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Impossible to normalise ties with Pak if infiltration goes on: Omar
Despite gun battle, LoC ceasefire at Shalabato not violated
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Pathribal fake encounter
Debate on ‘misuse’ of Article 370 gains momentum
Cong downplays controversial issues raked up by NC, PDP
BJP demands political quota for STs
71,605 posts vacant in govt
departments
Militants snatch service rifle of CRPF jawan in Tral
Tremors in Doda not due to hydel projects, says expert
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Impossible to normalise ties with Pak if infiltration goes on: Omar
Srinagar, October 9 “To think that relations (between India and Pakistan) would normalise in these circumstances is impossible. We will hold talks, but we will not achieve the results we want until things like these (infiltration of militants and ceasefire violations) are not stopped,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of the 17th All India Police Golf Tournament in the city. The Chief Minister said “at least” through talks it had been conveyed to Pakistan that infiltration and ceasefire violations should stop. “When we were not talking, infiltration was still going on. Now at least through talks, our Prime Minister talked to Nawaz Sharif in clear terms in New York and said the situation should not remain as such and the infiltration and ceasefire violations should stop,” Omar said. He said a mechanism towards ending ceasefire violations had been “reintroduced” as a result of the recent prime ministerial talks. “Our DGMOs (directors general of military operations) will now talk, perhaps that will benefit,” the Chief Minister said. Omar said he was recently briefed about the situation at Shalabato by the Northern Command chief and was told yesterday that the encounter had ended. The encounter between a large group of militants and soldiers continued for a fortnight at Shalabato near the Line of Control leading to speculations that it could be a “mini-Kargil” in the making, a reference to the 1999 Kargil war. The Chief Minister said it was the media which had hyped the incident as a “second Kargil”. “Infiltration attempts continue regularly, especially in this season when winter is approaching. The infiltration gets not just difficult but impossible after snowfall. They try to send as many people as they can before the winter,” Omar said. CM SPEAK
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Despite gun battle, LoC ceasefire at Shalabato not violated
Furkian Gali (Keran), October 9 Defence spokesman Naresh Vig confirmed that Pakistani troops had not fired in the area during the 15-day firefight. “There has been no ceasefire violation in Shalabato,” the defence spokesman said. Indian and Pakistani armies maintain posts in the Shalabato area. Soldiers were locked in a firefight with an unknown number of militants in Shalabato village for 15 days since September 24. The Army called off the operation yesterday. No violation of ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC) assumes importance as top Army commanders had stated during the operation that the Pakistan army’s special troops may have been “behind the massive infiltration”. In the past, the Pakistani army has fired from their posts to provide cover to militants crossing the LoC to help them infiltrate into the region. The practice of providing cover fire had partly stopped following the 2003 ceasefire along the LoC between the two armies. Besides, there had been an increase in ceasefire violations in recent months as the Pakistan army had been regularly firing at Indian posts at various locations along the LoC leading to skirmishes and artillery duels. The matter was also taken up at the meeting of the Indian and Pakistan Prime Ministers in the USA recently. In the recent incident, a group of around 35 to 40 militants was believed to have entrenched itself in the densely forested and mountainous Shalabato village in the Keran sector of frontier Kupwara district. The Army had initially said the bodies of 12 militants were lying in the area, but none of them has been or retrieved so far. Five soldiers were injured during the firefights. The operation became one of the longest-drawn encounters between militants and the Army in recent years even as highly trained militants remained untraced after the operation was called off. The Army officer also trashed the possibility of a situation in Shalabato being “remotely comparable” to the 1999 Kargil war and denied occupying of any Army posts in the area at any time by the militants. The militants engaged in the gun battle at Shalabato were believed to have come from several outfits, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Badr and Hizbul Mujahideen. After the Pakistan army turned its back on many militants in the region in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, several groups there have gone rogue and begun waging a war against Pakistan and have also been maintaining enmity towards India. In recent months, many such militants vowed to return to Kashmir. |
