Srinagar, July 28
As the Kashmir valley has been witnessing intermittent rain over the past one week, the downpour leading to flash floods in parts of nearby Ganderbal and Bandipore districts has damaged crops in some of the areas. The Army last night rescued nearly 500 stranded families.

Several villages in Bandipore district witnessed heavy rain yesterday leading to flash floods in some villages, including Malangam, Turkapora and Aloosa, where paddy and other crops were damaged.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for PHE and Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani today visited the area and took stock of the situation arising out of the floods. He was accompanied by Sharief-ud-Din Shariq, MP. The minister visited Malangam, Turkapora, Aloosa, Nabli Pora and other villages and apprised himself of the damage.He gave orders for the immediate rehabilitation of the affected persons and also asked the Flood Control Department to undertake repairs of embankments on a priority basis.

The minister said the government was working on a comprehensive plan to protect people living on the banks of the Arin nullah and the Madhumati nullah from floods.

A defence spokesman, meanwhile, said the flash floods, caused by a cloudburst and heavy rain in the Rishi Canal, Malangam, last night threatened the villages in the vicinity. He said the Army unit deployed in the area immediately rushed to the affected areas and rescued nearly 500 marooned families and the operations continued till late in the night.

Additional reinforcements were rushed to assist in the ongoing rescue operations.

Food packets, medicines and provisions were being provided to the locals and they were being shifted to safer places till the water levels receded,he added.

Akhnoor, July 28
With the Chenab crossing the danger mark in Akhnoor, eight vulnerable points were identified by the administration today along its bank in the block.

Datyal village is the most sensitive, with the rising and gushing waters of the river reaching a few metres away from the house line. Civil administration sources said an immediate ban strengthening measures, including laying of studs and spurs, was on to prevent water from entering the village.

Other vulnerable spots identified were Indripattan, Bakore, Shetreyal, Chanjhwan, Meramuthi, Lehiran and Garkhiyal. The administration has sounded an alert to the villages and the police and the Army have been alerted to respond to any eventuality.

SDM, Akhnoor, Ashok Sharma said proper measures were in place to prevent any loss. “We are setting up crates and studs. Teams are stationed there with police and Army teams on stand by.”

It is raining intermittently in the high reaches in the region and most of the rivulets fall in the Chenab.

The villagers have constituted vigil teams to keep an eye on the river. Subash Mangotra, a villager, said the river seemed in a fury and had not risen to such a level in several years.

With the Met Department forecasting more rain, the villagers are having sleepless nights. They accuse the administration of thinking of the danger only when the water level begins to rise. “We wish the administration had visited the village before the monsoon and strengthened the embankments.”

Meanwhile, Minister for Health, Horticulture and Floriculture Sham Lal Sharma today conducted a tour of the flood-affected areas across the Chenab and enquired about the plight of the people there.

During a daylong tour of Byasa Chak, Bhore, Chak Dalbat, Muthi-Miara, Chak Sikandar, Banwal, Lehrian and other flood-affected areas, Sharma issued instructions to the accompanying officers to provide assistance to the people, who have suffered losses due to the recent floods in the Chenab.

Jammu DC MK Dwevedi, chief engineer of the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC), Akhnoor sub-divisional magistrate, SP and other senior officers of R&B, Revenue, Police and I& FC Department accompanied the minister.

He also asked the authorities to immediately repair the crates at Chak Dalbat village, along the Chenab. The minister directed for taking all possible steps to protect agricultural land from flash floods and called for working in shifts to complete the work on time.

Jammu, July 28
To step up attack on the faction close to Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Saifuddin Soz, the Congress Seva Dal, a frontal organisation of the Congress, has demanded the reopening of the case regarding the sale of immovable property worth crores of the party in the Kashmir valley without the consent of the high command.

As the allegations of the sale of the party property were labelled against former PCC chief Ghulam Rasool Kar, the Seva Dal today urged the central leadership in general and All-India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Sonia Gandhi in particular to conduct an inquiry into the matter so that senior leaders responsible for committing this ‘fraud’ could be singled out.

Kar owns allegiance to the Soz group and he gave a statement against Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently. The anti-Soz faction is irked over Kar’s remarks against Azad.

