P R A D E S H
Wednesday, August 5, 1998
|
H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
|
Wednesday, August 5, 1998 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Dhumal seeks more forces |
|||||
 |
||||||
Gloom, shock at massacre sites KALABAN (Chamba), Aug 4 — A pall of gloom and shock has descended on the area even as the harsh reality of terrorism having spilled over to the peaceful environs of Himachal from militancy-infested Jammu and Kashmir has yet to sink in. While panic and fear was writ large on the faces of the locals, there was a feeling of shock and disbelief amongst the government authorities after the brutal killing of 35 persons last night. According to witnesses, about a dozen militants, carrying automatic guns, struck at Khairi-u-Bai, near here, around 12.30 in the night. Karam Singh, who escaped the massacre, said 12 militants asked the labourers living in five tents to line up at one place. These 25 labourers, including locals and some Nepali Gurkhas, had been working on the construction of the Halwas-Killar road. "After huddling the labourers in one tent and tying their hands with the same rope, the militants started shooting indiscriminately", Karam Singh said. He, along with another labourer, Hari, escaped from behind a tent, while the militants were directing them to assemble together. While Karam Singh hid in the forest, Hari had an encounter with another militant, who shot at him. Hari has been admitted to the Chamba hospital with a back injury. A terrified Karam Singh said after hiding in the forest throughout the night, he returned to the tents in the morning and found that except two persons of a particular community, all others had been killed. He then informed the SDM, Tissa, and the police about the massacre. The terrorists took four persons, including Wazir Muhammad, with them to carry the gelatine and detonators which they picked up from there. It is feared that after using these persons as porters for reaching their destination, they too will be killed. Karam Singh, who was too scared to talk initially, said the massacre site presented a ghastly scene with a heap of bodies, with one single rope, lying in a pool of blood. The terrorists also struck at Satrundi, which is used as a transit point for those travelling to Pangi. A Nepali Gurkha, Kalu Ram, who was running a dhaba here, was killed while his wife was spared. A police constable, Shakti Singh, was injured. A postman was killed, while his young son and daughter were asked to go away. The killings at Satrundi took place around four in the morning. Kalu Ram’s wife and another woman informed the police about the incident. As per the description being given by the survivors, the terrorists were wearing black clothes and a black cloth around their heads. They were carrying automatic guns and had flowing beards. The 24 persons killed at Khairi-u-Bai were mainly from Nalwar village near Tissa. Jai Ram, Mir Singh, Haro Sher Singh, Dogra along with his two sons, Shama and Lalo, are among those are feared to have been killed. The process of identifying the bodies is still going on. The local people have
demanded that the services of the Army should be
requisitioned immediately to flush out the terrorists
from Himachal areas. The Army authorities too are
planning to launch combing operations immediately. Protest over Chamba killings KANGRA, Aug 4 — Members of the Kangra Bar Association today abstained from work in protest against the killings of the innocent labourers in Chamba district by Kashmiri militants yesterday. The Bar members condemned the killings and demanded that the state government should improve vigilance. They observed two-minute silence and asked the people to exercise restraint and not get provoked by the killings. The state Janata Dal chief, Capt Partap Choudhary, condemned the killings and blamed the government for not taking reports regarding militancy seriously. The HP Brahmin Kalayan Parishad state chief, Mr Ved Prakash Sharma, also condemned the killings. Mr Autar Krishen Tickoo,
president of the Indo-Europe Kashmir Forum, currently in
Palampur on a visit to the state, has also condemned the
killings. |
||||||
Dhumal seeks more forces CHAMBA, Aug 4 — The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, has said the militancy is knocking at the doors of Himachal and the government will ensure that there is no further spillover of terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister, visibly moved and perturbed at the ghastly killings that took place in the Churah area of Chamba, said the government was determined to fight back and crush attempts of the Kashmiri terrorists to extend their area of operation to Himachal. "All those found guilty of harbouring militants by extending them support locally, shall not be spared by the government," he warned. Mr Dhumal said initial reports revealed that the terrorists had let off two labourers of a particular community before shooting the others and this showed that it was the gameplan of certain forces to foment communal trouble in Himachal. Admitting that there had been intelligence reports of the militants trying to infiltrate into Himachal, he said nobody thought that they would kill innocent people of Himachal. He, however, regretted that Himachal was not getting full cooperation and help from the Jammu and Kashmir police. He said when four persons were killed in the Kehar area of Jammu and Kashmir recently, the Himachal police had to recover the bodies. To instil confidence among the people, the government had decided to deploy additional forces in the border areas of Chamba, adjoining Doda district. Mr Dhumal said he had already spoken to the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and asked for additional funds for Himachal to tackle the problem of militancy. He said Himachal would have to raise the entire infrastructure to deal with the problem of militancy. He said police personnel, deployed in the remote border areas were living under very harsh conditions, with practically no facilities and place to live in. Mr Dhumal said an extensive plan would be formulated to tackle the problem of militancy, which had spread its tentacles to the peaceful state of Himachal. A high-level team of officials arrived here today from Delhi to assess the situation in the area. The senior officials included Special Secretary, Home, Director General (CRPF) and IG (Operations). The Chief Minister has announced a relief of Rs 50,000 each for the families of those killed. He also visited the four injured persons in hospital at Chamba. The DIG, Northern Range,
