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| Monday,
October 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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J&K-Centre tussle on funds
continues APHC, Hizb may contest poll
jointly Militant, guard
killed in J & K Shadow of gun recedes AIDS cases on rise
in J&K |
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Rajouri leads in
silk production
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J&K-Centre tussle on funds
continues JAMMU, Oct 1 — There seems to be no end to the tussle between the Central government and Jammu and Kashmir ruling National Conference over the quantum of financial assistance given to the state. The issue of funds has strained relations between the NC and the BJP-NDA government. For the past three years, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has been pleading the Centre to provide special financial assistance to the infrastructure damaged by militants. The special doses of funds released by the Centre have proved just a drop in the ocean. Whenever Opposition leaders blame the NC government for suspending work on various development projects, the Chief Minister points the accusing finger at the Centre. He will take BJP MLAs and other leaders to the Centre by the end of October to persuade the Centre to release a special economic package for the state. Two things have irked the NC government. First, the Centre’s silence over the demand of the state for compensation of the heavy losses it has been suffering because of the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960. The state government has calculated that Jammu and Kashmir suffered an annual loss of Rs 10,000 crore on account of the treaty which has imposed strict limits on the use of river waters for irrigation and generation of electricity. Secondly, during the past four years, the state government has been mounting pressure on the Centre to waive the Rs 1275 crore loan as the state had to spend over Rs 600 crore annually on the servicing of the loan. The Chief Minister had informed the Centre that the extent of losses and destruction of the infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 10 years of militancy had been colossal. The state is also annoyed with the Centre because it has not fully reimbursed security-related expenses which have touched over Rs 700 crore. Another irritant is that the Centre has not released funds as per the budgetary estimates. The funds are being released in a phased manner. As a result, the state has to bank on overdraft from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. The overdraft ranges between Rs 700 and Rs 900 crore, with over Rs 150 crore as annual interest on it. It was in this context that Dr Abdullah had requested the Chairman of the bank, Mr M.Y. Khan, to reduce the rate of interest. The state government has another grievance: the Central industrial investment in Jammu and Kashmir has remained the lowest in the country. According to the Minister of Industries, Dr Mustafa Kamal, it is only 0.01 per cent of the total investment. Or, out of Rs 2,04,000 crore, Jammu and Kashmir received Rs 18 crore only. However, the Union Home Minister and the Finance Ministry have a different tale to tell. They blame the state government for diverting funds from the Plan sector to the non-Plan sector and the vice versa. The state had not released funds for the centrally sponsored schemes on time. Even the money earmarked for wages to village defence committees and other auxiliary forces was not disbursed on time. The Centre has blamed the state for submitting an improper account of security related expenses. At one stage, out of Rs 700 crore spent on security related expenses, proper account was submitted for only Rs 239 crore which had been released. The state had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre months before the start of the budget session of the assembly in April last. The state had not so far implemented fully even one clause of the memorandum. The state was supposed to reduce the budgetary support to the public sector undertaking by 10 per cent every year and wind up those units which were sick. It was asked to initiate comprehensive expenditure reforms so that expenses on non-productive activities were further curtailed. Though the state government did well in enhancing the tax revenue during the past two years, the target as stated in the MoU us yet to be achieved.
As the tussle goes on, people continue to suffer. |
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APHC, Hizb may contest poll
jointly JAMMU, Oct 1 — The troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir is in for developments of far-reaching consequences following the decision of several separatist groups and militant outfits to forge unity for contesting the next assembly elections. Highly placed sources said that the initiative in this direction has been taken by senior leaders of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, Hizbul Mujahideen and those who have been supporting peace parleys between the secessionists and the Government. In this connection, a faction of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit has been trying to bring prominent separatist leaders, including G.M. Shah, a former Chief Minister, Azam Inquilabi, Shabir Ahmed Shah and the JKLF leaders under one umbrella. Though the Hurriyat Conference is a conglomeration of over 23 religious and political organisation, it is yet to assume the character of genuine representative of the people of Kashmir. Under the proposal, the secessionists plan to forge unity, throw up a united leadership and prepare for contesting the next Assembly elections. Knowing full well that several separatist leaders may not be prepared to work under the command of one leader the protagonists of the unity moves have plans of installing a presidium type leadership so that three to five top leaders belonging to prominent militant outfits and secessionist groups run the show. The Hurriyat Conference is a divided house. Molvi Umar Farooq, a former chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, has not totally merged his Awami Action Committee with the APHC. So is the case with Abdul Gani Lone, who has kept alive his People’s Conference. Mr Lone has decided to hold a one-day convention of the Peoples’ Conference in Srinagar next week to register his presence. After his defeat in the recently held election for the post of Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, Mr Lone has been seen spending more time in reviving his People’s Conference than in attending APHC meetings. Shabir Ahmed Shah, president of the Democratic Freedom Party, had, two years ago, dissociated himself from the Hurriyat Conference and he, too, was being wooed to rejoin the APHC. Under the state constitution, the term of the Assembly is six years and as such the next elections are due in September 2002. These separatists plan to take part in the elections, whenever they are held. Inside reports said that the Government has not closed its doors for talks and for enabling the rebels to contest the elections. This is evident from the way the Government did not reimpose the ban on the JKLF. The organisation was banned in 1990 and the ban had expired last year, but the government did not reimpose it nor did it ban the Hizbul Mujahideen. The JKLF, led by Mohd Yasin Malik had decided to establish block, tehsil and district units of the front so that in case it decides to context the next elections it can have a vote bank at the grassroot level. The JKLF has decided to start this exercise from Doda district, where its hegemony had been eclipsed by the Hizbul Mujahideen and other rebel outfits. As far as the mainstream political parties are concerned, it is only the Peoples’ Democratic Party, headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, which has started what political analysts call a ‘pre-poll exercise’. Its leaders have been organising party conventions and public rallies at the tehsil and district levels. Besides this the Mufti and his daughter, Mehbooba, have been visiting victims of militants and the security forces, thereby winning for themselves peoples’ sympathy. |
