Living under shadow of death
CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The areas in the vicinity of Poonch are virtual killing fields and at the same time the misery, lifelong pain and suffering reaped by innocent civilians is too deep for words.

6 foreign mercenaries killed
JAMMU, Dec 16 — In a gunbattle between the Army and insurgents, which lasted for three hours, six foreign mercenaries were killed in village Khari Marg in the Thanamandi area of Rajouri district today.

6 per cent ADA instalment for J&K staff
JAMMU, Dec 16 — The state Cabinet which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, sanctioned additional instalment of DA to its employees from July 1, 1998. Announcing the decision, the Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, said the government employees will get an additional DA instalment of 6 per cent from July 1, 1998.

Living under shadow of death
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 16 — The areas in the vicinity of Poonch are virtual killing fields and at the same time the misery, lifelong pain and suffering reaped by innocent civilians is too deep for words. So much so that living under the shadow of the gun has become second nature to these hardy people.

The continuous firing by Pakistani troops and the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by militants have claimed thousands of lives but the plight of those who had a close brush with the latter is heart- rending. People lost lives when devices were unexpectedly triggered, or when they inadvertently stepped on landmines planted along the Line of Control(LoC) by Pakistani troops.

While all this goes on, the 10-year-old Pritam Spiritual Trust, a social voluntary organisation based at Poonch, has taken upon itself to bring some hope to the victims of an undeclared war. A group of 40 persons was spending the night at the barracks, courtesy Western Command, en route to Poonch after receiving artificial limbs and hearing aids arranged by the trust.

Of the handicapped, 32 persons have lost their legs and another five their arms when the landmines and IEDs exploded. One girl among the group is partly deaf and got her hearing aid while a boy is a polio victim.

It is pitiful as well as painful to see 70-year-old Channa of the border village of Bagal Dara which is about 100 yards from the LoC, carry his legless 20-year-old son, Badar Din, to the bathroom.

The young lad lost both his legs in May after stepping on a landmine while grazing his cattle near an old airstrip near the village. He said he was standing on a slightly raised ground watching his cattle graze when suddenly there was a loud bang and he fainted only to find that his leg was shattered.

But fate had something else in store for him. The next step he took after recovering fell on another landmine and in a moment he was a cripple, another casualty, another soft target. The father now supports both of them while working as a labourer at an age where he would have called it a day and seen his son keep the hearth fires going. His other son was killed in indiscriminate firing by Pakistani troops.

He is not alone. Take the case of 20-year-old Alam Sher, who lost his hand, an eye, when he accidentally touched an IED while cutting grass along a roadside. Although an artificial hand has been fitted but the loss to earn his livelihood like a normal human being rankles him.

Others like 50-year-old Makhana, whose family was killed in firing from across the border and who himself lost his hand, have started to pick the threads of their lives. Still others like Mohammad Jehangir, Lal Hussain, Wazir Hussain, Faquir Mohammad and Ghulam Hussain who too have been handicapped say the meagre pension of Rs 19 per month given by the Jammu and Kashmir Government can hardly buy enough food, let alone provide for their sustenance as they cannot do any hard work. The pensions have not been paid since 1970 in some instances, they alleged.

Mr Jagbir Singh, the founder of the trust and a lecturer of Zoology in a government school in Poonch, says they do whatever is possible to mitigate the sufferings of the people. For this they provide artificial limbs, hearing aids and eye care.

He said the trust organised vocational training camps for the destitute in the district so that they did not go astray. Besides this they also found jobs and a place to live for these people. In some cases weddings were also organised.

All these activities were carried out by the women's wing of the trust. Accompanying the group were Mr Pankaj Rai, Mr Pritpal Singh, Munshi Arab Din, Mrs Swaran Sandhu and Mrs Sujata Rai.

The mines are put up by both the countries on either side of the LoC for defence purposes. Planting of mines by saboteurs has risen after the rise of militancy in the state. Sometimes due to heavy rains or floods the mines come off and get buried in the fields claiming civilian casualties.

While the grant of pension is meagre the promises of giving a pension of Rs 250 on the central pattern has failed to materialise. More welfare schemes for their welfare are the need of the day, members of the group demanded.

That these people have been able to keep going despite all odds speaks volumes of their tenacity and will to survive in an hostile environ.

6 foreign mercenaries killed in shootout
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 16 — In a gunbattle between the Army and insurgents, which lasted for three hours, six foreign mercenaries were killed in village Khari Marg in the Thanamandi area of Rajouri district today.

Defence Ministry sources said that on a specific information troops cordoned off a hideout of the mercenaries in Khari Marg village early this morning. The militants opened fire. The Indian soldiers retaliated and the shoot-out lasted for three hours in which the mercenaries fired at least 100 rounds and hurled a couple of grenades.

The troops crawled to the hideout and opened fire from a close range in which six hardcore militants were killed. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were recovered from the hideout.

It is believed that in the hideout there were more than 12 foreign mercenaries and some of them may have escaped. The Army has launched a massive search operation.

In Dadoj village the troops killed one hardcore militant who had received wounds in an encounter in the Thanamandi area a week ago. The militant had been kept in a locked and isolated house. It was on the information of local people that the troops raided the house. The militant had fired a hand grenade on the advancing soldiers but nobody was injured. One magazine and two hand grenades were found near the slain militant indicating that his colleagues had snatched the assault rifle from him.

