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| Thursday, October 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Civic body Bill introduced after walkout SRINAGAR, Oct 18 — The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today clarified that elections to the municipalities in the state would be held along with the panchayat elections next year. Militants revolt against leaders J & K House passes
Amarnath Board Bill
J and K Governor briefs Advani Students’ body for statehood
to Jammu |
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Dental exhibition organised J&K gets notice for
illegal logging Minister denies conversions in Udhampur dist
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Civic body Bill introduced after walkout SRINAGAR, Oct 18 — The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today clarified that elections to the municipalities in the state would be held
along with the panchayat elections next year. Intervening during question
hour in the State Legislative Assembly today, in response to the walkout by opposition members of the Congress and the BJP on the issue, the Chief Minister said the Bill to this effect would be passed in the current session of the Assembly. With this the current session of the Assembly that was scheduled to conclude today, was extended by one day. Later, the Housing and Urban Development Minister, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, introduced two Bills to this effect in the Legislative Assembly. The Bills related to consolidate, amend and replace the law relating to municipalities and the Bill to amend and consolidate the law relating to the establishing of Municipal Corporations for certain municipal areas in the state. These Bills are expected to come up for consideration in the House tomorrow. Earlier, the BJP members were on their feet demanding that the Corporations Bill be introduced when Minister of Rural Development Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan was replying to a question about panchayat elections. When the Speaker did not allow them to raise the issue as the main question was on panchayat elections, the BJP members staged a walk out. Following the members’ return to the House later, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said the reason for the delay was that there were not enough copies for distribution among the members. It would take at least six days to get copies printed at the government press. However, he suggested that if opposition members cooperated, photocopies could be distributed among the members. The BJP and other opposition members agreed and subsequently the Bill was introduced today. It will be taken up for discussion and passed tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed noisy scenes during the debate on a query by the ruling National Conference member Mohammad Shafi Bhat who wanted to know the position of the Resettlement Bill passed by the House way back in 1982. The House witnessed heated arguments between Mr Ashok Khajuria of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Mr Bhat. However, nothing was audible in the din. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister
P. L. Handoo said it was a fact that the House passed the Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Permit Resettlement in (or permanent return) to the state in 1982. The Bill was assented to by the Governor on October 6, 1982 and referred by the President for Supreme Court consideration under Clause (1) of Article 143 of the Constitution. Mr Handoo said the reference was still pending before the apex court. The agitated Mr Shafi, amid protest by BJP members, desired to know what the government was doing all these years. Mr Handoo argued, “we have not been summoned by the Supreme Court yet and as soon as we are given the chance we will present our case.’’ The Resettlement Bill, if made into law, will pave the way for the return of those people of J and K who had migrated to Pakistan during Partition. J and K Minister for Industries and Commerce, Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal has appealed to handicraft and fruit traders in the state to take measures to ensure the quality of their products so as to maintain their reputation. The minister was replying to a resolution moved by Mohammad Yousuf Taing in the Legislative Council yesterday regarding setting up of a quality control authority to maintain and improve the standard of export quality of fruit and handicrafts so that products could compete well in the international market. Kamaal said J and K Handicrafts Quality Control Act, passed by the state legislature is in force since January, 1997. Besides, a Quality Control Council was constituted in January, 1997 to ensure maintenance of quality standards of handicrafts. The council is being reconstituted soon, to enable the government to ensure strict implementation of the Quality Control Act in respect of handicraft items. The Minister of State for Home Mushtaq Ahmad Lone while speaking on a resolution moved by ruling National Conference member, Aziz Mohammad Qari in the Council yesterday demanding that displaced persons in Kargil district be paid full compensation for their property damaged during the conflict assured that state government would take up the issue with Centre. He said a comprehensive relief package had already been announced in August last year under which Rs 20,000 were provided to each family for construction of bunkers in villages which had come under heavy border shelling, Mr Lone said. An ex gratia relief to next of kin of those killed was being provided at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per death case and 50 per cent of the loss suffered to property subject to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh is also being provided to the victims of border shelling, the minister said. |