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Pathribal fake encounter
Srinagar, October 9 This was revealed today by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mir Saifullah in the Assembly session today in a written reply to a question asked by the Independent MLA from Langate, Engineer Abdul Rasheed. The Pathribal fake encounter involves abduction and killing of five civilians in south Kashmir in May 2000 allegedly by the Army, days after 36 Sikhs were killed by unknown gunmen dressed in Army fatigues in the Chattisinghpora area of south Kashmir. Rasheed had had sought the status of the inquiries ordered by the successive governments into the militancy-related incidents in J&K since 1996 and the action taken on the recommendations by these commissions. “The commission (Justice GA Kuchhai) submitted its report to the (state) Home Department, which placed it before the Cabinet for consideration. The Cabinet took note of the report and appointed a sub-committee headed by then Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister to propose a
further course of action based on the report of the one-man commission of inquiry,” the Law Minister stated in his written reply tabled in the Assembly today. “The report of the sub-committee was considered by the Cabinet on July 23, 2003, and accepted with a modification to replace the word ‘Vigilance Commissioner’ by ‘CBI’ to conduct further inquiry,” the minister further stated in the written reply. He further added that the case was at the final stage of legal scrutiny. “The case is under examination with the Home Department and the CBI authorities. The Home Department vide its communication… had intimated that the case is at the final stage of legal scrutiny,” he stated. The Case File
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Post-Jammu attacks, BSF focuses on repair of border fence
Jammu, October 9 One BSF post was washed away in the flash floods after a river changed its course in August this year. The probe by the Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly reached the conclusion that the three heavily armed Pakistani terrorists had crossed over through an unfenced vulnerable arch full of elephant grass before carrying out the twin terror attacks in Kathua and Samba districts, killing ten people, including Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh. “Though we immediately go for repair work to restore the damaged fence, which comes up within few days, may be a week at the most, it certainly takes time to reconstruct the original structure,” said a BSF officer when asked about the status of the damaged fence and the posts. “Till the time we come up with the original structure of the fence, we deploy guards round the clock in such areas. We cannot leave the border unattended,” he added. The officer said following the damage to the fence, the BSF relocates its posts to effectively guard the border. On August 31, The Tribune had reported in its columns about the damage to eight BSF posts, including washing away of a post by a swollen river which changed its course and nearly 800 metres of fence on the sensitive border. Deputy Commanding General (DCG) of the BSF in Samba district Kamal Rathore refused to share the exact status of the damaged fence and posts over the phone. Official sources said though the restoration work was on, the original structure of the fence hadn’t come up yet, therefore the possibility of infiltration bids from such stretches could not be ruled out. The BSF claims it has raised fence on almost entire international border but some 5 km of it remains uncovered because of rivers and rivulets which flow into Pakistan. Sources further said a week ago, a fresh spell of rain had triggered flash floods in the Tarnah river in the Kathua-Samba sector damaging another stretch of the border fence. |
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NH traffic diversion not to hit Patnitop tourist circuit
Jammu, October 9 The Tourism Department feels that when traffic will be diverted, Patnitop will be brought up as a tourism circuit and only devoted tourists will come to the area. The existing Jammu-Srinagar national highway through Patnitop will be bypassed when a 9.2-km-long tunnel connecting Chenani in Udhampur district with Nashri in Ramban district will be made functional in 2016 under the north-south corridor project of the National Highway Authority of India. People of Jammu have apprehensions that the tourism circuit may lose its tourism potential. “Apprehensions are genuine but we are confident that when the national highway will be bypassed, the tourist rush in Patnitop will increase and the area will be developed as a tourist resort,” said Soujanya Sharma, Director, Tourism, Jammu. Sharma said due to massive traffic on the national highway, pollution has increased in Patnitop which has affected its beauty. He said after the traffic will be