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Omar lashes out at Sharif over ceasefire violations
2 hurt as Pak targets 17 J-K posts, villages
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State’s merger with India unquestionable: Civil society
PDP expresses dismay over ‘letter’ to Gen VK Singh
J&K’s rehab policy for militants a farce
State enrolment ratio way behind target
JCO killed by sepoy in Anantnag
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Omar lashes out at Sharif over ceasefire violations
Jammu, October 25 “Either Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif is fully aware of the firing on borders and has given his consent or he doesn’t have any control over his forces,” Omar said. “If he is aware of the firing and still continues to push for friendship, he is ditching us. This way, improvement in relations and friendship is not possible. If Pakistan Premier doesn’t have control over his forces then what is the use of talking to him?” the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister was addressing victims of border shelling in Abtar village near the Zero Line in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district and RS Pura sector of Jammu district during his visit to the border areas on Friday. The Chief Minister hit out at Sharif over his “dubious role” in ceasefire violations. “Does Pakistan think that our people will flee
from border areas due to shelling?” Omar asked. Omar said if Sharif wanted to have friendship with India, Pakistan should stop firing on people on borders. “We want peace and friendship but not at the cost of our people who are suffering due to shelling from the Pakistan’s side,” he said. The Chief Minister lauded people living on border areas for their courage and bravery. “A soldier guards border as he is trained for that. But people living behind them on borders are virtually playing the role of second line of defence,” he said. Expressing concern over the ceasefire violations, the brunt of which has to be borne by civilians living near the international border and LoC areas, the Chief Minister said, “This (firing) is in nobody’s interest but only endangers life of people of border areas.”
Omar assured the border residents full help and support from the government at this hour of crisis. Accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and others, Omar interacted with families affected by shelling and received a brief from the divisional administration about the measures put in place to provide necessary help to the affected people. First J&K CM to visit volatile border Jammu: Defying all security-related concerns, Omar Abdullah became the first ever J&K Chief Minister to visit the Zero Line on international border when ceasefire violations have been taking place at a frightening pace. He spent almost the entire Friday interacting with border residents after visiting the shelling victims in a hospital in Jammu.
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2 hurt as Pak targets 17 J-K posts, villages
Lalyal Camp/Garkhal, Oct 25 The shelling triggered fresh migrations from Garkhal village in the Akhnoor sector, Lalyal Camp of the Kanachak sector, and Pindi Camp and Pindi Charakan Kalan in the Arnia sub-sector of RS Pura. Last night’s shelling in Garkhal forced at least 250 villagers, mostly women and children, to flee to a school in Rajpura, 3 km away, to take shelter. Swaran Dass (55) and his son Nishat Baba (23) were injured in the shelling at Pindi Charakan Kalan, taking the total number of those injured in the past 11 days of firing to 31. One BSF jawan has also been killed in the skirmishes so far. Pakistan Rangers pounded Garkhal and Lalyal Camp last night, injuring at least 10 persons in both villages. The injured were identified as Raj Kumar (65), Kuldeep Raj (35), Ratno Devi (60), Asha Devi (22), Primla Devi and Ram Lal of Garkhal, all residents of Garkhal; and Kamlesh Kumari (32), Anju Sharma (33), Isha Sharma (6) and Happy Sharma (4), all residents of Lalyal Camp. “Around 3.30 am today, a mortar fired by the Rangers exploded in Swaran Dass’ house at Pindi Charakan Kalan village, injuring him and his son. They were shifted to the Bishnah sub-district hospital,” said sarpanch Rajinder Singh. Pakistan troops fired mortars for over three hours on Pindi Charakan Kalan and Pindi Camp villages, he said. “Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing at 17 places during the intervening night of October 24 and 25,” said BSF spokesperson Vinod
Yadav.
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BJP slams Omar over J&K accession remark
Jammu, October 25 “By questioning the accession of J&K with India, Omar Abdullah has violated even the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir so he is a fit case to be dealt with under the Prevention of Unlawful Assembly Act,” said BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi while addressing mediapersons here. Lekhi, who was in Jammu to participate in a function celebrating 66th Accession Day of J&K with the Indian Union. She seized the opportunity to step up attack on Omar for repeatedly raking up this issue. She quoted Article 3 and 5 of the J&K Constitution to dub Omar’s statements on accession as a violation of the oath. “Omar’s irresponsible utterance on accession amounts to violation of the Constitution as after becoming a legislator as well as the Chief Minister, he had taken the oath of protecting the integration of the country,” she said. Omar while interacting with a delegation of the European Union on September 25 had stated, “While all the states acceded to Union of India and then merged with it, Jammu and Kashmir only acceded and not merged. That is why we have special status, our own Constitution and the state flag.” In October 2010, Omar had announced in the Assembly that Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India was “temporary and conditional”. “Jammu and Kashmir is an outstanding issue between India and Pakistan with international recognition. We have acceded to India under certain agreements and unlike Hyderabad and Junagarh we haven't merged with India,” Omar had stated. “The documents signed by the rulers of Hyderabad and Junagarh were same as the one signed by the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir so there is no question of any difference,” Lekhi said. In a veiled attack on the successive National Conference leadership for raking up the accession issue, Lekhi said such issues were raised only to hoodwink the people. “Whenever the question of mis-governance, corruption and malfunctioning is discussed, they rake up controversial issues to divert peoples’ attention from the genuine causes,” she said.