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Militants revolt against leaders JAMMU, Oct 18 — A new trend has developed in the troubled Kashmir valley where militants have started revolting against their parent leaders. The latest to fire its salvo against Peoples Conference Chairman and senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone is chief of Al Barq Malik Bilal Rahi. Al Barq over the years has been treated as the military wing of the Peoples Conference. In a statement issued from Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Malik Bilal Rahi has announced snapping ties with Mr Lone. He has accused the separatist leader of protecting his “petty interests” at the cost of Al Barq and the ongoing Jehad. Malik Bilal Rahi has charged Mr Lone with having “embezzled” several lakhs of rupees which agencies in Pakistan had sent to him for distributing cash relief to families of those whose youths were killed by the Indian security forces. He has claimed that not a single Al Barq activist’s family received ex gratia after the activists fell to the bullets of the security forces. It may be recalled that during the past over six months the relations between Mr Lone and Malik Bilal Rahi had been strained. The recent convention organised by Mr Lone in Srinagar is said to have annoyed agencies across the border. These agencies incited Malik Bilal Rahi to launch a campaign against Mr Lone. This is evident from Malik Bilal Rahi’s statement in which he has said he was in total disagreement with Mr Lone when he “weighed India and Pakistan on one balance” during his address to the workers’ convention in Srinagar. Pakistan agencies, reports said, had realised Mr Lone had become closer to the JKLF as far as the demand for granting independence to Jammu and Kashmir was concerned. Hence Malik Bilal Rahi has blamed Mr Lone for not having intervened to release weapons and ammunition which Mr Lone’s son had refused to hand over to the activists of Al Barq. Malik Bilal Rahi has gone to the extent of saying that Mr Lone wanted to utilise these weapons to gain power after Kashmir was granted independence. Earlier, activists of the Hizbul Mujahideen, once considered the military wing of Jamait-e-Islami, ridiculed senior Jamaat leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani for forcing Kashmiri boys to face bullets when his children and other relations were enjoying their life, some of them outside the state. A large number of Hizb activists are no longer prepared to accept dictation from Jamait-e-Islami leaders. It was in this context that a senior commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Mr Masood Sarfaraz Khan, fought a pitched battle with Jamait-e-Islami leader Abdul Rashid Tarabi at Kotli in Pakistan in recent days. It was almost Jamaat versus Hizb at three places after Jamait-e-Islami preferred to install Mr Shamsher Khan as the Divisional Commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment in place of Mr Masood Sarfaraz Khan. The tussle between those wanting Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan and those seeking independence for the state has been the root cause of a split in several separatist groups, including the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party headed by Mr Shabir Ahmed Shah. While Mr Shah has been a votary for independent status for Kashmir his right hand man, Mr Naeem Khan, has been adopting a pro-Pak line. The result was that Mr Naeem Khan parted company with Mr Shabir Shah. Even the basic reason for groupism in Jamait-e-Islami is the way Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been toeing the pro-Pak line which has not been to the liking of the Chief of the Jamaat, Mr G.M. Bhat, who as a moderate leader is keen to expand the Jamaat cadre. Reports said the Pakistani agencies had directed militants to ensure that separatists and mainstream political leaders were not able to initiate talks with the Government of India. It is because of the pressure from these agencies that the initiative taken by the Hizbul Mujahideen leadership for starting talks with the government in July last got aborted. Meanwhile, a former Chief Minister, Mr G.M. Shah, has written letters to all mainstream political leaders and separatists, including Hurriyat Conference leaders, and several top militant outfits to agree to sit together for chalking out a programme for resolving the ongoing turmoil. The way he has not sent any invitation to the National Conference indicates that Mr Shah is keen to form a united front to create a situation in which the Farooq regime will either be forced to resign or be dismissed by the Centre. However, so far there has been no major response from political and separatist leaders. |
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J & K House passes
Amarnath Board Bill SRINAGAR, Oct 18 — A Bill to provide for the constitution of a board for the better management of Amarnath Yatra was passed by voice vote in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly today. The Bill was introduced in the House by the Minister for Tourism, Mr S.S. Salathia, yesterday and came up for discussions today. Various members, cutting across party lines, supported the government move, even as they apprehended a threat to the environment of the picnic spot of Pahalgam. These members expressed the hope that due consideration would be given to the ecological balance of the scenic beauty. Speaking on the Bill, the Minister for Tourism, Mr S.S. Salathia, said that the board would be set up on the pattern of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. He added that pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine had been on the increase over the years and has increased from mere 20,000 to 1.88 lakh pilgrims during the previous years. The highest number of 1.88 pilgrims visited the cave shrine of Amarnath this year against 1.60 lakh pilgrims in the last year, the minister stated. Several members from the ruling