Congress Seva Dal chief organiser BS Sambyal, who belongs to the Azad faction in the party, today raised the issue during the one-day workshop of the party. In the workshop, the Seva Dal passed a resolution, especially mentioning Ghulam Rasool Kar with regard to the sale of the party property in the Kashmir valley.

In the early 90s, a building owned by the Congress was sold by some party leaders to private persons without the consent of the party high command. Kar was the PCC chief at that time and it was alleged that he pocketed the whole amount by selling the property.

“Ghulam Rasool Kar in connivance with another senior party leader sold property worth crores of the Congress in the Kashmir valley,” the resolution stated and also pointed a finger towards another veteran leader who had shifted loyalty to the pro-Soz camp.

It was also decided during the workshop that a delegation of party workers would approach the high command so that the case of property sale was reopened.

Sources in the party said the anti-Soz faction raised the issue only to corner those leaders who had shifted loyalty to other groups. Instead of countering Kar’s statement against Ghulam Nabi Azad, the anti-Soz faction has decided to rake up the issue of the sale of the party’s property to counter the opponents in the party.

Kar, one of the veteran leaders of the Congress, has been supporting Soz. Recently, his expulsion from the party was cancelled by the PCC chief. Kar had contested the last Assembly election as a rebel candidate and was expelled from the party for six years.

Srinagar, July 28
The police here today prevented Bhim Singh, chairman of the Panthers Party, from holding a rally in Lal Chowk in support of the party’s demand for the dismissal of the coalition government and the imposition of Governor’s rule in the state.

Accompanied by over 12 of his senior party colleagues and leaders from the Kashmir valley, Bhim Singh was stopped by the police near Pratap Park on the Residency Road this morning while he was going towards Lal Chowk. The party leaders were holding banners and placards in support of their demand and were raising slogans when they were stopped.

The Panthers Party leaders were taken away in police vehicles and banners and placards seized. Besides Bhim Singh, others detained by the police included Syed Rafiq Shah, MLC and president of the Young Panthers, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Kashmir province president, and Masood Indrabi, vice-president.

Later, a party spokesman alleged that hundreds of armed policemen raided the Panthers Party headquarters in Rajbagh and lathi-charged nearly 200 workers and dragged them away to unknown places. Several vehicles stationed at there were damaged by the police, he alleged. Restrictions were imposed to stop the Panthers Party workers from Anantnag, Baramulla, Kupwara, Budgam, Gandherbal and other areas from joining the march at Lal Chowk, the spokesman said.

Jammu: Activists of the Panthers Party held a demonstration in front of Raj Bhawan here on Wednesday in protest against the detention of party president Bhim Singh and other leaders in Srinagar.

The activists strongly condemned the Omar Abdullah government for denying democratic rights of protest and holding a public meeting to the party. There was neither curfew nor any bandh call in Srinagar and thus, there was no reasonable cause to detain Bhim Singh and others.”This draconian act of the ruling alliance shows that the government does not want democracy and peace to be strengthened in the Valley”, they said.

Prominent among those who addressed the protesters were H.C. Jalmeria, Bansi Lal Sharma, Jagdev Singh, Raghubir Singh Billowria, Paramjeet Singh Marshall, Khajoor Singh and others.

Jammu, July 28
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today exhorted its workers to launch a war against the anti-people government, which according to them has compounded woes of the masses due to propagation of wrong policies during its regime.

Addressing a function, which was held today at Jammu in connection with the foundation day of the party, senior party leaders said people of the state have started comparing performance of the present dispensation with the previous Congress-PDP-led coalition regime, as woes of the common masses have been mounting due to wrong policies being adopted by the National Conference-led government.

The PDP leaders pointed out that the previous regime headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has not only carved out a path of equitable development, but also initiated a policy for establishing lasting peace in the region. “It is unfortunate that the present regime has failed to carry forward the policies pursued by the previous PDP-led regime,” said the party leaders.

Pointing towards total collapse of administration during the last 18 months, the PDP leaders said legalisation of the corruption was the only noticeable achievement of this regime. Taking a leaf from the recent statements of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the party leaders said Omar has himself admitted that there was rampant corruption in his government, as he has failed to control corrupt practices being adopted by his ministers.