Mr I.D. Bhandari, the SP Chamba, Mr Atul Verma, and the
Deputy Commissioner, Mr Tarun Kapoor, are camping at
Bairagarh to oversee the arrangements. Some of the bodies
were shifted to Baira. |
SC directive to HP on Beas ecology NEW DELHI, Aug 4 (PTI) — Concerned by damages caused by commercial ventures to ecology and environment of the Beas, the Supreme Court today directed the Himachal Pradesh Government to submit by October 6 a composite action plan to restore the river’s ecology in the Kulu-Manali region. A three-judge Bench headed by Mr Justice S.C. Agrawal, after perusing a report by the National Environment Engineering Institute (NEERI), which quantified the cost of restoration of the ecology at Rs 9.13 crore, asked the state government to submit a list of commercial ventures on the river bank so that they could be asked to contribute their share to the plan. The Bench comprising Mr Justice Agrawal, Mr Justice S. Saghir Ahmad and Mr Justice M. Srinivasan was hearing a case on the question of quantifying the damage to be imposed on former Environment Minister Kamal Nath for changing and altering the course of the Beas to protect his Span Motel built on the banks of the river in the Kulu valley. Counsel for Kamal Nath, senior advocate Harish Salve said Span Motel was ready to restore the damages caused to the ecology, as pointed out by NEERI, on its own or contribute its share in case the state government decided to undertake the work as per the composite action plan. A Division Bench headed by Mr Justice Kuldip Singh had on December 19, 1996, found owners of Span Motel responsible for damages caused to the ecology of the area by diversion on the course of the Beas. NEERI had forwarded a report for Himachal Government’s consideration suggesting strengthening of the embankments on the river course, which were very fragile in nature, and favoured the restoration of the soil by turfing and planting saplings at a total cost of Rs 9.13 crore. However,
counsel for Himachal Pradesh said the state at present
was cash-strapped and in no position to implement
NEERI’s suggestions and favoured a composite plan in
which all commercial ventures were asked to contribute. |
Y.S. Parmar awards presented SHIMLA, Aug 4 — Rich tributes were paid to the late Y.S. Parmar, the architect of Himachal Pradesh, on his 92nd birth anniversary here today. Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, the Governor, presided over the main function held in the Vidhan Sabha complex and also gave away the Dr Y.S. Parmar awards, instituted by the state chapter of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for outstanding contribution to the House. The Best Parliamentarian Award, carrying a cash prize of Rs 21000, was given to veteran Congress leader, Mr J.B.L. Khachi. The award for outstanding contribution in the house committees was bagged by Dr Rajan Sushant of the BJP. Mr Ajay Srivastav of Jansatta and Mr Sita Ram Khajuria of Punjab Kesari shared the award for best coverage of the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha. The Governor said Y.S. Parmar was an able administrator, seasoned parliamentarian and above all, a leader of the masses, who did for Himachal Pradesh — by integrating 31-odd princely hill states — what V.B. Patel did for the country. She asked the members of the legislative assembly to rise above narrow considerations and play a constructive role so that the process of socio-economic transformation could be speeded up. Appreciating the committee system adopted by the House for scrutiny of the Budget, she said that members would be able to do justice while approving the budget any proposals. Mrs Rama Devi said the role of the Opposition was equally important in a democratic set-up and it had been discharged with responsibility. Its foremost duty was to keep a check on the government. She asked the journalists to be more careful and objective in their reporting as they had an important duty to perform towards society. Nowadays, the demarcation between yellow journalism and ethical journalism was getting blurred, which was not a good trend. Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, the
Speaker, while welcoming the Governor, said Dr Parmar
would always be remembered by the people of Himachal
Pradesh for his outstanding contribution towards the
development of the state. He had a deep understanding of
the life and problems of hill people and on his
initiation, a special cell was created in the Planning
Commission for hill states. |
HP to formulate health policy SHIMLA, Aug 4 — The Himachal Government will soon formulate a long-term policy to strengthen the health infrastructure which has failed to deliver goods because of bad planning and ad hocism. Stating this at a meet-the-Press programme organised by the Shimla Press Club here today, Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, said successive governments did not evolve any effective policy to help achieve the long-term goals. Health institutions had not been opened in a planned manner as a result of which the present government was finding it difficult to provide doctors, paramedical staff and other infrastructural facilities. Only last year, the
outgoing government opened 183 institutions which
required at least 300 doctors and other trained staff. At
present, there was shortage of 200 doctors, 303 staff