diverted, pollution level will come down and the area will get its beauty back. “Temperature will come down and the area will be developed like Gulmarg,” he said. “At present, only those people stop at Patnitop who go there to enjoy. But due to the pollution in the area, people don’t feel comfortable. To make the area pollution-free and attractive, we are planning to start an electric train service in Patnitop which will move through the whole area covered under tourism. It will cost us around Rs 1.30 crore and we have got the approval from the Forest Department as well,” the Director, Tourism, said. “Though our electric train project is still in its initial stage, when it will come up, the area will get a facelift. Moreover, we are also renewing the existing club in Patnitop, which will also attract many tourists,” Sharma informed. People have another fear that the existing road to Patnitop will be abandoned after the new road comes up, which will also affect the tourism circuit. Sharma feels the road will not be abandoned as some important installations are in the area, which will keep the road active throughout year. |
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Debate on ‘misuse’ of Article 370 gains momentum
Jammu, October 9 The BJP, BSP and Panthers Party have kick-started a debate on the Article. While the BJP and the BSP have been demanding that the Article be abolished without any deliberations, the Panthers Party has sought a detailed discussion on it to expose those who have been allegedly abusing the special status for petty personal gains. The All India Backward Classes Union (Social) today joined the debate on the “misuse” of Article 370 and alleged that the special status was being brazenly abused by the ruling elite to deprive the weaker sections of their constitutional and fundamental rights. “Ruling elite of Jammu and Kashmir have been misusing the special status only to further their own personal interests,” said Kali Dass, general secretary of the Union. He observed that the special status was granted to the state for the welfare of the people, but unfortunately it had been abused by those at the helm of the affairs. “The ruling elite are depriving the OBCs of J&K their constitutional rights by misusing Article 370,” he said. He and pointed out that in the whole country, the OBCs were getting reservation as per the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report, but in J&K they were denied reservations. The BJP and the BSP are also arguing that the weaker sections of society, especially the OBCs, are bearing the maximum brunt of the special status. As the abrogation of Article 370 is the core of the BJP’s ideology, the party has started a campaign to mobilise the OBCs throughout the country on the issue. “It is high time to educate weaker sections all over the country about the Article which is the main hurdle in the socio-economic growth of marginalised and neglected lot of society in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Bali Bhagat, general secretary of the state BJP. “It is all due to Article 370 that the OBCs are not getting their constitutional rights in J&K,” said Tulsi Dass Langeh, state BSP president. Langeh said his party had launched a campaign against Article 370, which, according to him, was an obstacle in extending pro-weaker sections' laws to Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Valley’s new battleground a rugged terrain
Zirhama (Kupwara), October 9 The road from Zirhama to Shalabato passes only through wilderness and silence. At times, the steep of the road is at a gradient of 50 degrees. “It is too risky. You should not go up there,” a soldier stationed at an Army camp in a foothill village of Zirhama warned. The 25-km road ahead, a dangerous stretch of dirt and rocks, ends at Shalabato. The soldier, who gave a terse warning at the beginning of the journey, also drew a map of the road - 15 km of dirt road and then a walk of several hours through dense jungles of Keran will lead to Shalabato. On September 24, when a squad of three militants attacked police and army installations in the Jammu region’s Samba and Kathua districts, the story of Shalabato also began to emerge. Initially, it was reported by Army officers that a major infiltration attempt had been foiled and bodies of 12 militants had been spotted lying in the area. As days passed, the firefights between the two sides turned into a battle as the numbers of dead and living militants fluctuated. The Army’s imposition of a veil of secrecy and limited release of information increased the confusion surrounding the battle The Keran sector where Shalabato is situated on a rim at the Line of Control, is a favoured infiltration route of militants, along with the Machil and Tangdhar sectors - both of which lie on the right and left of Keran. Keran is a place of extreme nature - stunningly beautiful, treacherously rugged and one of Kashmir’s most dangerous zone. It lies on the edge of a fault line between Indian and Pakistan and the sector