Srinagar, July 24
The PDP has sought a “positive and purposeful intervention” to restore normalcy in the Kashmir valley, which has been witnessing turmoil over the past more than a month following a series of killings allegedly by the CRPF.

Senior party leaders, at a meeting here today, observed that the situation in the state had shown a steady drift and deterioration over the past one-and-a-half years. The meeting was presided over by PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and attended, among others, by party president Mehbooba Mufti and general secretary Dilawar Mir.

“The situation calls for an immediate intervention at the level of the Prime Minister which could be perceived as dignified and serious by people in order to defuse tension on the ground. Any further delay in reaching out to people and understanding their sentiments could make retrieval much more difficult,” a PDP spokesman said after the meeting.

He said the party leaders shared the view that the people of the state and especially the Kashmir valley had become victims of a callous administration that had failed to handle the situation with any empathy or compassion. “The administration had been cautioned by no less a person than the Prime Minister himself during his June visit about its failures in addressing people’s basic problems,” the spokesman added.

He said having failed in performing its duties, the government used brute force to douse the anger among masses who were forced to come out on the streets, the PDP leaders held. Not knowing how to respond to the crisis, the government had begun by discovering imaginary enemies and instead of putting its act together used more force to silence protests, which led to the worst human rights disaster and scores of teenage deaths even as cases of fake encounters, disappearances, killings by ‘unknown gunmen’ and random atrocities kept stalking the land.

Calling for an end to the ongoing “repressive measures”, the PDP also stressed on sincere efforts to create an atmosphere for the resolution of the Kashmir problem. The PDP leaders called for an end to indiscriminate arrest of youths, use of force and undeclared and declared curfew as a preferred policy of the state so as to try and create an atmosphere conducive to resolution.

Srinagar, July 24
The state PCC president, Saifuddin Soz, has said the Congress would help in strengthening the dialogue process at all levels. He urged the separatist Hurriyat Conference leadership to resume the dialogue with the Central government.

Addressing a meeting of Congress workers of south Kashmir at Khanabal in Anantnag today, the former Union minister informed that the PCC had recently urged the Central government to provide a relief package for people who had suffered hardships during the current turmoil. This, he said, included an inquiry into the recent deaths and an adequate relief to the bereaved families.

Soz added that the PCC also sought the implementation of the remaining recommendations of the Round Table Conferences that had been instituted by the Prime Minister. It had also demanded the expansion and restructuring of the state police and employment to the youths and ensuring a brisk trade and passenger traffic across the LoC between Srinagar and Rawalpindi.

Soz also assured the workers that the Congress would help build a clean, democratic and transparent system of justice. He also assured that information, accountability and vigilance commissions would be instituted soon.

Other party leaders present during the meeting included Minister for Education Peerzada Mohammad Syed, Minister for Medical Education RS Chib, MLA GA Mir and others.

Srinagar, July 24
While the normal life continued to remain paralysed across Kashmir in response to the separatist bandh call, restrictions were reimposed in Kupwara and Pulwama towns today following yesterday’s clashes between protesters and the police.

Traffic on the Srinagar-Baramulla road was blocked by angry demonstrators at Palhalan near Pattan that witnessed trouble yesterday. The SHO, Pattan police station, Fayaz Ahmad, was injured when a bullet fired by the protesting mob hit him at Palhalan. Several other policemen and civilians were injured in the clashes yesterday. Curfew restrictions also remained in force in Kupwara town of north Kashmir to prevent any trouble today. The town had witnessed clashes in which at least 15 persons were injured yesterday.

The restrictions also remained in force in Pulwama town of south Kashmir after yesterday’s clashes to avoid any further trouble today. Protest demonstrations against the killings and human rights violations have been continuing over the past one month on the call of the hard line APHC leader Syed Ali Geelani and supported by other separatist organisations.

Life continued to remain paralysed across the Valley in response to the bandh call, leading to the continued closure of shops and business establishments, educational institutions and banks. Transport was also off the roads even as light vehicles plied in some areas of the city.

Meanwhile, lawyers and doctors also held protests on the call of the separatists against human rights violations here today. The lawyers held protests in the sadder court complex as they were prevented by a heavy deployment of the police from coming out and holding a protest. Similar reports were also received from the Government Medical College here. — TNS

Jammu, July 24
The state government’s rehabilitation policy for militants, especially those who had crossed over to Pakistan, seems to have been put on the back burner.