The PDP leaders observed that situation in the state, the Valley in particular, has been deteriorating with every passing day due to the wrong policies of this regime and incident of human right violation have been increasing, but the government was not seriously stopping such incidents.

“It is unfortunate that the state government has not learnt any lesson from the past,” they said and observed that the situation has been sliding back to pre-2002 situation due to the wrong policies of the government.

Jammu, July 28
The Municipal Corporation and the city police had a public showdown at the Kachhi Chawani chowk here today over “following the law”, but ironically exposed their own “illegal” doings in the process. A team of the Municipal Corporation descended on the main chowk around noon today and confiscated the Traffic Police booth and barricades for illegally displaying advertisements of some industries and educational institutions on them.

The MC officials told the police that it was illegal to display these advertisements. They reasoned that the MC had given the rights for displaying advertisements to a company, which provides over Rs 1 crore revenue to the MC.

They claimed that the company had objected to these advertisements on the police booth and barricades for which no money had been paid to it.

Visibly embarrassed by the MC action, a team of policemen, led by an ASI, immediately moved ahead of the MC vehicle No: JK 02 AB- 3623 and stopped it. They asked for the registration papers of the vehicle. The MC officials, who had stumped the policemen by their action a few minutes ago, were on the back foot now.

The MC vehicle was plying without papers after an accident and the original documents were attached with the court case.

A bitter argument began between the two sides even though senior officials reached there.

The police said if MC officials had done their duty by removing the booth and the barricades, it also just followed the law by impounding the MC vehicle being driven without valid papers. A recovery crane of the Traffic Police hooked the MC vehicle, loaded with the police booth and barricades, to tow it away.

Both sides stuck to their stands with the MC officials refusing to release the seized material and the police insisting that the MC vehicle had been challaned and impounded and would be taken to police station.

All this happened in full public view with both wings of the government exposing how little they cared for the law. While the MC officials were moving around in a vehicle without valid papers, the police had leased out its infrastructure without following the rules.

The four-hour tussle saw its main drama in the afternoon when the MC officials blocked the busy road by calling its employees to bring several vehicles and park them on the road.

As a huge jam occurred due to the blockade, which was again illegal, the police relented and allowed the MC team to take away its booth and barricades in the vehicle being plied illegally.

While no official was willing to speak on record, sources said the MC drive would continue and all illegal advertisements, including those on police barricades, booths and even police stations, would be removed unless the requisite payment was made to the advertising company.

Jammu, July 28
After two days of shutdown and violence, normalcy returned to Samba this morning.

All public and private offices and shops opened and traffic plied normally.Normalcy returned a day after the state government replaced SSP, Samba, Raghubir Singh with JL Sharma, SSP. The police also arrested two of the four absconding accused in bovine smuggling.It also assured people that the other two accused would be arrested soon.

Sanjeev Khajuria, a resident of Samba, said:“Till 9 am today, almost all shops in the city were open and the city started witnessing hustle and bustle again. Finally, the situation turned normal.”

Deputy Commissioner , Samba, Saurabh Bhagat assured the protesters at a meeting last evening that the remaining two accused would be arrested soon. He also assured them that compensation would be paid to all those vendors, shopkeepers and residents who suffered losses during the two-day violence.

Saurabh said: “We are regularly interacting with people and have accepted their demands. The situation is totally under control and there is nothing to worry about now.”

He added, “The new SSP is personally looking into the matter and the police has arrested two more accused. Now, only two accused are absconding.”

On July 26, people blocked the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway for more than 11 hours demanding the transfer of the then SSP and the arrest of all accused involved in bovine smuggling. Five persons had stolen three bovine from the house of Sohan Singh, a farmer, on July 25.

Local residents had nabbed one of the accused, Mukhtiar, along with a bovine the same night. After thrashing Mukhtiar, they took him to the main chowk of Samba and tied him with the bovine there. They later handed him over to the police.

Meanwhile,the protesters were released last evening and a case was registered against five bovine smugglers at Samba police station.

Jammu, July 28
After the Punjab police seized 70 kg of gold and arrested four persons in Rajpura in Punjab, officials of Met Trade India Limited, Kathua, today failed to produce purchase bills of the entire consignment before the Kathua police.

