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Yasin Malik’s passport likely to be impounded
Kashmiri students protest against Afzal’s hanging
Curfew continues in Kashmir, relaxation in some areas
Afzal’s family receives his last letter
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With ministers in Valley, work goes for a toss in Jammu
Family’s request for Afzal’s body forwarded to govt
Preliminary report indicts CRPF
Former interlocutors seeking mileage from Afzal’s hanging: BJP
Lt Gen Parnaik reviews situation along
LoC, Valley
Police, CRPF personnel told not to carry firearms during law and order duty
Major fire in Kishtwar village, 21 houses gutted Cross-LoC bus plies normally
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Yasin Malik’s passport likely to be impounded
New Delhi, February 12 A clear indication to this effect was given here today by Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesman Syed Akbaruddin while responding to queries from mediapersons. He said a limited validity passport was issued to Malik by the passport authorities on certain conditions after ‘no-objection’ certificates were obtained from various agencies. It was now for these agencies to bring it to the notice of the External Affairs Ministry if Malik had violated the conditions on which he was issued the passport. “Once it is brought to our notice, we will consider it and act on it promptly,” Akbaruddin added when asked if the matter had been raised with his ministry by the Home Ministry. Informed sources said Malik’s actions were not acceptable to the government at any cost and it was determined to act against him. The JKLF leader is also likely to be questioned on his return to India. The government is also learnt to be going through the details of Malik's recent visits to Pakistan and his recent activities there. While participating in the funeral prayers for Afzal in Islamabad on Sunday, Malik had called his hanging a blot on Indian democracy. With New Delhi deciding to turn the heat on him for sharing the stage with Hafiz Saeed, Malik is now saying he did not have any meeting with the JuD chief who, like many others, came to the protest venue. On Hafiz Saeed, the MEA spokesman said he was the ‘evil mastermind’ of the Mumbai attack and India has repeatedly asked Pakistan to bring him to justice for the mayhem. |
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Kashmiri students protest against Afzal’s hanging
Srinagar, February 12 The student protests gathered momentum on Saturday afternoon after some students from Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawarlal Nehru University protested against Afzal’s hanging at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The protest was led by human rights activist Gautam Naulakha and Kashmiri documentary film maker Sanjay Kak. Students, especially girls, had to meet resistance from Bajrang Dal activists at Jantar Mantar. Some protesting Kashmiri students were even detained by the Delhi Police. “Around 60 students from Kashmir participated in the protest. Even some non-Kashmiris joined in later. Some right-wing activists tried to disrupt the protest. They were outnumbered by the protesters,” Immad Nazir, a student, told The Tribune. On Sunday, the Association of Peoples for Democratic Rights, a human rights organisation based in Kolkata, protested against the capital punishment decisions of the Supreme Court and Afzal Guru’s hanging. The protest was held at the International Kolkata Book Fair on its concluding day. Hundreds of students from Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU) and Osmania University in Hyderabad gathered at the main gate of MAANU yesterday and offered funeral prayers in absentia (namaz-e-janaza) for Afzal and raised slogans against Afzal’s hanging and imposition of the media gag on the Valley. “Our families back home have been confined to their homes and they are suffering due to scarcity of essential commodities. How can we be at peace here? We condemn both the Central and the state governments for this injustice to Kashmiris,” said Ashfaq Ahmad, a Kashmiri student studying at Osmania University, Hyderabad.
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Curfew continues in Kashmir, relaxation in some areas
Srinagar, February 12
Relaxation in curfew restrictions was given from two to three hours under four police stations of Srinagar city this afternoon. Curfew was relaxed in the areas of police station Raj Bagh, RM Bagh and some areas of police station Kothi Bagh, Saddar, and Sheergari from 4 pm to 7 pm in Srinagar city. The relaxation period passed off peacefully. The relaxations were also given in Budgam in central Kashmir and Handwara town in Kupwara district of north Kashmir. Curfew was also relaxed in areas of Handwara police station from 2 pm to 4 pm and Budgam from 4 pm to 6 pm, the police said. At least four persons were injured in stray incidents of clashes at different places in the curfew-bound areas today, the police said. “Situation across the Valley remained largely peaceful so far,” a police spokesman said here this evening. Two persons were injured in a clash between protesters and the police at Sheeri on the Baramulla-Uri road. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Director General of Police and several other ministers are camping here keeping a close watch over the law and order situation and to provide essential services and supplies to the populace despite curfew restrictions. The Minister For finance and Ladakh affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister of State for R&B, MED, Home and I&C, Sajjad Ahmed Kichloo, MoS, Nazir Gurezi, are among those camping in the Valley in view of the situation.
