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| Thursday, June 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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5 Harkat men killed in encounter Afghan refugees being settled near
border Talks with Hurriyat must: Mufti J & K CPM for Indo-Pak talks Handloom weavers to get incentives
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5 Harkat men killed in
encounter JAMMU, May 31 — At least seven dreaded militants were killed and one was wounded in two separate encounters today. A Defence Ministry spokesman said Rashtriya Rifles under the command of Romeo Force carried out a joint operation against the militants hiding in Darra village in the Surankot area of Poonch today. As the security forces neared the hideout they came under heavy fire and the troops retaliated killing five militants belonging to the Harkatul Mujahideen on the spot. Six assault rifles, 21 magazines, 649 rounds of assault rifles, 23 hand grenades at six bags of high grade explosives were seized. He said one militant was wounded. In another incident near Mahore in Udhampur two militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered. SRINAGAR: Four unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Kohistan Colony, Safapore in Baramula district today. Three jawans and a civilian were also injured in the exchange of fire, the police said. Till the last reports came in the operation was on. A police spokesman said that the encounter took place when the security forces raided a militant hideout on a specific information. The hiding militants opened fire on the search party leading the encounter. In another incident at Gure-Hajan Bandipore in Baramula district one foreign militant, identified as Abu Harris from Sialkot, Pakistan was killed. One AK rifle, three magazines with 10 rounds and a wireless set were seized from the site of the encounter. Unidentified militants shot dead Ashia wife of Farooq Ahmad Nath at Parimpora on the outskirts of Srinagar city. Another woman was also injured in the incident. An unidentified body was recovered from Banimula, Kulgam in south Kashmir district of Anantnag today. Militants kidnapped Bashir Ahmad Dar near Quzigund and slit his throat near the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. He was spotted by the police in an unconscious condition this morning and was taken to a hospital. He was a shopkeeper, the police said. The police recovered the
body of Mohammad Sakhi Rather of Ajas, Bandipre from
Makhdoom Yari Nursery. |
Afghan refugees being settled
near border JAMMU, May 31 — Pakistani agencies engaged in sustaining anti-India campaign in Jammu and Kashmir have started rehabilitating several hundred families of Afghan refugees in various border areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. According to official sources, more than 500 families of Afghan refugees have been settled across Poonch and Rajouri in recent months. Other groups of refugees from Afghanistan are being settled across Uri and Kupwara. These refugees families have been coming to various parts of Pakistan during the past over one decade. Fresh refugees started taking shelter in Pakistan after the civil war assumed new dimensions after the Soviet pullout. Official sources said the main idea behind this was to prepare a martial race which could inflict damage on Indian border villages and Army posts. Most of the able-bodied youths from these refugee families were being recruited in training camps where arms’ training was being imparted to them. Each refugee family has been assured monetary assistance according to the number of boys they send to the training camps. For each boy the refugee family gets anything up to Rs 1000 per month plus free ration for six months. After completing their training these youths will infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir for giving teeth to the ongoing Pakistan-sponsored proxy war. The Pakistan agencies have also sought assistance from PoK government for building shelter houses sheds close to the border right from Uri to Rajouri. A plan has been
formulated for the construction of barracks for the
militants across the border. Besides this the Pakistan
army has been directed to carve out infiltration routes
for militants from across the Neelam valley in Kupwara.
Those separatists and militants operating in Jammu and
Kashmir have been asked to mount pressure on renegades to
rejoin militant outfits. More than 100 such renegades
have joined different groups. |
Talks with Hurriyat must:
Mufti JAMMU, May 31 — The People’s Democratic Party, headed by Mufti Mohd Sayeed, a former Union Home Minister, has expressed concern over the deterioration in the security and economic situation in Jammu and Kashmir for which it held the National Conference government responsible. Favouring unconditional talks with the Hurriyat Conference leaders and other separatists, the PDP chief, Mufti Sayeed, told newsmen here today that “boli and not goli” (talks not bullets) could resolve the ongoing turmoil in the state. He made it clear that he had never challenged the state’s accession with India but to remove people’s alienation, talks with the Hurriyat Conference had become mandatory for restoring normalcy in the state. Replying to a question he said he was not opposed to the grant of greater autonomy to the state but in the situation that existed in the state with one set of separatists demanding azadi, autonomy was not the main issue. It was simply a slogan raised by the National Conference to cover up its “failures and misdeeds”. He said the Kargil conflict had led to the isolation of Pakistan in the world but the National Conference government had failed to cash on it because of its “corrupt practices”. He said it was good that the Government of India and the separatists in Kashmir had realised that talks could resolve the ongoing turmoil and the shift in the Central Government’s policy indicated by the Union Home Minister’s repeated statement favouring talks with the Hurriyat Conference was a positive step. He suggested the two sides to initiate at informal contact so that the stage could be set for formal talks. Mufti Sayeed urged the Centre to issue a White Paper on the quantum of funds it had released to Jammu and Kashmir under Plan, non-Plan and security-related matters. If it was done it would clearly expose the National Conference government’s misuse of funds. He alleged that the state government had diverted over Rs 200 crore, which it had received for rural electrification programme, to a private agency engaged in the construction of 595 MW Bhagliar power project. He said nothing had been done at the project site despite the agency having received over Rs 160 crore in one go and that too at a time when the state government had not settled its dispute with the NHPC. The Mufti blamed the state government for postponing the panchayat elections which had not been held in the past over 20 years. He said had the panchayat bodies been constituted there could have been transparency in the utilisation of funds which the government did not want to promote. The PDP chief said time
had come when people needed a healing touch and the
National Conference government was not in a position to
do it because it had lost its representative character.
He blamed that due to the wrong policies adopted by the
state government the 10-year-long political vacuum in the
state had assumed new dimension. |
J & K CPM for Indo-Pak talks SRINAGAR, May 31 (PTI) — The Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPM today said the Centre should initiate a dialogue with Pakistan and also with the people of the state to resolve the Kashmir issue. “A dialogue between the Centre and the people of Jammu and Kashmir has become imperative,” state Secretary of the CPM M.Y.Tarigami told reporters here. He stressed that India should talk to Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue. Appealing to the Centre to create a conducive atmosphere, he expressed the view that pre-conditions set up by the Centre for the talks on the issue and the hardened stand adopted by the Hurriyat would not yield results. He said there could be
no military solution to the Kashmir problem. |
Handloom weavers to get
incentives SRINAGAR, May 31 — The Union Textile Minister, Mr Kashiram Rana has announced that a comprehensive scheme, namely Deen Dayal Hatkargha Protsahan Yojana, will be launched during the current financial year to assist handloom weavers. While announcing this at
a seminar on “Promotion of carpet exports from
J&K”, the minister said that the scheme would
cover a wide gamut of activities including basic inputs,
infrastructure, Marketing incentive and transport subsidy
to weavers in north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir.
The seminar was organised by the Carpet Export Promotion
Council here yesterday. |
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