is now attracting a new wave of militants as their favoured route to enter the waning conflict. In the frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir, Keran is the actual frontier. The length of the battle in Keran’s Shalabato has surprised all Kashmir watchers as this rare confrontation between the Army and the group of militants lasted a fortnight. For the first time in more than a decade, a firefight between the two sides, despite a huge gap in their numbers and firepower, has lasted for such a lengthy period that it led many to draw a parallel with the 1999 Kargil war. The Keran sector is an enormous mass of land lost in the vastness of mountains, which compete with each other in their ruggedness. In the sleepy villages surrounding Shalabato, villagers speak in hushed up tone about hearing intense firing during the nights and intermittent firing during the days. Khwaja Baseer Ahmad, a resident of the Jumgund village, the nearest inhabited location to Shalabato separated by a distance of several kilometres, said everybody in the village was scared these days. “We are very afraid. Everyone is fearful about what will happen if this escalates,” Baseer Ahmad said. |
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Cong downplays controversial issues raked up by NC, PDP
Jammu, October 9 Keeping in view the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, there is competition between two regional parties— NC and PDP— to rake up controversial as well as emotive issues in the state in general and the Kashmir valley in particular to strengthen their base. The Congress, which is running a coalition government with the NC, finds it difficult to defend its position because the BJP has already launched an aggressive campaign at the national level to target the party (Congress) by exploiting “controversial” statements of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Omar, in his meeting with a European Union delegation on September 25, had stated that J&K had only acceded to and not merged with India. “While all states acceded to the Union of India and then merged with it, Jammu and Kashmir only acceded and did not merge. That is why we have special status, our own constitution and the state flag,” Omar had stated. Omar had also expressed his disappointment that New Delhi was not taking any serious initiative to solve the Kashmir problem. Not to be left behind in the race to rake up controversial issues, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on October 1 stated on the floor of the Legislative Assembly that J&K was being treated as a colony by the Government of India. “We are already a colony, what can we become further? Are we to act as a colony or behave as representatives of the people?” Mehbooba had stated. “We do not want to indulge in this competitive politics of the NC and the PDP to rake up controversial issues,” senior vice-president of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) Dharam Pal Sharma told The Tribune. “As far as the Congress’ stand is concerned, accession of J&K to the Indian Union is final and irrevocable. Those who are raking up this issue should keep in mind that Section 3 of the J&K Constitution cannot be amended even by the two-thirds majority of the J&K Assembly,” Sharma said while launching a veiled attack on Omar Abdullah. In an attempt to downplay the statements of NC and PDP leaders, he said every party had its own agenda. “We don’t have a common minimum programme for running the coalition government,” he said. Meanwhile, state president of the BJP
Jugal Kishore Sharma alleged that “NC and PDP leaders have crossed all limits for appeasing secessionist forces for petty political gains.” |
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BJP demands political quota for STs
Jammu, October 9 A meeting of the BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha was held under the leadership of Ashok Koul, general secretary of the state BJP yesterday. Senior party leader Hari Om was also present. At the meeting, party leaders highlighted woes of the ST community in the state and accused the successive regimes of ignoring it. Ghulam Ali Khatana, in charge of the ST Morcha, said the SC people were present in almost every segment of the 87 constituencies of the state and were exploited and neglected by the ruling political parties since Independence. Khatana said the community, being nomadic in nature, required several laws for its betterment such as extension of travel laws to J&K, political reservation and benefits of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which was being denied to them. The meeting said the government had not given the benefits of the ST certificates to the community. It said fake ST certificates were being given to some blue-eyed persons and genuine candidates were being neglected. Those who were present at the meeting included Bashir Ahmed Jogal, Lal Hussain Loda, sarpanch Bashir Ahmed Khatana, Bashir Ahmed, Abdul Rashid, sarpanch Puran Chand and Kartar Chand.