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Afzal’s family receives his last letter
Srinagar, February 12 “The letter was posted on February 11 from the Parliament street, New Delhi, which was received by us today and we delivered it to the family at Jageer in Sopore at 5.30 pm,” said Chief Postmaster General of Jammu and Kashmir John Samuel. The letter was written in Urdu by Afzal Guru to his wife Tabassum. “He pressed the letter into the jail superintendent’s hand just before he was asked to step out of his cell. All he said was that it was meant for his wife and to please ensure that it reached her safely,” a senior Tihar Jail official was quoted in the media reports from Delhi. However, Afzal’s family at Jageer in Sopore did not reveal the contents of the letter. “This time we are very disturbed. We cannot say anything right now,” said a relative of Afzal, when asked if the family has received the letter. |
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AFZAL GURU’S HANGING
Jammu, February 12 Visitors at the Secretariat had to return empty-handed due to the non-availability of Cabinet ministers and their deputies. Though some ministers belonging to the Congress were in Jammu, they were busy visiting the district headquarters putting the visiting people to hardships. “On the instructions of the Chief Minister, most of the National Conference ministers had left for Kashmir yesterday. The remaining, including Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather and Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ali Mohammad Sagar, flew to Srinagar this morning. The office chambers of the ministers wore a deserted look while the visitors failed to locate the ministers and returned empty-handed,” sources told The Tribune. Yesterday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had asked his ministers, particularly those belonging to the National Conference, to rush to the Kashmir valley and reach out to the people by holding interactions with them to control tempers following prevailing unrest triggered by Afzal Guru’s hanging. Sources said nearly 16 out of total 25 ministers comprising 18 Cabinet and seven Ministers of State were out of the Civil Secretariat. “Some Jammu-based ministers, who didn’t go to the Kashmir, were also not available in the Secretariat as they were on their visit to various district headquarters. Normal work has come to a standstill and the situation is likely to continue for next few days. Given the prevailing unrest in the Kashmir valley, the people will have to wait for at least another week to get their files cleared from the Secretariat,” the sources added. Sushil Khajuria, a resident of Barga village in Dansal block, who had come to the Civil Secretariat with a problem in his area, hit out at the government for subjecting the people of Jammu to “utter neglect”. “It has now become a norm in the state. Whenever there is some problem - be it political or self-created by the people - in Kashmir, the entire government, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his cabinet colleagues, shifts its focus on the Valley and they don’t give even a single thought to the problems which the Jammu people face in their absence. I don’t say that the government shouldn’t be responsive to the public sentiments but it should also keep in mind the people of other regions,” he said. Ghulam Ahmad, another visitor from Rajouri, said at least the Chief Minister should have issued similar instructions to the Jammu-based Congress ministers asking them to remain stationed at the secretariat to redress grievances of the people. |
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Family’s request for Afzal’s body forwarded to govt
Srinagar, February 12 In the application submitted to the District Magistrate today, it has been submitted that the state government facilitate the return of mortal remains of
Afzal, who was hanged and buried in Tihar Jail on February 9. “The hard copy of the application was submitted to my office today, which I have forwarded to the state Home Department and the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir for further action,” Baramulla District Magistrate Ghulam Ahmad Khawaja told The Tribune while confirming the receipt of the application. Earlier on February 10, the family had submitted the application to the DM’s office through an email. However, the authorities were insisting that the family submit the hard copy before taking any action on it. In the application, which was submitted to the DM by advocate Ghulam Mohiuddin Wani on behalf of Afzal’s family today, the state government has been requested to initiate the process to get Afzal’s body from the Tihar Jail. “It’s our moral right to receive the body for last rites”, reads the joint application by Afzal’s 37-year-old widow Tabassum Guru, 14-year-old son Ghalib and Afzal’s elder brother Ajaz Guru. As per the procedure, in such cases, the Deputy Commissioner of Baramulla has to forward the letter to the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and the state Home Department for consideration. Afterwards, if the government feels it proper, it may then refer the letter to the Delhi Government for further action. Former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed has also asked the Centre to return the body of Afzal Guru to his family.
