154 militants killed in 4 months
JAMMU, May 9 — The police has claimed that with the cooperation of the people security forces have killed 154 militants in the first four months of current year in the Jammu region against 64 during the corresponding period last year.

22 killed in J&K violence

SRINAGAR, May 9 (PTI) — Twenty-two persons, including 13 militants and five security personnel, were killed in stepped up militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, while decomposed bodies of three soldiers, missing since October last, were recovered yesterday.

Militants made an abortive attempt to blow up a police station while seven militants were arrested and two others laid down their arms in the state during the period, an official spokesman said here today.

Unidentified militants shot dead a police constable, Sabzar Ahmad, at Sakidaffer in old Srinagar city today. He said, Ahmad was shot in the temple at around 12.20 p.m. while on duty in the area, the spokesman said, adding he was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

Highly decomposed bodies of three soldiers, who had been missing since October last, were recovered yesterday in Maya forests of the border township of Uri, 101 km from here in north Kashmir, Army sources said today.

The recovery was made during a routine search operation being conducted by the troops in the woods for the hiding militants. The soldiers, including junior commissioned officer Ram Niwas, were believed to have been kidnapped by militants in October last when they were on a routine patrol.

The spokesman said four security personnel and an equal number of militants were killed and two jawans and a civilian wounded in two separate encounters at Lasana in Surankote area of Poonch and Cheri-Bakri in Namba area of Rajouri yesterday.

However, a report in Jammu said five militants were killed in the encounters and another militant was wounded.

The spokesman said security forces shot dead four militants, one of them identified as Azad Ahmad Khan, during search operations at Malangam-Bandipora, Sumbal, Uplina and Budnar in Baramula district of north Kashmir yesterday.

Two militants also laid down their arms during the operation which yielded seven AK assault rifles, a universal machine gun, two grenade launchers, 20 grenades and 15 kg of RDX explosives, he said.

He said an unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with security forces at Gulgam in Kupwara district last evening. A rifle was recovered from his possession.

Security forces also arrested three militants during search operations at Daril village and Kabranwali Deri and Chhar forests of Kupwara district yesterday, he said, adding 10 mines, 17 detonators, three grenades, four 107-mm rockets and an improvised explosive device were seized from them.

Two militants of the outlawed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) outfit were killed in an encounter with troops in Harni area of Mendhar area of Rajouri district yesterday, Defence sources said.

A militant belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen was blown to pieces while detonating an explosive device at Kasaba village in Poonch district last evening, the sources said.

JAMMU: Eight militants were among 12 persons killed in Rajouri and Poonch areas of Jammu region since yesterday, officials said here today.

Two militants and three security men were killed and a militant was injured in a gunfight with security forces at Lasana village in Surankote area of Poonch district last evening, the officials said.

Reports from Rajouri said troops gunned down three hardcore militants at Chitti Bakri area, 12 km from Rajouri town yesterday.

The troops recovered three AK-type rifles, one pistol, one Japanese radio set, five rucksacks containing ammunition of universal machine gun, 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 14 kg of gelatine, 10 remote control devices, some pencil cells from the slain militants, the reports said.

A report from Udhampur said BSF jawans recovered some ammunition from an abandoned water tank in Sangaldan area of Mahore tehsil.

Shabir, ‘hope of the poor’
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News service

JAMMU, May 9 — When he was in jail for over two decades Mr Shabir Ahmed Shah used to be dubbed as Nelson Mandela of Kashmir. Out of the jail he is regarded as "hope of the poor".

This he had demonstrated earlier in Kashmir when he distributed cash assistance to the tune of Rs 53 lakh among 1,300 poor families and victims of militancy-related violence, including 16 families of Kashmiri Pandits.

During his current 11-day tour of the Jammu region, which took Mr Shah to remote areas of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts and to different areas of the winter capital, he distributed cash assistance of over Rs 15 lakh among the poor and the destitute.

Addressing a function here today, where Mr Shah distributed relief in cash and kind to scores of families, the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) said his organisation had decided to provide scholarship and other material assistance to those poor students who were keen to pursue their studies in colleges and universities.

Mr Shah said he had earmarked funds which would provide regular assistance to those who had been in jail for about eight years. Those advocates who would contest their cases in courts were to be given rumeneration from this fund.

He said during his 11-day tour of various areas of the region, he found that a majority of the victims of militancy-related incidents remained totally neglected by the government. He said his interaction with the affected people had confirmed that the State Government had not fulfilled the promises it had made to the kin of those killed by militants and security forces. He referred to the affected families at Rajouri, Surankot, Gandhov and Dangri and said most of the people in the villages there were terror-stricken because of the alleged excesses by the security forces.