nurses, 750 health workers and 100 pharmacists. The only medical college in the state turned out 65 doctors every year and not all of them joined government service in the state and as such it was not possible to recruit doctors in the requisite strength immediately. Similar was the case with nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists and other technical staff. On the one hand there was a huge shortage of nursing staff and on the other most of the training schools were empty. This paradoxical situation had arisen entirely because of poor planning, he said. The government would reverse this trend. Besides opening new institutions in a planned manner, it would also expedite the process of filling vacant posts. The recruitment process would be simplified so that the department was not subjected to the usual procedural restrictions by the Finance Department in training and appointments. Besides, irrational postings of doctors had also been affecting the quality of health services in the state while senior and better qualified doctors had been sent to rural institutions, where facilities for utilising their skills fully were not available. Those junior and less qualified managed to get posted in zonal and district hospitals. The minister said his priority would be to rationalise the postings and do away with the system of ad hoc appointments and also those on contract. This was essential to fill vacant posts in tribal and other difficult areas. Since the government did not have adequate resources to strengthen the health infrastructure, the effort would be to secure maximum funds from the Centre and other agencies for specific projects. A special cell would be created to formulate new projects and pursue the schemes submitted to the Centre for approval. Mr Nadda said there had been an increasing incidence of addiction and substance abuse among youth and even schoolchildren in the state. This problem, he said required urgent attention. The department would launch a programme in collaboration with the Education Department to create awareness among school students about the disastrous effects of tobacco, hard drugs and other substances like cough syrups and boot polish being used by youngsters. Referring to the achievements of the state on the health front, Mr Nadda said the birth rate had come down to 23 per thousand as against 27.5 per thousand for the country. Similarly, the growth rate was only 20.79 per cent as compared to the national growth rate of 23.5 per cent. The state had also succeeded in bringing down the death rate which stood at eight per thousand, lower than the national figure of nine. In fact, the mortality rate was 63 per thousand as compared to 72 per thousand for the country. It was proposed to be brought down to 60 by the year 2000. A Rs 92 crore reproductive and child health programme was being launched in the state to achieve this target. Condemning the Chamba
killings, Mr Nadda said the area of the state bordering
the militant-infested Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir
required special security measures in view of the
difficult terrain. The BJP while in the opposition had
been urging the Centre to provide more forces and other
help to the state for this purpose. It had been seriously
pursuing this matter with the Centre after coming to
power, the minister said. |
Police against CM's visit CHAMBA, Aug 4 — There was so much of fear and terror in Kalaban and Satrundi areas that the police was not willing to allow the Chief Minister to visit the site of the massacre. With the police having no
inkling when and from where the militants might strike,
they were not ready to take chances. Initially the
district administration in the police officials advised
him to stay in Chamba and not go to the area at all.
Seeing the keenness of Mr Dhumal to visit the site, they
suggested that he can go up to Bairagarh where all the
bodies were to be brought for a post mortem. Since the
police has no idea whether the militants have returned to
the Jammu and Kashmir area, are still in the Chamba
region, there is fear among the people, who appear to be
terrified with the killings. With Mr Dhumal insisting to
go to the site, he was allowed to go up to Kalaban only.
It was a coincidence that the Chief Minister was in
Chamba in connection with the Minjar fair when the news
of the massacre poured in. He left for the site around
noon and returned here late in the evening. Teachers observe strike SHIMLA, Aug 4 — Teachers of the Himachal Pradesh University and government colleges observed a strike today in support of their demand for implementation of the UGC-recommended pay scales. Teaching was suspended in the entire university, including evening college. The teachers unanimously resolved to go on an indefinite strike from August 11 if the UGC scales were not implemented. The teachers of the
Rajyakiya Mahavidayalaya and Government College, Chura
Maidan, also observed strike. |
BJP-HVC rift comes to force SHIMLA, Aug 4 — The widening rift between the BJP and the Himachal Vikas Congress came to the fore today with Mr Sukh Ram appointing an expelled BJP leader, Mr Bhagat Ram Chauhan, as district president of the HVC in Shimla. Mr Chauhan's appointment comes within three days of the HVC hurling an ultimatum to its BJP alliance partner to accept its demands within three weeks. Mr Sukh Ram has authorised Mr Chauhan to constitute the party executive for Shimla district and also nominate the office-bearers. Mr Chauhan was expelled from the BJP on charges of working against the party candidate in the Kumarsain constituency in the recent assembly elections. He is a former MLA of the BJP. Mr Sunder Lal Verma, a leader of the Samajwadi Party, has been appointed press secretary of the HVC. Mr Kewal Ram Chauhan, general secretary of the HVC, has announced that Mr Sukh Ram will visit the apple-growing areas of Kumarsain and Thanedar on August 8 where he will address a public meeting. Mr Sukh Ram will be accompanied by the PWD Minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, the Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Mansa Ram, the Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Prakash Chand, and the HVC MLA, Mr Ram Lal Markanda, besides other HVC leaders. Mr Mansa Ram and Mr
Prakash Chand had won the assembly poll on the HVC
ticket, but were made to join the BJP as a strategy of Mr
Sukh Ram. |
 |
 |
|
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Stocks | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