Afzal’s family has already written to the Director-General (Prisons) of Tihar Jail, Vimla
Mehra, through their lawyers in Delhi, seeking the possession of his body to perform last rites. The letter written by counsels ND Pancholi and Nandita Haksar on behalf of Afzal’s wife was handed over to the Tihar Jail authorities on Saturday afternoon. Kin reject offer to visit Tihar Afzal’s family has rejected the Home Ministry’s offer that family members would be allowed to offer prayers at Afzal’s grave in
Tihar, if approached. “We reject this offer. Our demand is that the body of Afzal be handed over to us for burial in Kashmir”, said Haji Farooq Guru, cousin of Afzal Guru. “We never said the family should be allowed to offer prayers at the grave. They are now twisting our demand which is for the return of Afzal’s remains”, he added. Union Home Secretary RK Singh today said Afzal’s family would be allowed to visit his grave in the Tihar Jail. "We have no problem if immediate family of Afzal Guru wants to come and offer prayers at his grave in the Tihar Jail," he said. |
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Killing of Watergam boy
Srinagar, February 12 Sopore Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Mohammad Hanief Balkhi, in his preliminary report to Baramulla District Magistrate Ghulam Ahmed Khawaja, has indicted jawans of 92 Battalion of the CRPF for the killing of the boy. “The CRPF did not follow the SOP. They left in three vehicles towards Watergam from Ladroo on Sunday evening without the permission of the magistrate concerned as is required during these situations. They were stopped near an Army camp and told not to go ahead as there was a law and order problem. But they ignored the warnings. And, when there was a minor stone-pelting on them, they opened fire at protesters that left one dead and three injured,” the SDM said in his report. “They did not even get the permission from the sector magistrate (naib tehsildar) who was present on the spot. The firing on the protesters was unwarranted,” the report said. Ubaid died at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura in Srinagar yesterday morning. Ubaid, doctors said, had received several bullets in his abdomen and was operated on Sunday evening. District Magistrate Ghulam Ahmad Khawaja said the SDM had submitted the report about the incident. “It is just a preliminary report. The government has ordered a magisterial probe and it will look into all the aspects of the case to ascertain what exactly happened,” Khawaja said. He said the police had registered an FIR into the incident under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the RPC at the Dangiwacha police station. CRPF IG SS Sandhu said he was not aware of the registration of the case. |
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Former interlocutors seeking mileage from Afzal’s hanging: BJP
Jammu, February 12 In a press handout issued here, BJP state chief spokesperson Jitendra Singh, while reacting to “unwarranted observations” made by former interlocutor Dileep Padgaonkar on Afzal’s hanging, alleged that their (interlocutors) job was over and complete after they submitted their report in May last year. “The credentials of the
UPA-appointed interlocutors were suspected right from the first day and the report submitted by them was also rubbished by one and all as a self-righteous, irrational and partisan document. But, it is because of the long rope given by the Congress-led UPA government that the interlocutors are trying to seize the opportunity to fish in troubled waters by supporting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s views on
Afzal,” he said. Singh pointed out that the “politically motivated” questions raised by the Chief Minister had been refuted by all major political parties while his father and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah had also chosen to distance himself from what his son had said. “In such a situation, instead of suggesting the path of reason and national interest to the Chief Minister, Padgaonkar has betrayed the intellectual bias by saying that the Centre cannot duck the questions raised by Omar Abdullah,” the BJP leader said. He said an “overwhelming” opinion in the state, which includes Jammu and
Ladakh, had supported Afzal’s hanging without raising any “ifs” and “buts” over the procedure followed. Commenting on Padgaonkar’s suggestion that the government should reach out to all stakeholders in the state, Singh said the point conveniently overlooked by them (interlocutors) was that the real stakeholders in J&K were the “peace-loving and nationalist” people of the state and, therefore, the interest of the common man in the state couldn’t be made subservient to the interests of the ruling party in the state. |
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Lt Gen Parnaik reviews situation along
LoC, Valley
Srinagar, February 12 The Army Commander extensively visited the troops deployed in the forward areas, particularly the high altitude areas of