While the Punjab government has gone ahead by releasing a “black list” of former militants or alleged militants and their sympathisers, the Jammu and Kashmir government, which had ironically proposed the move, has not prepared any list.

Caught between the Punjab government and the state government are the Sikh militants or their alleged sympathisers and relatives, who belong to the state, mainly in Simbal village of the RS Pura belt.

While the Punjab government’s list does not include their relatives or alleged sympathisers settled abroad, these persons were hoping they would be included in the list prepared by the state government.

Residents of Sumbal village, called a nursery of militants, are the worst sufferers. The dreaded and most-wanted terrorist Ranjeet Singh Neeta belongs to this village as well as his sister-in-law, who was trained as a human bomb, also lived here before moving to Amritsar.

Residents, including even those who have no relation to militants or their sympathisers, struggle for getting a passport as they belong to “infamous” Sumbal village.

“A very few residents of our village get the passports. The police does not recommend their cases,” said a villager. A police officer in Jammu said the police had no option but to be cautious as many Sikh militants like Neeta were still active.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had stir up a hornet’s nest by announcing a policy for the return of militants based in the PoK early this year. Home Minister P Chidambaram had endorsed it during a visit to the state but kicked up another controversy by claiming it was only for the militants from Jammu and Kashmir.

The Central government extended the policy to Punjab, which swiftly went ahead. But, surprisingly, the state which started it had gone quiet about it.

“We have not prepared any list so far. There were no such orders,” said a senior police officer.

“To the best of my information, no such list has been prepared and forwarded to the Home Ministry so far,” said the senior officer. Intelligence agencies have also confirmed that no list has been prepared.

Jammu July 24
After suspension for two days, the Amarnath yatra resumed today with a batch of 2,574 pilgrims leaving Jammu to the holy cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir.

The batch, comprising 1,846 men, 433 women, 54 children and 241 sadhus, left in 65 vehicles from the Yatri Niwas base camp in Bhagwati Nagar here early this morning, officials of the state Tourism Department said.

They added that the pilgrims had crossed Batote on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and were expected to reach the base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam by the evening. The yatra was halted on Thursday near Udhampur, Batote and Ramban, due to an inclement weather.

Meanwhile, the pilgrims held a protest outside the Yatri Niwas here today, demanding proper staying arrangements and registration slips for the yatra.

The pilgrims raised slogans against the civil administration for inadequate stay arrangements and blocked the road leading to the Yatri Niwas for some time.

Gaurav Kumar, a pilgrim from New Delhi, said, “There is no proper arrangement for staying and pilgrims are facing hardships.” He added that the administration was not even issuing registration slips to the pilgrims here.

Another pilgrim, Rajeev Malhotra from Haryana, said, “The situation is worse here and no one is bothered about us. We are staying here for the last two days but the administration is not paying any heed to our problems.”

After getting an assurance from the officials in the Yatri Niwas that they would look into the matter, the pilgrims relented after about half an hour.

Udhampur, July 24
The tragic road accident, which claimed the lives of 22 persons when the Matador they were travelling in fell into the Chenab near Phagumarh village in Kishtwar district yesterday, could have been avoided had the district transport authorities acted upon the recommendations of the police against habitual offenders of the motor vehicles’ rules.

This seems to be one of such cases as the police investigation into the accident revealed that the Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO), Kishtwar, failed to cancel the licences of 18 drivers of commercial passenger vehicles as recommended by the DSP, Traffic, Kishtwar. “The driver of the ill-fated Matador, Gulam Hyder, who also met the watery grave along with others, was also one of the rule offenders,” DIG, Jammu, Kamal Saini, who visited the spot today, told The Tribune over the phone.

Meanwhile, 22 casualties have been confirmed. These include two women and a minor. Three passengers were injured. The investigation also showed that the tragedy occurred due to carelessness on the part of the driver. He was driving the vehicle on the road along the river bank. He lost control over the vehicle after it hit a road bump and as a result it fell into the gushing Chenab. Efforts were on to recover the bodies as well as the vehicle till the filing of the report. The district administration has requisitioned divers of the Navy for the purpose.