— TNS |
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PDP members forced Speaker to summon General VK Singh, claims Mehbooba
Srinagar, October 9 “We will wait and watch as to how the Speaker will proceed on the assurance given to us on summoning the Army Chief within a month,” said Mehbooba while talking to reporters in Srinagar. She said PDP members in the Assembly had forced the Speaker to summon the former Army Chief. “The Speaker first said he would write a letter then changed his statement. It was after our legislators, who stormed into the well of the House thrice, that the Speaker finally said he would summon the former Army Chief within a month,” Mehbooba said. She blamed the National Conference for adopting a dual policy on the issue. She said VK Singh was just a symptom of a larger problem. “There are other agencies which continue to play their part to destabilise the state,” she said. |
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71,605 posts vacant in govt
departments
Srinagar, October 9 This came to light in reply to a query raised by CPM state secretary and Kulgam MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami at the Legislative Assembly yesterday. The state government stated that during the last two years, 30,562 posts had been referred to recruiting agencies such as the Public Service Commission (PSC), Service Selection Board (SSB) and the Divisional/District Recruitment Boards (DRBs). The official figures revealed that of the 71,605 vacancies, there were 43,415 vacancies at the non-gazetted level, 18,872 vacancies at the Class-IV level and 9,318 vacancies for gazetted cadres in various state departments. The recruiting agencies, however, have been sluggish in filling the vacancies over the last two years. The PSC has only made 663 selections out of the 2,764 posts advertised, the SSB has made 7,998 selections out of the 15,209 posts advertised and the DRBs have made 1,404 selections out of the 5,185 posts advertised. The state government said the proposal of filling at least 70,000 vacancies had been set into motion on a fast-track basis. “On September 17 and 21, the SSB conducted a written test for selection of over 12,000 posts. The shortlisting of candidates and the interviews will be completed soon,” the official statement read. The state government stated that 3,000 more posts of junior assistants, stenographers will be filled by conducting a test through the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELT), Srinagar. Vacancies of Class-IV posts will be filled through departmental selection committees, which are already in place. Regarding the departmental promotions hanging in the balance, the state government said all administrative departments had been asked to activate their departmental promotion committees and hold their meetings for filling the promotion quota vacancies at the earliest. |
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Militants snatch service rifle of CRPF jawan in Tral
Anantnag, October 9 “He was caught off guard by an unknown number of militants, who hit him on his head with a rod,” a source said. The militants snatched his service rifle and fled. “While making a dash from the spot, the militants fired a couple of rounds in the air,” the source said. Confirming the incident, CRPF spokesperson Kishore Prasad said the personnel was standing alone at a secluded place when the militants attacked him. “The area has been cordoned off and a manhunt launched to nab the militants,” the CRPF spokesman said. Many incidents of weapons being snatched by militants from security personnel in south Kashmir were reported in the last more than two years. In most of the cases, the militants fired upon their targets before decamping with their rifles. This is the second incident in Tral in over a year and a half where the militants did not open fire to snatch the weapon. On May 25, 2012, members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit decamped with the service rifles of security personnel guarding a minority community chapel in the Arigam area of Tral town. |
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Tremors in Doda not due to hydel projects, says expert
Jammu, October 9 After May 1, it has gone up, particularly in Doda district,” Professor Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor, University of Kashmir, who is also a geological expert, told The Tribune. Since May 1, Doda district has been witnessing moderate to low earthquakes and the number has gone up to more than 100. The May 1 earthquake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale, in which more than 80,000 structures developed cracks. People of the region are in fear after these tremors. It was also suspected that the tremors occurred due to water reservoirs constructed for hydroelectric projects. A team of eight seismologists, headed by expert Talat Ahmad, visited Doda district and observed an increase in the seismic activity. They came to a conclusion that the construction of dams had nothing to do with it. He said they had installed some instruments in the region to record the seismic activity. The team, however, said infrastructure needed to be expanded so that the seismic activity could be observed on regular basis. Talat said the team would study the nature and type of rocks in the region and identify the areas for the installation of equipment to monitor the seismic activity. “The entire Himalayan region being an active seismic zone, there is a need to take precautionary measures to minimise the loss of life and property in such eventualities. People must be made aware of the precautionary measures to be taken in advance and at the time of calamities,” said the expert. Warning sign Professor Talat Ahmad has said the threat of a bigger earthquake is hovering over the entire Himalayan region from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. The region is a zone of the highest seismic hazard. A major earthquake can take place in this region anytime.
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