J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Red alert sounded in J&K
JAMMU, Sept 12 — A red alert has been sounded all over Jammu and Kashmir following storming of an Army camp at Beerwah in Badgam district by two Fidayeen in which five Armymen were killed. Two Fidayeen, Abu Bakr of the Lashkar-i-Toiba and Abu Talha of the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, were killed in the Army action.

J&K House session from October 9
SRINAGAR, Sept 12 — The 10-day autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is scheduled to begin here from October 9 next.

Rajbagh — separatist enclave
Srinagar, Sept 12 — Rajbagh, a posh locality of this summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is today better known as an enclave of political groups with separatist inclinations, though residents are not complaining.

Red alert sounded in J&K
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Sept 12 — A red alert has been sounded all over Jammu and Kashmir following storming of an Army camp at Beerwah in Badgam district by two Fidayeen in which five Armymen were killed. Two Fidayeen, Abu Bakr of the Lashkar-i-Toiba and Abu Talha of the Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, were killed in the Army action.

Official sources said the state government has conveyed to the Army authorities and those manning the BSF, CRPF and police pickets to take in hand required measures for foiling armed attacks by Fidayeen (men of the suicide squads).

The state and Central intelligence agencies had received reports, during the past one fortnight, that militant outfits, especially the Lashkar-i-Toiba, Jamait-ul-Mujahideen, Jash-e-Mohammad and the Hizbul Mujahideen, would step up their armed attacks on security camps.

The Beerwah incident is the fifth major event during the past over six months. In the Badami Bagh cantonment, Kupwara, Baramula, Poonch and Surankot incidents militants carried out swift gun, grenade and rocket attacks on the Army camps. For over four months since the last attack militant groups have been imparting training to suicide squads.

According to sources, over 150 Fidayeen belonging to the Lashkar-i-Toiba, have sneaked into Kashmir from across the border in recent days. It is in this context that the state and Central intelligence agencies have directed the Army and the paramilitary forces to remain alert round the clock. They have been told to increase the number of armed guards during the night as the Fidayeen have been trained to strike in the dark.

In the Kashmir valley the Army and the police authorities have been told to coordinate their activities against militants.

Security forces have been asked to raise barriers and other safety measures around all the police and Army camps and units so that the march of Fidayeen was restricted 500 metres away from the camp. Some police posts have been fortified with high walls and barbed wire fences but several camps and pickets of security forces continue to be located in the open. The authorities are said to be considering a plan to improve security cover of these camps.

J&K House session from October 9
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Sept 12 — The 10-day autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is scheduled to begin here from October 9 next.

The arrangements for the session were reviewed at a high-level meeting chaired by the Speaker Legislative Assembly, Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil, here today. The Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Divisional Commissioner, Mr K.A. Ganai, and other civil and police officers of the divisional administration attended the meeting, an official spokesman said here today.

The Speaker underlined the important role of the legislature in the democratic set up and said it represents the will of the people and every effort must be made by all agencies of the government to ensure successful and meaningful conduct of the session of the constitutional democratic body. He asked the government to ensure timely supply of replies to the questions of MLAs. He also impressed upon the government to depute officials of different departments to make note of points made by the members during zero hour and respond to the ministers appropriately. He said, the legislature was an institution which makes government accountable.

The Speaker also reviewed security and traffic arrangements around the complex and stressed the need while there is no room for complacency on security arrangements, efforts should be made that while making security arrangements the common man was not put to inconvenience. He also reviewed the arrangements relating to repairs and renovation of MLAs’ complex, availability of health care facilities and power supply.

Rajbagh — separatist enclave
By Binoo Joshi

Srinagar, Sept 12 — Rajbagh, a posh locality of this summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is today better known as an enclave of political groups with separatist inclinations, though residents are not complaining.

The decision by various militant outfits to open their offices in Rajbagh has pushed up rents, to the delight of the residents, who feel that they are now in the company of those who are chased by the media and, at times, by the police too.

The first to shift to the area was the All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the political grouping of the separatist forces. The APHC headquarters is located in a three-stored building. It has separate conference and media rooms and is linked to the outside world by an array of constantly ringing telephones.

The imposing building is a hive of activity, with members of the media and favour-seekers hanging around the premises. Women and elderly men can be seen thronging the courtyard of the building as they come seeking relief or to complain about “excesses of security forces,” ranging from custodial killings, rapes, molestation, looting and harassment.

The APHC had functioned in its initial years from Mirwaiz Manzil, a three-stored wooden building in a downtown locality, which was the family property of the chief priest of Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. That served as the APHC headquarters for almost three years after the group was founded in 1993 and when Farooq was its chairman.

The APHC headquarters today is a “must-stop” for journalists, who hang around the premises for hours, to hear the group’s pronouncements on the latest developments. The Hurriyat leaders are known to go into marathon executive council meetings whenever major events unfold in Kashmir.

Less than 200 metres away, Shabir Ahmad Shah has the headquarters of his Democratic Freedom Party (DFP). The walls here are pasted with pictures of “the brutalised Kashmir,” focussing particularly on the child victims of alleged excesses by the security forces. These pictures of children, wailing women and funeral processions are the “unending story of the agony of Kashmir,” Shah says.

Anyone visiting the APHC office cannot miss the DFP headquarters, close to which is the office of the People’s League, which has become active after the release of its supremo, Sheikh Abdul Aziz. His office has new chairs and tables. Several books on Kashmir are prominently displayed.

Rajbagh is also home to the offices of Kashmir Mass Movement and Islamic Students’ League, both separatist outfits. — India Abroad News Service