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Militant, guard killed in J & K SRINAGAR, Oct 1 (PTI) — Two persons, including a militant, were killed and a jawan was injured, even as security forces arrested four militants and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening. The body of forest guard Gulzar Hussain Shah was recovered by the police from Sarootinar in Poonch district last evening, an official spokesman said here today. Gulzar was abducted from his house yesterday by militants, who killed his wife, two daughters and two sons. An unidentified militant was killed and a jawan injured in an encounter at Kandi Gali village of Rajouri district today, the spokesman said. He said security forces apprehended three militants during search operations at Wangipora and Bhat Mohalla of Baramulla district yesterday. An Al-Jehad militant was arrested and a big cache of arms and ammunition, including 21 rockets with boosters, seven improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and 843 rounds of AK-47 rifle ammunition, was seized in a joint operation by the BSF and police in Peth-Wanzi forest of Baramulla district today, the spokesman added. Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Kamal Panday took stock of the security situation in Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region at a high-level meeting yesterday. The visit of the secretary to the region assumes significance as Kargil has witnessed stray incidents of militancy during the past few months and the elections to the 26-member Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) are scheduled for October 28. While an army jawan was killed and three soldiers were injured in the first ever land mine explosion in the Dras sector of Kargil on September 22, three Buddhist monks and a German tourist were killed by militants at Rangdum in July last. Those who attended the high-level meeting included Special Secretary (Home, Kashmir Affairs) and Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir. |
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MAHORE (Jammu), Oct 1 (PTI) — shadowed by the ugly face of gun for the last six years, the Mahore-Gulabgarh woodlands set amidst rocky terrain and thick coniferous forests, is fast returning to normal, thanks to the presence of Dah division troops since March this year. Over 100 odd-families, who had migrated in the thick of militancy, are back to their respective hamlets. “We are now feeling safe and fear of militants gun is over after Mahore brigade’s deployment in the area,” a senior citizen of Mahore town, Mohammad Akram, told visiting mediapersons. The local populace in and around Mahore moves fearlessly, markets are open till late in the evening and construction of houses and shops has begun, says Haji Abdul Rasheed. “Even though the situation is becoming peaceful and normal, the Army should not be moved out of the area. If the troops are shifted from the area, we will again migrate,” Abdul Rashid and Ram Sharan, both teachers, whose families are among 150 odd families who have returned, said. Gulabgarh-Mahore area, cut off from the rest of the country for at least seven to eight months in winter, was the “hub” of militants, particularly foreign mercenaries, Mahore brigade commander, Brig D D Atri, said. The area, with an 80 per cent Muslim population and 20 per cent Sikhs and Hindus, is the most backward part of Udhampur district with literacy rate of only 11 per cent in a population of over 1.2 lakh, Brigade Major, Mahore, Major Sanjay Roy said. The state government institutions, including educational institutions, were closed for the past six years. In July this year doctors, sub-divisional magistrate, tehsildars and other officials returned to their duties, three months after deployment of a brigade, Atri said. Militants have killed over 130 civilians during the past six years in the area, unleashing a reign of terror among the local people. However, since March this year the army has killed 54 militants and nabbed several others. |
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SRINAGAR, Oct 1 (PTI) — The number of AIDS cases in Jammu and Kashmir have increased alarmingly during the past decade with 14,589 HIV positive cases being reported till 1998, a report of the National AIDS Control Organisation has said. Of these, 11,255 were male and 3,334 female, the report made public recently said, adding that four deaths had occurred in the valley this year. Truck drivers, who spent most part of the year outside their homes, were among the main carriers of HIV, it claimed. The first AIDS death in the valley was reported in 1989 when a Germany-based Kashmiri businessman died after a year of his return in 1988. Dr Muneer Masoodi, Head of the Departement of Social and Preventive Medicines, Medical College, Srinagar, said the disease spread 85 to 90 per cent through unsafe sexual practice, adding that launching a vigorous awareness campaign to prevent the spread of the disease was essential. An official spokesman said the state government had taken a number of steps to check the disease, adding that it had established one AIDS cell, two surveillance centres and three zonal blood-testing centres. Blood banks had been modernised and orientation training had been provided to over 300 doctors of various districts, the spokesman said. He said the state government had decided to launch AIDS prevention awareness drive with the involvement of NGOs. The state Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, addressing a meeting of the governing body of the Jammu and Kashmir State AIDS Prevention and Control Society recently underlined the need for associating NGOs in checking the disease. |
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Rajouri leads in
silk production JAMMU, Oct 1 — Rajouri has become the leading district in the state in silk production. During the past four years, 10.72 lakh kg of silk cocoon were produced in the district. Over 31,000 ounces of seeds were distributed among local silk rearers. At present, about 8,000 families are engaged in silkworm rearing, most of them belonging to Nowshera and Sunderbani areas of the district. The Department of Sericulture has taken up a plantation programme to promote the silk industry. Over 8 lakh mulberry saplings have been planted in the district in the past four years. The department has incurred an expenditure of Rs 42.55 lakh during this period on promotion of sericulture in the district. |
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