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State’s merger with India unquestionable: Civil society
Jammu, October 25 Addressing a seminar organised by the Universal Foundation on “Accession of J&K state with Union of India and its martyrs”, speakers said they was no need of further debate on the issue of accession
or merger. Lt Gen (retd) Anup Sing Jamwal, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, IGP (retd) Farooq Khan, author Harbans Singh, Shailendra Singh Jamwal of Jammu University and Panun Kashmir chairman Ajay Charungoo were main speakers at
the seminar. They said the Accession Day was the occasion to recall sacrifices of those who had laid down their lives for the nation. “On this day, we salute our foremost martyr Brig Rajinder Singh who led from the front and set the standard of gallantry in the annals of the military tradition of the Indian Army, which enabled the Indian forces to throw away the enemy from the Indian soil,” Lt Gen Jamwal said while recalling the war with Pakistan in 1947. Lekhi said the accession of J&K with the Indian Union was complete. “Those who are creating the ambiguity about it
are ignorant about the Indian Independence Act,” she said. |
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PDP expresses dismay over ‘letter’ to Gen VK Singh
Srinagar, October 25 PDP president Mehbooba Mufti in a statement claimed that the "U-turn" by the Speaker on this sensitive subject had in no way added to the prestige of the House, the restoration of which was the focus of the discussion on Singh’s expose about the payoffs to politicians. She reiterated her party’s demand of summoning VK Singh before the bar of the House to know the "truth" about his statements, which had "damaged the credibility of the representatives of people". The Speaker’s decision, she said, had further reduced the writ of the democracy in the state and it had exposed the real intentions of the NC, which "played to gallaries for a few days" and made noises to hoodwink people. Mehbooba said the Speaker had clearly followed the NC’s "traditional double speak" and had tried to pursue the party diktat rather than implementing his own ruling or respect the sentiment of the House. |
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CPM urges India, Pakistan to end hostilities on border
Srinagar, October 25 Stating that the skirmishes between the troops of the two countries has created a sense of uncertainty in the region, the CPM in its statement today said it was in the interest of people of the region that the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan took bold initiatives to end hostilities. "The committee believes that in no way a war or jingoistic approach is in the interest of people of the two neighboring countries," it said. "The shelling from the other side of the border must come to an end with immediate effect. Such an aggressive posturing not only generates fear and panic among inhabitants of border areas but has the potential to escalate the situation beyond control," the party stated. It stated that inhabitants living near the LoC and International Border in the state had migrated en masse and their condition is said to be pathetic. "The government must take measures to reach out to these families," the committee stated. |
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J&K’s rehab policy for militants a farce
Jammu, October 25 Some out of the 242 of them have rejoined the ranks of militants, according to highly placed sources in the state government. They have replenished the dwindling number of militants in the Valley. Since there is no dearth of arms, particularly pistols and grenades, the militants have given a new fillip to militancy as evidenced by the recent attacks on policemen and soldiers in Kashmir. A fear psychosis has gripped residents of the Valley, as they don’t know who among them could be operating as a militant. The fear particularly emanates from the militants who have travelled to Kashmir via the Nepal route. That is an illegitimate route. Of the five families that went to other side of the LoC on Monday, three of them were from Keran — the place which is infamous for a fortnight-long standoff and the Army calling off its operations without getting even a single militant or weapon. Earlier, too, three militants had returned to PoK. This is what is known, there might be many more who came and returned to the other side of the LoC, said sources in the government. The rehabilitation policy for militants was conceived in 2009 but its final picture was made available in 2010. It envisaged that Kashmiri youth who had gone to PoK and Pakistan to get training in arms and ammunition and were to return to launch “jihad” against what they called “Indian occupation of Kashmir” would be rehabilitated with dignity. It was said that the families of the militants could apply on their behalf and seek their return. It was termed as a great confidence-building measure by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the author of this policy. Omar had claimed a number of times that the return of the “misguided youth” to the state would “help in building peace.” Instead, it has turned out to be the other way round. Their antecedents were to be checked by the CID wing of the state police as also the Union Home Ministry. Some of the militants returned via the LoC, which was not a legal route, but they were accepted. Others came via Nepal. Again, the route was illegitimate. The policy had identified four routes --- Chakan da Bagh in Poonch, Wagah border in Punjab, Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi and Salambad