The DIG said they had asked Deputy Commissioner, Kishtwar, Guldev Raj Bhagat to take action against the ARTO for dereliction of duty. Bhagat in turn said he called the ARTO over the matter today but the latter tried to wash his hands off the responsibility saying action was delayed because he could not get the original licences of the traffic rule offenders.

Interestingly, as per the DIG, the deceased driver was caught by the traffic police on June 28 for driving an overloaded vehicle carrying 18 passengers, more than the permitted capacity. Some people, allegedly at the behest of the private transporters lobby, had also blocked the road in protest against the police action.

Jammu, July 24
Minister for Roads and Building (R&B) GM Saroori and adviser to Chief Minister Mubarak Gul today inspected the site of the accident near Worrara Bridge, where a Matador had rolled down into the Chenab last evening. MLA, Kishtwar, Sajad Ahmad Kichloo also accompanied them. Later, Saroori and Gul conducted a joint meeting of district officers, prominent citizens and political leaders of the area to mourn the death of the passengers. They also discussed measures for improving the traffic system on the Batote-Kishtwar road and other minor link roads to minimise the recurrence of road accidents.

It was suggested to erect crash barriers on all vulnerable sites on the Batote-Kishtwar highway and the widening of narrow portions/zigs of the road. It was also urged to cheek overloading in buses, phasing out of outdated passenger vehicles, widening the main road from Mali-path to the Girinagar sector by the GREF authorities, induction of additional SRTC buses in district, setting up of trauma hospital at the district headquarters and health care facilities improvement at the District Hospital, Kishtwar.

Responding to the suggestions of the citizens, Gul, assured that these suggestions shall be considered appropriately. He said the coalition government was committed to ensuring safety of the people and all-round development of the state.

Saroori expressed shock over the accident and stressed upon the district administration to streamline traffic management in the district. He also asked the District Development Commissioner to enforce traffic regulation norms adding that a screening test about the proficiency skill of drivers and vehicles efficacy running on various roads in the district should be ensured.

He informed that material worth Rs 75 lakh under the Disaster Management Programme had been kept at the disposal of Doda district which would be expended for meeting emergent requirements in the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar. He asked the district administration to start verification of driving licences forthwith and take stern action against the erring persons.

Jammu, July 24
The appointment of OP Kohli as the in charge of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to revitalise the morale of the demoralised pro-RSS faction in the party. This faction has been sidelined after the formation of the new state unit of the BJP as a majority of the leaders of this group have been sidelined in the daily activities of the party.

Known as a dedicated Sangh Parivar man, Kohli had earlier been the in charge of the party’s affairs in the state for four years from 2000 to 2004 and is aware of each and everything about the party in the state.

Although all leaders have hailed the appointment of Kohli as the in charge of the party, a strong lobby in the state BJP is not happy with the development as during his earlier tenure he had not allowed some high profile leaders to dominate the party. In his earlier tenure he took every decision in consultation with the Sangh Parivar so at that time there was coordination between the RSS and the BJP.

For quite some time relations between the Sangh Parivar and the BJP were not as good as earlier. The new state unit of the BJP was formed without taking the Sangh Parivar into confidence and even choices of the Parivar were ignored while appointing new office-bearers.

The Predecessor of Kohli, Shanta Kumar, a former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, is know for his closeness with a veteran BJP leader of Jammu and Kashmir and this leader had played a dominate role in the constitution of the new party team in the state. During the tenure of Shanta Kumar as the in charge of the state BJP, a faction had strengthened its position in the party and those who were know for their closeness with the Veer Bhawan, the RSS headquarters, had virtually been sidelined in the affairs of the party.

Sources said after the appointment of Kohli, the BJP leadership would appoint another person as the organisation secretary of the state unit who would better coordinate between the party and the Sangh Parivar so as to iron out the differences. As Jammu and Kashmir is core to the ideology of the party, the BJP leadership want to further strengthen the party in the region with the guidance and assistance of the Sangh Parivar.

Meanwhile, OP Kohli said his priority was to make the party a vibrant force in the sensitive state. “In this border state we will strive hard to make the BJP a strong force so as to face the challenges of anti-national and other forces,” Kohli told The Tribune over the phone from Delhi.

Asked about groupism and infighting in the party, he said he had earlier worked in the state as in charge and he knew a majority of the leaders as well as workers and hence the problem would be sorted out. “I will try my best to take every faction together as our priority is to strengthen the party in the state,” he said and added that very soon he would visit Jammu to start work.