Gurez, Kupwara, Uri and Gulmarg sectors along the LoC, a Defence spokesman said. He complimented the troops for their dedication, outstanding vigilance, high state of preparedness, and the grit and determination with which they are braving all the odds of terrain and weather in service to the nation. He also visited the formations deployed in the Valley and praised them for exercising a high degree of control and upholding the highest ethos of the Army and respecting the human rights norms while managing the internal security situation, prevailing in the Valley. General Parnaik also reviewed the security situation in the Valley in a joint security meeting with Lt Gen Om
Prakash, GOC, Chinar Corps, Ashok Prasad, DGP, K Rajendra, Addl DGP Law & Order, Ashok
Patnaik, Joint Director, IB, and SM Sahay, IGP, Kashmir, at the Chinar Corps headquarters. |
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Police, CRPF personnel told not to carry firearms during law and order duty
Srinagar, February 12 The directions were issued by the J&K Police after the state government was informed by the Union Home Ministry about Guru’s possible hanging. The government has made it clear to the top police brass that it would not like to see the repeat of the situation in 2009 and 2010. “There are clear directions to those engaged with the law and order situation and they have been asked to strictly follow the Standard Operation Measures during violent clashes,” said a top police officer. The officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendents of Police have been asked to ensure that no personnel (including CRPF) shall carry firearms during the law and order duties. “The directions of not carrying firearms during law and order situations are in place, but whenever the situation demands, the arms can be made available, which in such situations are kept in the forces’ vehicles that are parked near these trouble spots,” Inspector General of Police of CRPF, SS Sandhu told The Tribune. “During the past three days, our 81 personnel have got injured, including an Assistant Commandant. Our 37 vehicles have also got damaged in stone-pelting incidents,” he added. Sources said the police has also issued a list of dos and don’ts to those involved in handling the law and order situation. “No officer or jawan from the police or the CRPF shall wear camouflage uniform. They shall wear the departmentally prescribed uniform only,” the directions said. “All the police and CRPF men deployed shall be in proper law and order equipment and ensure that they are wearing proper helmet, chest guards, leg guards, lathis and whistles,” it added. Fearing trouble, the state government has also called in 15 BSF companies for helping the police and the CRPF in handling the law and order situation across the Valley. The curfew was imposed on Saturday morning across the Kashmir valley after Afzal Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. Over 60 civilians and 20 policemen have
got injured in various street clashes since Saturday. Three youths have also lost their lives since the protests broke out over Afzal’s hanging. |
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Major fire in Kishtwar village, 21 houses gutted
Jammu, February 12 “Though no casualty has been reported, police parties have been rushed to the spot for relief and rescue operations,” said DIG, Ramban-Kishtwar-Doda range, Garib Dass. The village lies in the Padder area near the Ishtiyari post close to the Himachal border. The DIG attributed the cause of fire to heating arrangements made by villagers. “The entire village has been gutted in the fire. Arrangements are being made to provide relief to villagers,” he said. Minister of State for Industries, Commerce and Home Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo today did an aerial survey of the village where 21 houses inhabited by 32 families were damaged in the fire. The state chopper could not land due to rough weather and hostile landing conditions. During a meeting at the Kishtwar district headquarters to review the relief operations, Kichloo expressed sympathies with the affected families and announced free of cost ration for two months, Rs 10,000 each to the fire victim families and Rs 15,000 each under the Indira Awaas Yojana for construction of new houses. The minister told Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saleem to make immediate arrangements for boarding and lodging for the fire victims. “Whatever is being provided to the villagers now is interim relief. All help will be extended to the fire victims and new houses for them will be constructed soon,” he said, adding the DC will personally monitor the relief measures. He also told the Deputy Commissioner to make the presence of all tehsil-level officers in Padder mandatory so that they could ensure that all basic facilities were provided to victims in the hour of need. |
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New Delhi, February 12