Mr Shah said excesses committed by the security forces resulted in people's alienation. for normalisation of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, people's cooperation was needed and that too when a beginning had been made to resume Indo-Pak talks for resolving all bilateral problems, including the ticklish Kashmir issue.

Mr Shah favoured the continuance of the Indo-Pak dialogue and offered his services to act as a bridge between New Delhi and Islamabad. After the talks made some headway, representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir should be involved in the talks because the ultimate settlement of the Kashmir issue should be in accordance with the aspirations of the people of the state.

In reply to a question, he said the Lok Sabha elections for him and his party had no significance. "I have to apply balm on the bruised psyche of the people of the state. I have to mitigate the suffering of the people and promote ethnic tolerance and regional amity", he said.

He said he was not for contesting the elections which were being held under the fear of the gun of the security forces. He was a democrat by temperament and favoured a poll process in which people's participation was voluntary and they were not dragged to the polling booths by the Army as had been the case in the 1996 and 1998 elections.

Haj house to be built at Srinagar
From Our Correspondent

JAMMU, May 9 — The Jammu and Kashmir Government proposes to build a Haj house in Srinagar at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore. This was stated by the State Minister for Haj and Auqaf, Mr Peerzada Gulam Ahmed Shah, while participating in a Haj conference convened by the Central Haj Committee at New Delhi on Wednesday.

The minister informed that a 20 kanal plot had been earmarked already for the purpose.

The Central Haj Committee has been requested to bear half of the estimated cost of the proposed Haj House.

He also said the repeated requests made by the state for direct flights from Srinagar to Jeddah had not been accepted apparently because of lack of coordination between the Air India, Indian Airlines and Airport Authority of India.

The state was told that direct flights would be possible only after some additional support facilities were provided at Srinagar airport by the Indian Airlines and Airport Authority of India, he added. The minister said the direct flights would be more convenient for the state Haj pilgrims.

The minister, however, suggested that if the arrangement for direct flights was not possible then immigrations and custom check for the Haj pilgrims of Jammu division may be made at Jammu airport itself for being airlifted direct to Delhi on way to Jaddah.

Pandits' body opposes move on
pre-1953 status
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, May 9 — The All-Kashmir Pandit Solidarity Conference (AKPSC) has described the move of the state government to secure the restoration of the pre-1953 constitutional status to Jammu and Kashmir as a "dangerous gameplan" of the ruling National Conference to "balkanise" the state.

At a meeting of the AKPSC here today, which was presided over by the party chief, Mr O.N. Trisal, the recently finalised report of the state Autonomy Committee came in for sharp criticism. The AKPSC said the restoration of the pre-1953 constitutional status was a plan of the ruling National Conference to "get Kashmir out of the constitutional mechanism of India" when relations between the state and the rest of the country had been built through legislative exercises based on the true "federal and democratic character of the Republic of India."

It said the National Conference had no legal, administrative and constitutional reasons to support its demand for a change in the nomenclature of the Governor to Sedr-i-Riyasat and the Chief Minister to Wazir-i-Azam.

Mr Trisal said the demand for the restoration of greater autonomy would sow the seeds of separatism, alienation of the people and "hawkish political opportunism for blackmailing India."

He urged the Centre to reject the greater autonomy demand and force the state government to stop carrying out demographic changes in the state to suit the interests of the majority community. He also urged the Government of India to take in hand suitable measures which would facilitate the return of migrants to the valley with honour and dignity.

154 militants killed in 4 months
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, May 9 — The police has claimed that with the cooperation of the people security forces have killed 154 militants in the first four months of current year in the Jammu region against 64 during the corresponding period last year.

Inspector General Police, Mr Kuldeep Khuda, said here today that as a result increased anti-insurgency measures by the police and the security forces militants had stopped engaging government forces in encounters. He said instead they banked on IED and bomb blasts to kill people and create terror.

Mr Khuda said that militants killed 66 civilians, four police and 25 security force personnel in the past four months. As many as 55 militants had been arrested in these past four months and three had surrendered.

Mr Khuda added that as a result of operations against the insurgents the police recovered a record quantity of arms and ammunition. He said in the past four months the police recovered 68 rifles, one pika gun, 28 country made guns and .303 rifles .21 pistols/revolvers, three UMG/LMGs, two mortar guns and mortar bombs, 45 rifles grenades, 116 grenades/bombs, 135 kg of RDX in the past four months.

He said militants carried out 25 bomb blasts, most of these in Poonch and Rajouri districts to create panic. He said these blasts had not affected. morale of people who had felt hurt over the violations of human rights by the militants.