Jammu, July 24
The alleged accused of the Sunderbani MMS scandal, Ajeeb Narwal, has claimed that he had made a “clean” video of the girl and there was nothing obscene about it.

The 21-year-old youth, who has been demanding a thorough probe into his kidnapping earlier, has been booked by the Sunderbani police for raping a teenage girl of a nearby village.

Ajeeb had a love affair with a girl junior to him in his school. In his complaint to the police, he alleged that family members of the girl kidnapped him on the night of July 15 when he was returning on his motorcycle from Sunderbani to his village.

He further alleged that the father, brother and mother of the girl, with the help of some unidentified persons, kidnapped him and took him to their house in Bajorah village, where they attacked him with an axe on his head repeatedly. After injuring him, the attackers threw him in a nullah. Some locals saw Ajeeb lying in the nullah and took him to his house.

But now the parents of the girl have lodged a fresh complaint alleging that Ajeeb had raped their girl three times on July 15 at their house. An FIR on the rape charge has been lodged against him.

Ajeeb, who was taken to Jammu on July 16, was discharged from the Government Medical College and Hospital today.

He along with his family members termed the complaint lodged against him as fictitious. Ajeeb said, “I loved the daughter of an ex-subedar of a nearby village and was ready to marry her. I have also taken clean pictures of her and made a video in my cellphone but when I came to know about her dubious character, I broke the relationship, which lasted for about a year.”

He added, “The girl’s family wants me to marry her, which I am not willing to do. So, they attacked me and hatched a plan to implicate me in a false case.”

Ganesh Narwal, father of Ajeeb, said, “Yes, my son had taken pictures of the girl in his mobile phone, but there was nothing wrong in them.”

Romesh Jalla, SSP, Rajouri, said, “The boy has been released from the hospital and an action will be taken against him as per the law.” He added, “Both families have filed criminal complaints against each other and the matter is under investigation.”

However, he denied information about any video of the girl. “We have registered a case against the boy under Section 376 of the RPC and so far no one has complained about any video film of the girl,” stated Jalla.

Srinagar, July 24
The two-phased census enumeration that started in the Kashmir valley in mid-May is expected to complete by the end of this month after its period was extended by a month due to the current crisis here.

The house and population counting is being done in the first phase, followed by collection of photographs and fingerprints for the biometric database.

“The house listing in the first phase of the census enumeration has been extended up to July 30. Earlier, it was supposed to be complete by June 30, but due to the situation here its period was extended by a month,” said Farooq Ahmad Faktoo, Director, Census. He added that the population enumeration would start by February next year.

The Director informed that the listing of houses and entries in the National Population Register (NPR) would go simultaneously in the snow-bound areas like Leh, Kargil, Karnah and Gurez. It started from July 16 and would continue till September-end. — OC

Udhampur, July 24
The Agriculture Department has proposed to distribute 4,160 quintals of high-yield variety seeds of different crops to farmers to increase agriculture production this fiscal as part of the total outlay of Rs 35.69 lakh earmarked for the agriculture sector in Udhampur district.

According to the Chief Agriculture Officer, Udhampur, 43,900 hectares are proposed to be covered with high yielding variety seeds. Besides, it is also proposed to distribute 3,488 tonnes of fertilisers to supplement efforts to increase the overall productivity.

To educate farmers about the scientific pattern of mushroom growing, it is proposed to establish 16,000 mushroom trays along with the distribution of 8,000 bottles of spawn to achieve the expected mushroom production of 535 quintals. Going by the rising demand of saffron cultivation in the district, 10 demonstration plots are proposed to be set up at an estimated cost of about Rs 1 lakh.

These proposals are part of the annual plan 2010-2011, which includes Rs 18.63 lakh as the revenue component for the newly created planning cell and Rs 17.06 lakh as the capital component. During the last financial year, 3,713 quintals of high yielding variety seeds of all types were made available to the famers apart from 3,014 tonnes of fertilisers. The crops covered under high yielding variety seeds include wheat, maize, pulses, oil seeds, paddy and vegetables.

It is pertinent to mention here that due to the use of high yielding variety seeds in Udhampur district, particularly in the Bashat area of the Chenani block, vegetable production has increased substantially. It has a lot to do with the cold storage facilities provided in the area as well. Of the total area of 72,426 hectares under cultivation in the district, more than 71,000 hectares have been brought under the high yielding varieties of different crops.

