cost of Rs 9 crore, work on 200-bedded super-speciality paediatric block at a cost of Rs 20 crore and additional structure at a cost of Rs 6.25 crore at Sarwal Hospital are going on.

While a four-storied building for outdoor patients at a cost of Rs 10.50 crore stands completed at District Hospital Gandhi Nagar.

Without manpower these institutions would be of little relevance, said sources.

A proposal for sanctioning 4,100 posts for the upgraded GMC and 200-bedded super-speciality paediatric block at SMGS Hospital had been forwarded to the planning department, they said.

Administrator of the GMC and Associated Hospitals, Jammu, Rakesh Khajuria said requirement of manpower had been projected to the government but the posts were yet to be sanctioned.

Jammu, March 19
The police busted three gangs of thieves and vehicle lifters during the past 24 hours, which had been operating in the city. Gold ornaments worth Rs 6 lakh and nine motorcycles had been seized, the police said. The vehicles had been stolen from different parts of the city.

The first gang of vehicle lifters was headed by one Manjeet Kumar of Kalyana in RS Pura, who had been putting up in Shastri Nagar and his accomplice Rashpal, alias Paali, of Pindi in RS Pura.

The Gandhi Nagar police busted another gang headed by Krishan Lal who had been putting up in Digiana. One gold chain, one gold necklace, six silver coins and one pair of earrings worth Rs 1,06,800 had been seized from them.

In another incident, gold ornaments and silver coins worth Rs 2,35,800 had been seized from another burglar Som Nath, alias Somi, of Krishna Nagar.

The Narwal police also busted a gang of women thieves. The police has arrested the gang members identified as Mohani, Beena, Bahijyo, Bimla, Binu and Dhama, all residents of Rajeev Nagar. Six luminous batteries, bend pipes weighing 175 kg, T-shaped pipes weighing 105 kg and iron rods weighing 100 kg were seized from them.

Jammu, March 19
The Narwal police today arrested two persons for allegedly raping a mentally challenged woman in a truck (JK02J/9951) in Rajeev Nagar.

The accused are Rajan Kumar, alias Raju, of Narwal Bala in Jammu and Sanjay Kumar of Sudh Mahadev in Udhampur. A case has been registered against them.

Meanwhile, the Gangyal police today arrested Rajesh Kumar, alias Shashi, of Jindhal Khurd in Bishnah tehsil, for having burnt a kiosk of Ganesh Singh at Ekta Vihar in Gangyal on the night of March 17.

Rajesh Kumar, who confessed to his crime, said he had old enmity with Ganesh Singh.

Srinagar, March 19
A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was arrested from Gandherbal district by the police here today.

The militant, Dilawar Gegi, alias Danish, alias Usman, was arrested from Wussan area of Ganderbal district today morning, a police spokesman said.

The arrested militant was operating in the Kangan-Ganderbal belt for the past several years.

At the instance of Gegi, one rifle, four magazines and some other arms and ammunition were sized from a hideout in Akhal forest area. A case has been registered. — PTI