During preliminary investigations, the company produced the purchase bills of only 20 kg of gold through the SBI Oversees branch, Delhi, after paying $ 6 lakh,a senior police officer told The Tribune.

The Kathua police claimed it had found gross violations as two more factories were allegedly operating without permission from the industrial unit.”On being asked to produce the invoice of the 70-kg gold, which they purchased from Ghana in Africa, the company officials failed to do so and could also not produce the licence to set up another plant in the commercial unit in the industrial area here”, said a senior police officer.

He further said after receiving information from the Patiala police, a team was sent to Met Trade India Limited to investigate the matter, but the unit head, Anil Jain, failed to produce documents. The police also suspected the involvement of an engineer since he had been missing.

SSP, Kathua, Garibdass said:”The company officials have admitted that the 70-kg gold belonged to them, which they had ordered in Ghana, but they failed to produce the bills”. However, he refused to reveal which product was being manufactured in the unit and why such a huge quantity of gold was required.

He added: “We have conveyed this information to the Patiala police, which will come here, along with officials of the Excise and Taxation Department to investigate the matter”.

The SSP further said the company manufactured some articles for use in automobile factories and some household articles like channels and doorpanes. The metals being used in the factory were lead, aluminum, copper, silver and gold, he said.

Udhampur, July 28
It may sound strange to urbanites that as per ancient religious tradition in the Nagsaini area of Kishtwar district, men here have to observe one month of celibacy in a year.

During the period,they leave for the higher reaches in this mountainous district and are not allowed entry into their homes.

Every year all menfolk of about 100 villages of the area, about 50 km from Kishtwar, have to follow this custom irrespective of their socio-economic status.

Elders of these villages say this tradition originated from the belief that during this month, Gods visited Lord Shiva at his abode, Kailash Mountain, and like them the men of these villages also go uphill for worship. They also take their cattle along and collect milk and butter which is carried home upon return. Collective celebrations mark this occasion.

Though they have to follow strict regimen up there in the mountains, sometimes an exception may take place as part of which if for some reason any of the men have to come home, he is not allowed inside. A meeting with wife is considered a taboo. He is not allowed to touch anything and food too is served outside house. The person even has to clean his dishes himself.

Somraj, a villager, said all male members of a family followed the tradition by turn. Others look after the family responsibilities while only one member goes up.

It is a measure of collective sanction behind the age-old practice that when the menfolk leave for the mountains, women do aarti on the occasion and the whole village sees them off. Without looking back, the group proceeds to its destination. They spend time in worship, grazing cattle, milking them and making butter. They also carry ration and items of daily use in wooden baskets on their backs.

This month-long sabbatical is in sharp contrast to the prevailing practice in other areas under which married women visit their parental homes during this month, said Rattan Chand of Kishtwar.

Jammu, July 28
Criticising the coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah for meting out step-motherly treatment towards Jammu, the BJP today flayed Jammu-based ministers for maintaining silence over this discriminatory attitude of the government.

Reacting sharply to yesterday’s Cabinet decision to appoint an inquiry commission to look into recent disturbances in the Valley leading to deaths of 17 people and giving compensation to the next of the kin of these persons to the tune of Rs 5 lakh each, three MLAs of BJP, Ashok Khajuria, Jugal Kishore Sharma and Sukhnandan Choudhary, in a joint press conference said this decision of the government was just to please the agitating masses in Kashmir with a view to regain the lost control by it.

“This decision also points towards double standards adopted by the government of one or the other region, as the government did not announce any probe into 2008 killings by the police of 12 people in Jammu during land-row agitation. Even the government did not announce any substantial compensation to their families then,” they added.

Referring to incident of disappearance of two minor girls in the police custody in the Gulabgarh area of Kishtwar district in Jammu division, the MLAs said the government did not order any inquiry against the erring police officials, despite agitation by the locals of the area.

In a similar situation in the Shopian, the government ordered several inquiries and took serious action against the officials there. “This is also another case of glaring discrimination of the government as regards the matters pertaining to Jammu,” they said.

Charging the ministers, hailing from Jammu, in the coalition for maintaining reticence during the Cabinet meeting and allowing to take unfair decision, the BJP legislators said they do not command any writ in the government.