Jammu, July 24
Accusing the state government of backtracking from an agreement, the PHE Employees’ United Front today served a 15-day ultimatum on the authorities concerned to either fulfil the agreement or face an agitation.

Hundreds of PHE employees from Kishtwar, Doda, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba, Akhnoor and other PHE divisions staged a protest outside the office of the PHE Chief Engineer here today. The agitating employees accused PHE Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din and his deputy Nasir Aslam Wani of betraying them.

“After executing an agreement with the employees on March 6 the government has turned a Nelson’s eye towards us and now we are being compelled to go on an agitation,” said Subhash Verma, a leader of the PHE Employees United Front.

Verma claimed that the PHE Minister had promised to increase the salary of daily wage workers from Rs 500 to Rs 3,300, besides releasing one-and-a-half day of extra pay to the employees.

“The minister had also agreed to regularise the services of all daily wage workers who had completed seven years of service and rationalise the transfer policy. It was also agreed that widows, women and physically challenged, besides terminally ill employees appointed under SRO-43, would not be dislocated,” said Verma.

“All such promises have turned out to be hoax and no measures, whatsoever, have been initiated to execute the agreement,” he said. The non-serious attitude of the minister, who has cited the turmoil in Kashmir as an excuse in not executing the agreement, had not gone well with the employees, he added.

Had it been so then how the Civil Secretariat in the Valley continued to function normally despite a tense situation there, Verma asked. He made it clear that if the government failed to fulfil their genuine demands within 15 days, they would be forced to confront the authorities.

Later, a reminder was also submitted by the front leaders to the PHE Chief Engineer.

It may be stated here that the PHE Department has approximately 30,000 employees, including 9,750 permanent and 16,000 daily wage, across the Jammu province comprising 10 districts.

Jammu, July 24
The All-Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Teachers’ Federation here today said some persons were fraudulently using the name of the federation for personal benefits and the public should be aware of them.

Members also discussed various other issues like the announcement of a tentative date for the smooth conduct of the elections and a change in the leadership.

They further discussed to reorganise the federation at the grass-root level by conducting a membership drive at the district, tehsil and zonal level.

All senior members, including president Balwan Singh Jamwal, Manga Ram Sharma, Subhash Chander, Joginder Singh Manhas, Kewal Krishan, Pawan Kumar Gupta were present there.

Blawan Singh Jamwal said, “The self-styled ad-hoc president of the federation, who is misusing the name of the federation, should stop the anti-teacher and anti-federation activities with immediate effect, otherwise a legal action will be taken against him.”

Jammu, July 24
A 28-year-old man was murdered in the Gangyal area last night for having alleged illicit relations with a married woman living in the neighbourhood, the police said.

Som Singh, alias Vicky, of the Model Town area in Gangyal was allegedly having an illicit affair with the wife of Krishna, a resident of Bihar, for a long time. Krishna with the help of his friends killed Vicky last night, it added.

The police further said on returning home yesterday, Krishna caught Vicky and his wife indulging in an immoral act. Krishna called up his three friends and took Vicky on the roof of his house. All of them thrashed Vicky and later pushed him into a nullah behind the house from the second floor.

This morning, when some locals saw the body, they informed the police. The police took the body to the mortuary of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here.

After post-mortem the body was handed over to Vicky’s family, which performed the last rites of the deceased.

A senior police officer said they had arrested the four accused and a case of murder had been registered against them. Besides Kirshna, the other accused are Mohammad Bachu, Shahu Pal and Babbu Yadav. All of them are residents of Bihar.

Jammu, July 24
To create awareness among people of Jammu about diabetic retinopathy, NSL Medical Services is going to organise a camp at Gandhi Nagar here tomorrow.

Dr KD Singh from KD Eye Hospital, Pathankot, will examine diabetic patients for diabetic retinopathy and make them aware of the eye disease.

Addressing a press conference, Dr KD Singh said, “Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world and there is a need to create awareness about it.

He further said, “Diabetic patients run high risk of developing hearing problems,” he said, adding that “more than 60 per cent of patients with diabetes have some degree of eye problem also.”

“Those who are diagnosed with retinopathy in the camp will be provided free treatment at Pathankot as there is no such facility in Jammu,” he said. — TNS