Statehood to Jammu only solution: Bhim
JAMMU, March 25 — Accusing the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference government of dividing Jammu region on communal lines as a part of its Dizon Plan in connivance with the foreign mercenaries, Prof Bhim Singh, Panthers Party president, said yesterday that granting statehood to Jammu province was the only solution to all problems, including militancy and corruption.

Shabir disburses 50 lakh to kin of militancy-hit
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, March 25 — Senior separatist leader and chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP), Mr Shabir Ahmed Shah, has disbursed a sum of Rs 50 lakh as relief to the victims of militancy in three districts of Kashmir valley. More than 700 such families who got relief including 70 Pandit families from Budgam district.

Several hundred people from Srinagar, Budgam and Kupwara districts of the valley thronged the office of the JKDFP at Kursoo, Rajbagh here since this morning. There was a long queue of relatives of victims of militancy outside and inside the office premises. A similar relief disbursement task was undertaken by the chief of the party at Budgam yesterday where at least 70 Pandit families were among the beneficiaries.

The 45-year-old senior separatist leader disassociated himself from the Peoples League after a long association of over two decades last year. He also parted ways with his long-time close associate, Mr Nayeem Ahmed Khan, who has now constituted a separate political organisation. The Peoples League with which both of these separatist leaders had been associated has since split into nearly half a dozen separate organisations.

After the announcement of his disassociation from the Peoples League was made early last year, Mr Shabir Shah has declared assets of Rs 1 crore, which were donated by sympathisers of the "Kashmir movement" for relief of the victims of militancy. He had also announced the constitution of a trust headed by Jammu-based civil rights champion Balraj Puri apart from several other prominent citizens of the valley.

However, the trust for extending help to the victims of militancy and the needy did not work in accordance with the wishes of the separatist leader. It was because of these reasons that Mr Shabir Shah himself disbursed the cash amount to the victims and "relieved himself of the responsibility".

Mr Shabir Shah had earlier been expelled from the executive committee of the separatists' conglomeration, the All-Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, on charges of meeting the Delhi-based US Ambassador without seeking the consent of the conference.

Sonia adopts please-all policy
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, March 25 — By constituting a 74-member Pradesh Congress Committee in Jammu and Kashmir the party president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, has seemingly adopted a "please everybody" strategy to check dissidence which had plagued the state unit of the party for the past 10 years.

The 74 office-bearers of the PCC, which has been reconstituted after the old committee was dissolved two years ago, is the largest ever in the state. The previous highest figure was 40.

The state unit of the Congress is mainly divided into two groups, one led by Mufti Mohd Sayed, and the other by Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad. Ms Sonia Gandhi has inducted leaders belonging to both groups. Out of the 74 members about 34 belong to the Azad camp and the rest to the Mufti camp.

Initially Ms Gandhi was in favour of giving women 33 per cent representation but the plan did not materialise due to two reasons. First, there were not many women leaders in the Kashmir valley to join the Congress. Second, Ms Gandhi was informed that in case women were given 33 per cent share, a majority of old guards in the Congress would not find their names in the PCC.

Reports said that the Azad camp had tried to thwart the induction of those Congressmen who had defected along with Mufti Sayed to the Janata Dal and rejoined the Congress two years ago. But Ch Mohd Aslam, PCC chief, is said to have prevailed upon the AICC president to retain most of these defectors. And very staunch supporters of Mufti Sayed, including Mr Balwan Singh, Ch Talib Hussain, Dr Mahboob Beg have been inducted in the PCC.

According to these reports Ms Sonia Gandhi has conveyed to the party leaders in the state that the reconstituted PCC was an interim arrangement and the organisational election would be held sometime in August. However, several senior Congress leaders in the state are pessimistic about the holding of organisational elections as that might add to the problem of dissidence. They said women had got less than 18 per cent share in the reconstituted PCC but before they could get bigger share they have to work in the organisation.

Group leaders are of the view that the jambo-size PCC should keep the tussle between the dissidents and the loyalists under the carpet. Already Ms Gandhi has warned the two groups to join hands and in case anyone violated the party discipline or worked against the party interests he or she would be thrown out of the organisation.

To ensure that everybody is given a place in the organisational set up the AICC has announced a 43-member executive committee which will have permanent invitees from former PCC chiefs, sitting legislators and MPs.

In the reconstituted PCC 18 persons, including Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Peerzada Mohd Syed, P. Namgyal, Dharm Pal Sharma. The PCC will have 18 general secretaries, including Dr Mehboob Beg, Thakur Diwakar Singh, Taj Mohiuddin and Ch Talib Hussain, 19 secretaries, including Raman Bhalla, Pura Singh, Mrs Nirmal Kamal and 19 organising secretaries, including S. Karma, Rawal Mattu, Nazir Khan.

Statehood to Jammu only solution: Bhim
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, March 25 — Accusing the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference government of dividing Jammu region on communal lines as a part of its Dizon Plan in connivance with the foreign mercenaries, Prof Bhim Singh, Panthers Party president, said yesterday that granting statehood to Jammu province was the only solution to all problems, including militancy and corruption.

Talking to mediapersons here, Prof Bhim Singh said the state of Jammu and Kashmir should immediately be divided into two separate states and the people of Ladakh region should be left with the choice to go with either of state. They can even demand union territory status for themselves, he said, adding that the bifurcation of the state was the only solution to the decade-long militancy there.

As the Delhi leadership never trusted Kashmiri people in all these 52 years, this step would not only help in restoring their faith in the Centre but would also give a chance to the people of Jammu to govern themselves as they had always been talking about regional discrimination and Kashmiri domination.

The fact remains that during the past five decades, Delhi agents have ruled Kashmir region while Jammu has been ruled by their sub-agents", he said. He added that the people of the state would no longer tolerate dynastic rule which had continued for long. The time has come when people had decided that untold miseries, sufferings and woes caused by militancy, poll rigging, corrupt and authoritarian rule of a family chosen by New Delhi, should come to an end.

Alleging large-scale corruption in the state, he demanded holding of a CBI inquiry into the purchase of land at Bhatindi in Jammu by the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, his relatives and party functionaries. The CBI should also hold an inquiry into the assets of the Chief Minister and their proportion with regard to his income, he said.