The MLAs also referred to the recent incident in Samba, where shops and property of many people got damaged during the police lathicharge and bursting tear gas shells on protesters demanding action against nexus of the bovine smugglers and the police officials. No compensation has been provided to such people by the government except that one senior police officer was shifted.

Srinagar, July 28
Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have asked Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of all three universities in Kashmir to take measures to ensure that there is no gap in the envisaged schedules of teaching, examination, declaration of results, counselling and admission.

Addressing a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan here this evening, they asked the VCs to ensure that the education system and the career of students were not affected. The meeting was convened as a sequel to discussions the Governor and the Chief Minister had last week in which need was felt to discuss measures for bridging the academic losses due to recent developments in the Valley, an official spokesman said.

The Governor said effective measures must be taken to ensure that the education system was not allowed to be affected under any circumstances and innovative measures were implemented to make good the academic losses in the best interests of the students.

The Chief Minister said the teachers, students, parents and the civil society would need to come forward and ensure that neither studies nor healthcare suffered. He said the career of the students was of paramount importance and it was the responsibility of all to see that this was not affected in any way. Minister for Higher Education AG Malik, Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, Riyaz Punjabi, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor, Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, Siddiq Wahid and other senior officers attended the meeting.

Srinagar, July 28
Asserting that his government was committed to facilitating a dialogue between all shades of opinion in the state and the Centre, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said violence has never been an answer to any problem.

He was addressing the civil society at Handwara in Kupwara district today as part of his programme to reach out to people in every tehsil to listen to their problems and review the progress of development works.

“When effective democratic means are available to register protests and put across one’s viewpoint, there is no reason for perpetrating violence and putting the public to hardship and difficulties”, the Chief Minister said. He added that lockouts and hartals only led to public discomfort and adversely affected education of children. “These tactics are not in anybody’s interest. These only mar the livelihood opportunities of the poor and hamper the process of economic growth”, he commented.

“My government is committed to facilitating a dialogue between all shades of opinion in the state and the Centre. We are positively working in this direction. We also favour sustained dialogue between India and Pakistan”, Omar Abdullah said. He added that this was the only way forward to address political issues in a democratic manner and sought public support for the success of this stupendous task. “When the platform of talks is available to all shades of opinion, what is the need for disturbing daily life”, he questioned those who were indulging in this sort of politics.

Jammu, July 28
In an effort to keep the tradition of theatre alive and pass it on to the next generation, Samoh Theatre staged a Dogri play, “ Bawa Jitto”, on the concluding day of the month-long summer theatre workshop here today.

About 30 children from various schools participated in the traditional play that revolves round the life and teachings of 15th century revolutionary peasant, Bawa Jitto, who had sacrificed his life while fighting a landlord who was trying to take away his produce.

Written by Dr Gain Singh and directed by Ravinder Sharma, the participating children in the age group 5-15, appeared at their best in dialogue delivery. Attired in traditional costumes of yesteryear, they showed mastery in rendering typical Dogri verses which were part of the script.

The legend goes that Baba Jitto (1426-1474) had toiled and transformed a piece of barren land into a lush green field. The landlord wanted to lift three-fourths of the crop and leave only a quarter with Jitto. No farmer from the nearby area came to the rescue of Baba Jitto while his produce was being forcibly lifted by the henchmen of the landlord.

Finding nobody to help him, Jitto sat on a heap of grain and stabbed himself with a dagger and sacrificed his life. The grains were smeared with his blood. His seven-year-old daughter, Bua Kouri, also set herself ablaze on the pyre of her father.

The children who participated in the play included Amjad Rashid, Akash Singh Chib, Ajay Tamagh, Avinash Lakhnotra, Amit Sharma, Ashutosh Thakur, Delender Kour, Dimple Singh, Himani Jamwal, Kanika Sharma, Noreen Khan, Neraj Thakur, Navtej Singh, Rahul Kalotra, Suneedhi Sharma, Sunny Singh Manhas, Sandeep Thakur, Sukhel Ahmad, Saki Shah, Vikram Singh Chib, Vikram Khatri and Vikas Sharma. The music was by Surinder Manhas.