Hostages' kin frantic for clues
JAMMU: Another year has faded into oblivion like the past three years but still Jane Schelly has not been able to get any clue about the well-being of her husband, Donald Hutchings, who was kidnapped by militants with four other foreigners near Pahalgam about four years ago.

Roar of Pak guns keeps them away
JAMMU, Sept 27 — During the day they cannot work in their fields because of the roar of Pakistani guns. They cannot sleep during the night as the mortar shell explosions and MMG firing keep them awake.

One killed, 40 hurt in firing, clashes

JAMMU, Sept 27 (PTI) — One person was killed and 40 persons, including BJP’s state unit president Daya Krishan Kotwal and 20 cops, were injured in police firing and clashes between police and processionists at Mishriwalla, 15 km from here, official sources said.

Shamsher Singh, died on the spot when the police fired on a procession of migrants from Jammu’s border areas, who were proceeding from Akhnoor to Jammu city, they said.

Trouble started when the police tried to stop the procession of about 5,000 migrants of Khour, Palanwala and Chamb areas, who were demanding adequate accommodation, rations and medicare facilities on the pattern of Kashmiri migrants, at Mishriwalla this afternoon.

As the processionists refused to disperse, the police resorted to a lathicharge and fired teargas shells, the sources said.

The agitationists pelted stones at the police, heckled the Deputy Commissioner of Jammu B.K. Tripathi and set ablaze a police truck, they said, adding as the situation went out of control, the police fired several rounds in the air and later on the demonstrators.

The Kotwal was slightly injured in the clash as were 39 others, including 20 policemen, two of them seriously, the sources said.

Additional police and para-military troops have been rushed to the area to control the situation, they said. Senior police and civil officers were monitoring the situation.

The BJP later gave a call for day-long bandh in Jammu tomorrow to protest against police firing on a peaceful procession.

Hostages' kin frantic for clues
From Kavita Bhargava

JAMMU: Another year has faded into oblivion like the past three years but still Jane Schelly has not been able to get any clue about the well-being of her husband, Donald Hutchings, who was kidnapped by militants with four other foreigners near Pahalgam about four years ago. Jane Schelly has to wait for three more years when her husband and other four persons would be officially declared dead as per the law of the land.

Four years ago on July 4,1995, a militant outfit had kidnapped Donald Hutchings, Paul Wells, Keith Mangam, Dirk Hasert and Hans Ostro while they were trekking in the Pahalgam woods. The whereabouts of these foreign tourists continues to remain unknown despite intensive efforts to locate them.

For the relatives of all these tourists, it is a never-ending wait and all of them have been going through hell all these years.

For Jane Schelly, this was her fifth visit to the valley but apparently, this trip has also gone waste as the state government has not been able to provide her any extra information. These relatives have been coming to valley for the past three years following reports that these tourists have been killed by Al Faran. Despite having met top bureaucrats, militants leaders, police officials and many other officials concerned, they have drawn a blank everywhere.

There were some reports of sighting of the hostages from time to time, while there were others ( as claimed by an arrested militant) that the hostages had been killed. However, none of these reports could be verified by the agencies concerned ". To speed up the process of information gathering about the hostages, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up by the state government under an officer of the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police in November 1996 to investigate the matter and awards up to Rs 10 lakh were also announced and widely publicised. Close contacts were also maintained throughout the year with the diplomatic representatives of all countries concerned.

The J&K Government also facilitated visits by the relatives and families of the hostages to visit the state on several occasions during the year in a bid to try and obtain information about the hostages. But these also failed.

Bob Wells, father of Paul Wells, while Julie Mangam and Brigit Hasert, wives of Keith Mangam and Dirk Hasert respectively, had also visited Pakistan to get information about their beloved but the Pakistan Government, reportedly had told them that they were hostages of the Indian Army. They had even gone up to Line of Control at Muzzaffarbad in PoK and asked the people whether they had sighted any foreigners or tourists in the mountains. They wanted to get a clear picture from the Pakistanis as they had been living in pain and anguish all these years.

Last year, all these family members had come to valley and had appealed to militant organisations to provide them any clue about the whereabouts and well-being of their husbands. But why were their relatives being made to suffer for no fault of theirs.

Jane Schelly, who came, Srinagar this year as well, also issued a fresh appeal to anyone to provide her information about her husband and four other hostages. She had also met Union Home Minister and Union Home Secretary, besides Hurriyat leaders. Mrs Donald Hutchings had also met Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, who appealed to militants to release the four foreign tourists on humanitarian grounds. But nothing has come out so far. USA had announced a reward of $ 2 million plus rehabilitation of the informer in that country.

Roar of Pak guns keeps them away
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 27 — During the day they cannot work in their fields because of the roar of Pakistani guns. They cannot sleep during the night as the mortar shell explosions and MMG firing keep them awake.

This is the tale of over 70,000 border villagers in Akhnoor and R.S. Pura sectors who had no other alternative but to flee from their ancestral helmets four and a half months ago.

They live under tattered tents, in dilapidated school buildings and other office premises without any assured income. For the first two months various social organisations swung into action and supplied foodgrains and other eatables to these migrants. But the doles have stopped. The government gave them free ration for a month or so. It is all over now.

Whenever they have decided to move back to their villages Pakistani troops resort to heavy firing on the border posts and villages to prevent these migrants from inhabiting the villages.

Pakistani troops have adopted a new strategy. It is night-long firing on the border posts and villages one day in the R.S. Pura sector and the next day the exercise is repeated in the Akhnoor sector. Official agencies in R.S. Pura said Pakistani soldiers fire between 1,000 and 1200 MMG rounds on the border villages in Suchetgarh, Abdullion, Jordha Farm, Samba Hiranagar per night. In the Akhnoor sector the MMG fire is supplemented with mortar shelling.

Kishan Lal and Harbans Lal of Khour said, "We have no hope to return to our villages. We have no faith in the government because it has not been able to solve the problems of 1947 refugees from Pakistan".

Explaining this point, they said "These refugees from Pakistan are entitled to vote for the Lok Sabha elections but not for the Assembly poll. They have been given land and houses but they have been denied the proprietary rights." They were critical of the failure of the state and the central governments to resolve the problems of several lakhs of Kashmiri migrants.

Even while lamenting the plight of the Kashmiri migrants, displaced families from Akhnoor and R.S. Pura sectors have demanded grant of fresh ration and cash roll on the pattern Kashmiri of migrants.

Jagdish Raj said more than 60 per cent of three lakh Kashmiri Pandits, who had migrated to Jammu in 1990, had scattered all over the country but "we have no avenues to leave our ancestral villages."

Kartar Singh of R.S. Pura showed large tracts of land close to the international border where not an acre had been brought under rabi or kharif crop cultivation during the past over one year. The BSF had helped farmers in more than 20 border villages, including Iondi and its adjoining areas, in carrying out farming practices over six months ago when the BSP officials stood guard as farmers started tilling the land.

However, during the past five months the BSF remained engaged in meeting fresh challenges from across the border with the result the state expects a marked shortage in foodgrain production from over 300 border villages.

No doubt farming practices have been affected across the border because of retaliatory fire from the BSF but the extent of damage is said to be less. The reason is that senior officers of the Pak Army and Rangers own vast tracts of fertile land. They press into service tractors and other machines for carrying out farming practices in a very short time. During such an exercise the Pak troops suspend firing. Once the sowing and harvesting are over Pak soldiers start pounding the border villages. On this side of the border it is mostly manual farming practice.

The migrants from the border villages are waiting for the new government to take over at the Centre. In case the Centre failed to provide them basic amenities they would start an agitation and they plan to march to Parliament to demand justice.