J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Cong wins 20 seats of LAHDC
SRINAGAR, Nov 4 — The Congress bagged 20 of the 26 seats of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), elections to which were held last month and counting of votes held yesterday. The ruling National Conference bagged five seats while one Independent was also among those elected.

Mehdi buried amid slogans
2 killed in sectarian clashes
SRINAGAR, Nov 4 — While curfew was clamped in Shia-dominated areas of the city, a large number of mourners attended the burial function of Shia leader, Aga Syed Mehdi, amid tight security arrangements at Budgam this afternoon.

Farooq: Pak behind sectoral clashes
JAMMU, Nov 4 — Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today warned Islamabad that it could not annex “even an inch of our soil”. Addressing the 24th north-west zone and sixth north zone conference of the Association of Otorhinolaryngologists of India at Government Medical College here this morning, the Chief Minister said the people of the Muslim majority state had opposed the two-nation theory in 1947 and continued to reject it.

Cong wins 20 seats of LAHDC
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Nov 4 — The Congress bagged 20 of the 26 seats of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), elections to which were held last month and counting of votes held yesterday. The ruling National Conference bagged five seats while one Independent was also among those elected.

A meeting of the newly elected members of the LAHDC was held at Leh this afternoon wherein the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Dheeraj Gupta, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the LAHDC, administered oath to the newly elected members. Prominent citizens, including Lama Lobzang, member of the Minority Commission, Government of India, were also present on the occasion of the oath ceremony. The distribution of portfolios would be announced later tonight, reports from Leh said.

Former Chief Executive Councillor Thupstan Chewang was among those elected. Mr C. Namgyal with the highest 84.73 per cent of votes and Mr N. Rigzin with 73 per cent of votes, both from the Congress, were among those elected. The BJP did not get any seat.

Elections to the 26 seats of the 30-member LAHDC were held on October 28 last. These are the first elections to the LAHDC in which the ruling National Conference took part after the council was first constituted in 1995. The National Conference at that time had stayed away from any elections in the state, which led to the Congress getting absolute majority.

Among those defeated included Ms S. Angmo of the BJP from Phiyang constituency where Congress candidate Sonam Wangdus emerged victorious. The National Conference’s Phunthsog Wangidan was defeated by Mr Tashi Angdus of the Congress from Lowerlay constituency. The ruling National Conference bagged the Byoma seat when its candidate Regzan Namgyal defeated Mr U. Rangdol of the Congress with an over 51 per cent victory margin. 

Mehdi buried amid slogans
2 killed in sectarian clashes
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Nov 4 — While curfew was clamped in Shia-dominated areas of the city, a large number of mourners attended the burial function of Shia leader, Aga Syed Mehdi, amid tight security arrangements at Budgam this afternoon.

Mehdi was killed along with five others when a powerful IED explosion hit their bulletproof Gypsy at Kanihama on the Srinagar-Gulmarg road yesterday afternoon. Shia-dominated areas falling under six police stations here were brought under curfew restrictions after the news of the death of Mehdi, a former Congress leader, reached the area. The police and paramilitary forces were deployed in large number in the Shia-dominated areas of Budgam, Srinagar and Baramula districts. The death of the Shia leader has been widely condoled and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister visited the house of the deceased leader.

Two persons were reportedly killed in sectarian clashes in Pattan area of Baramula district. One was killed at Hartrath last evening while the other was killed in Palhalan area today. Several others were injured as demonstrators set ablaze over a dozen residential houses in the area.

No militant outfit has claimed responsibility of the explosion. Dr Ashok Bhan, IGP, Kashmir zone, said the target of militants had been the police vehicle. Efforts were being made to nab the culprits, the IGP said.

A defence spokesperson claimed here today that Laskhar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad outfits were responsible for the attack. “As per reports, this is the result of connivance between Sipaha-e-Sahaba, a radical anti-Shia faction in Pakistan, and the Pakistan regime. Sipaha-e-Sahaba, has always believed in ethnic cleansing of the Shias. Detailed planning for this operation was carried out from across the Line of Control and in the valley involving a number of commanders of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaisha-e-Mohammad and the Pakistani authorities”, the spokesperson alleged.

The police had to fire into air to disperse demonstrators at Singhpora on the Srinagar-Baramula highway. The agitators stopped traffic on the highway for several hours. Demonstrations were also held at Palhalan today where the police had to fire into air during the burial of Nazir Ahmad, who was among those killed in the explosion. Traffic was restored following assurances by the Deputy Commissioner and the SSP of Baramula later in the afternoon.

The militants had earlier made two attempts on the life of former minister Moulvi Hussain Ansari in Pattan area of Baramula district. He escaped with minor injuries. Two police personnel and his driver, however, were killed in a landmine blast at Matipora near Pattan on September 1.

He also escaped a powerful mine explosion at a religious congregation at Khwaja Gund Qasim, near Pattan last winter, in which at least 13 persons were killed and several others injured.

Farooq: Pak behind sectoral clashes
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Nov 4 — Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today warned Islamabad that it could not annex “even an inch of our soil”.

Addressing the 24th north-west zone and sixth north zone conference of the Association of Otorhinolaryngologists of India (AOI) at Government Medical College here this morning, the Chief Minister said the people of the Muslim majority state had opposed the two-nation theory in 1947 and continued to reject it.

Charging the neighbouring country of engineering sectoral clashes and flaring communal passions in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Farooq said the killing of Shia leader and others in yesterday’s mine blast in Mazhama was an attempt in this regard.

He regretted that certain elements were trying to make political capital of the happenings at the best of the “enemy from across the border”. The people would not allow themselves to be divided on religious or regional lines, he added.