NC and other opposition participated in the discussion on the Bill that had been earlier taken up for discussion yesterday, but was later on put for today. The members included Mr Dilawar Mir, Mr G.M. Bawan and Mr Sadiq Ali of the NC, Mr Shiv Charan Gupta and Mr Piara Singh of the BJP and Mr Ashok Sharma of the Congress. The members held that the scenic spot of Pahalgam was important not only as a base camp for the yatra but also as a tourist spot in the valley. They held that due attention should be given towards the protection of the environment of the area while providing accommodation and other facilities for the pilgrims during the yatra. While the opposition members of the BJP and the Congress demanded that the Bill be sent to the select committee, the Tourism Minister said that there would be delay in the process for the Bill cannot be taken up for further discussion in view of the Budget session next year, when the House meets again in Jammu. |
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J and K Governor briefs Advani NEW DELHI, Oct 18 — The Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Mr Girish Chandra
Saxena, said today that administrative steps should be matched by ‘political initiatives’ to deal with the situation in the militancy-hit valley. “Administrative steps should be matched by political initiative to deal with the situation,” Mr Saxena told mediapersons soon after he met and briefed the Union Home Minister, Mr
L.K. Advani, about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Students’ body for statehood
to Jammu JAMMU, Oct 18 —The Jammu Joint Students’ Federation (JJSF) has demanded immediate reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir so that the Jammu region was given separate statehood. At a meeting here today the JJSF adopted a resolution demanding immediate and to discrimination of the people of the Jammu region by valley dominated ruling leadership. He said this was possible if the region comprising six districts were given the status of a state. The resolution said that in view of cultural linguistic and climatic diversities there was no valid link between the valley and the Jammu region. It said that during the past 53 years the Jammuites have been neglected and the only way ensure speedy development of the Jammu was to grant it a separate statehood. The resolution said that the valley based political leaders had
carried out delimitation of the Assembly constituencies in a way as deprived the Jammu region from getting more seats than the valley as far as its area and population were concerned. |
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Dental exhibition organised JAMMU, Oct 18 — As part of the week-long dental awareness programme, the Indian Dental Association organised an exhibition in collaboration with the Health Education Bureau here yesterday. The Director, Health Services, Dr
R. K. Goel, was the chief guest. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Principal, Government Medical College, Jammu. Mr Som Dutt, president, Indian Dental Association, conducted the Director, Health Services, the Principal, Government Medical College and others to the exhibition and explained dental diseases and preventions. These included
pyorrhea, plack, carries, gum cancer, periodental diseases, jaw fracture and irregular teeth. |
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J&K gets notice for
illegal logging SRINAGAR, Oct 18 — A Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has issued notices to the state government, its forest corporation and others on a petition against allowing logging across the state. Chief Justice
B. P. Saraf and Justice Bashir-ud-Din yesterday directed these respondents to file replies within two weeks as to why action should not be taken against them on a petition filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples’ Vigilance Bureau on the issue. The petitioner bureau said the respondents had allowed the felling of trees which was not only “banned by law applicable to the state but was also in violation of the Supreme Court orders”. The respondents had also allotted timber extraction work in various forest areas “in violation of the rules and policy” of the state Forest Department to a contractor on very high rates and thus caused a loss of crores to the state exchequer. The bureau prayed that under these circumstances its petition be treated as a public interest litigation. |
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Minister denies conversions in Udhampur dist JAMMU, Oct 18 (UNI) — The Jammu and Kashmir government has denied media reports of religious conversion in Udhampur
district. Talking to UNI over telephone Minister of State for Home Mushtaq Ahamad Lone today said there was no truth in the reports. That is members of two Hindu families had converted to Islam “about a month ago similar reports had appeared in media about forcible conversions, at that time I had
personally inquired the whole incident and found them baseless. This time too the reports are baseless,” the minister said. Mr lone said that some vested interests were trying to instigate communal tension in otherwise peaceful areas by propagating such fake incidents. It was reported in some newspapers here on Monday that 15 members of a family had converted to Islam, but on investigation it was found that no such religion conversion took place in the village of Lati Dunni of Ramnagar tehsil of Udhampur district. Senior
Superintendent of Police (SSP) Udhampur Satvir Gupta told UNI over telephone that their was no truth in the news of religious conversion. He said a Hindi daily had also published a similar news story on August 27. The same news was repeated once again by some newspapers on October 16. Denying such reports, Mr Gupta said “I can produce the proof that all the family members of Duni Chand were still Hindus.” |
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