in Baramullah district. They could have returned only with the consent of the Pakistani agencies, which would mean that Pakistan would have to acknowledge that it had been training anti-India militants on its soil. So, Pakistan stayed out of this. “We also knew that this policy would not work. It was just to make a political statement that India was keen to have militants from across the LoC while Pakistan was putting stumbling blocks in this,” a senior officer involved in drafting this policy told The Tribune. He acknowledged that “this policy is a big flop.” There are more that 3,000 Kashmiri militants, mostly belonging to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, in PoK and many of them had pleaded with Omar Abdullah when he went there in 2008 and also with PDP president Mehbooba Mufti that they wanted to live a normal life with their families. But those who came have started going back. That leaves this policy hanging in the air without any result on the ground, leave aside contributing to peace. Instead it has given a fillip to militancy. Omar had taken upon himself the responsibility of vouching for the innocence of those coming, like in the case of Liyakat Ali Shah, who was arrested by the Delhi police for having come via Nepal. He was let off after interrogation as nothing adverse was found against him. But Liyakat seemed to be an exception. The fact as it stands today is that some of the terrorists have been pushed into India via the Nepal border to give a boost to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Durbar Move: Offices in Srinagar shut down
Srinagar, October 25 These offices were opened here on May 6 this year. After functioning here for six months, these offices will now open in Jammu on November 4. On the closing day at the Civil Secretariat, office files were being packed in boxes by different departments with proper labels. These were being sealed and kept ready for carriage to the fleet of trucks provided by the State Road Transport Corporation, which were seen entering the gates of the Civil Secretariat after the office hours this evening. Most of the Jammu-based employees left this evening and others were making arrangements to leave tomorrow morning. “It would be easy to start this evening so that we reach Jammu early in the morning tomorrow,” said Ashok Kumar, an employee from Jammu, while boarding a bus at 6.30 pm at the Tourist Reception Centre here. There will be only one-way traffic from Srinagar to Jammu on Saturday and Sunday to facilitate the smooth movement of vehicles with employees to Jammu. The trucks with office files and records will move to Jammu on Sunday under a tight security cover. Meanwhile, Independent MLA from Langate Abdul Rashid Sheikh has alleged that the ministers and officers were not available to people for redressal of their grievances for the past many days now ahead of the Durbar Move. In a statement, he said that people in large numbers had been coming to the Secretariat with their grievances, but the absence of the ministers and bureaucrats had added to their disappointment. |
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State enrolment ratio way behind target
Jammu, October 25 These instructions were given to the secretary in charge, Secondary Education, and state Project Director, RMSA, at the recently concluded 30th meeting of the Project Approval Board to consider the annual plan proposal (2013-14) in respect of the RMSA, girls’ hostel, vocational education and school and Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Age (IEDSS). Sources said it was informed at the meeting that the GER of the state was 58:36 and the net enrolment ratio could not be worked out due to non-availability of population data. As per the data available, the districts having low GER are Srinagar (39.22 per cent), Budgam (44.86 per cent) Bandipora (46.79 per cent) and Baramulla (47.36 per cent). The districts having low transition rate are Baramulla (71.87 per cent), Reasi (73.21 per cent) and Poonch (73.48 per cent). “The state has not yet made the perspective plan in line with the goal and objectives. The annual work plan and budget should have included the habitation and available school details. Besides, the state has not completed the school mapping exercise nor has it developed any module for the training of teachers in any subject,” a statement from the ministry said. Pertinently, the Joint Review Mission, in its recently submitted report, had claimed that the teacher education in the state had not understood the important implications of treating elementary education as a distinct and specialised professional area. It was further discussed at the meeting that urgent steps were required to improve the learning levels in the schools. Out of the total 22 districts of the state, four districts are Special Focus Districts. These are Kargil, Leh Ladakh, Poonch and Rajouri. Further, the state has as many as 97 Educationally Backward Blocks. |
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JCO killed by sepoy in Anantnag
Anantnag, October 25 Sepoy Satish Kumar allegedly fired many shots at the JCO after a heated argument. The accused was overpowered by his
colleagues after he opened fire. The JCO, identified as Rajinder Singh of Uttarakhand, was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Anantnag Senior Superintendent of Police RK Jalla said a case had been registered. "The sepoy is in our custody," Jalla said, adding, "Initial investigations reveal that there was a heated argument between the two, following which the sepoy opened fire."
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