SRINAGAR: Militants made an attempt to blow up a BSF picket in Srinagar, while security forces foiled militants' attempt to set off a blast and arrested three top militants in the Kashmir valley since last evening.

Militants fired a rocket and followed it by firing at a BSF picket at Fateh Kadal in downtown Srinagar today. The rocket missed its target and hit a nearby house, an official spokesman said here today.

He said a girl was wounded when security forces opened fire in retaliation to the militant attack on their picket.

The police arrested a self-styled publicity chief of Al-Fateh Force from the Rampora area of Chadura in Badgam district of central Kashmir today. A pistol, its one magazine and eight rounds of ammunition were found from his possession.

He said a self-styled group commander of Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Ansar was arrested from the Rambagh area of Srinagar last evening. A rifle and its one magazine and 16 rounds of ammunition were seized from him.

Security forces raided a militant hideout at Zalangam in Anantnag district last night and nabbed a militant.

Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in the Khanabal area of Anantnag for the second day today in protest against the killing of a student by the counter insurgents associated with the Ikhwanul Muslimeen.

Hizbul men under pressure
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 16 — Three developments have taken place in the troubled border districts of Poonch and Rajouri during the past several weeks. One. The militants, particularly those belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen, are under pressure from security forces, including three Army brigades, who killed 62 insurgents during the past 45 days.

As a result of this action several activists of the Hizbul Mujahideen decided to surrender. But they were told not to do so by agencies across the border. They were intimidated that their family members would be eliminated if they went ahead with their decision. They were also directed not desert their areas of operation.

Two. The agencies are trying to enlist Sikh youths in the Jammu region for the Azad Khalistan Force. The agencies have asked the Rajouri district commander of Hizbul Mujahideen to supervise the formation of the force. The two have been directed to carry out joint operations against security forces.

Three. Pakistani agencies have sent a group of "comfort" girls for entertaining foreign mercenaries to desist them from indulging in extortion. These "comfort" girls have been also asked to motivate women in Rajouri and Poonch districts to provide shelter and food to militants.

In addition to these three developments, scores of Pak-trained militants have managed to get Indian Army uniforms. In several areas they have been mistaken for Indian troops. On a couple of occasions these "fake" soldiers committed excesses on people. However, security agencies have been able to convince the people that militants impersonating as soldiers were responsible for the excesses.

As part of these developments, Pak agencies have brought large groups of militants, including foreign mercenaries, close to the border across Mendhar in Poonch. Reports said one group of militants had been kept in Lanjot village across Mendhar and Pak troops were waiting for an opportunity to push them into the Indian territory from Mendhar and Bhimber Gali.

Official sources said panic among militants operating in Poonch and Rajouri was the result of growing peoples' cooperation with security forces and recovery of large-scale arms and ammunition and elimination of scores of dreaded insurgents in recent weeks.

6 per cent ADA instalment for J&K staff
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Dec 16 — The state Cabinet which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, sanctioned additional instalment of DA to its employees from July 1, 1998.

Announcing the decision, the Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, said the government employees will get an additional DA instalment of 6 per cent from July 1, 1998. Earlier the additional instalment of 3 per cent DA was released from January 1, 1998. However the arrears on this account would be deposited in the provident fund account of the employees in both the cases. But the enhanced DA from January 1, 1999, will be paid in cash.

The Cabinet also decided to restore the house rent allowance to the secretariat employees.

Reviewing the financial scenario the Cabinet noted with concern the implications of serious cash crunch in the state. The matter will be reviewed next week in Delhi when the state team headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah will meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The Chief Secretary said that the Cabinet decided that every re- venue collection department will ensure that revenue targets fixed for them in the budget was achieved. The officers concerned were directed to make all possible efforts to recover the revenue arrears within the remaining period of the current financial year. The Cabinet expressed serious concern over the poor performance in revenue collections by the Power Development Department. The Cabinet decided to review the working of the department during the next meeting and evolve a strategy for ensuring the recovery of power tariff arrears.

Mr Jaitly said the Cabinet has set up a ministerial sub-committee comprising Ministers of Finance, Law and Forest to pursue out-of-court settlement in the cases of royalty arrears against various forest lessees.

The Chief Secretary said that the Cabinet also decided to raise 25 additional companies of voluntary Home Guards comprising 2500 personnel. It was decided that the Union Government be persuaded to increase the emoluments of Home Guards personnel. At present they are paid Rs 31 per head per day for five months every year. There are only 18 companies of the force and its strength is going to be increased to 43.

The Cabinet approved the promotions in the prosecution wing of Vigilance, Health and Transport departments.

Dr D.D. Gupta, Deputy Director has been promoted Director Family Welfare in place of Mr Abdul Qayoom who has been attached with the Commissioner Health. Mr B.A. Jaloo has been promoted as Director Prosecution and Mr G.M. Salroo has been promoted as Joint Director, prosecution.

Mr G.N. Zargar and Mr K.S. Chatak, Chief Prosecution Officers have been promoted as Deputy Directors, Prosecution.

The Cabinet also promoted Mr M.S. Jamwal, Special Secretary, Housing to the selection grade of the IAS. Mr R.D. Tewari has been promoted to the super time scale of Chief Conservator of Forests. Mr Abdul Hamid, Joint Managing Director, State Roadways Transport Corporation, has been promoted as Managing Director of the corporation.