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| Saturday, January 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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High security for R-Day function ‘Yasin’ in Kafkaesque maze ‘Hurriyat being
given undue importance’ Tension as temple
set ablaze Kupwara kids on countrywide tour J&K to have 1 lakh solar lights |
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Tarigami blames it on Indus Treaty Poll arrangements
reviewed
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High security for R-Day function SRINAGAR, Jan 19 — A three-tier security system comprising police and paramilitary troops has been mounted around Bakshi Stadium, venue of the main Republic Day celebrations here, to prevent any attempt by militants to create trouble on the occasion. Over 100 suspects have been rounded up in the city ahead of the Republic Day celebrations. The police, on the basis of intelligence reports, suspect “fidayeen” (suicide attack), mortar or rocket attacks in the area. “We have specific information that the militants may create trouble on the occasion,” a senior police officer told TNS here. The militants, who have already made three major attempts since last month after the extension of the unilateral ceasefire, may “indulge in any conceivable” attempt, police sources claim. Security has been tightened around Bakshi Stadium and other parts of the city. The measures include “indepth deployment”, night domination, area patrolling and intensified checking. “The entire area around Bakshi Stadium has been totally sanitised”, a senior security officer told TNS here. Various operations based on specific information are also being conducted as a precautionary measure. Police and intelligence agencies see a constant threat to high security installations like the SOG headquarters here, Doordarshan Kendra, Radio Kashmir, Srinagar and Gupkar Road where the houses of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and some of his ministerial colleagues and high officers are located. Most Pakistan-based militant organisations, particularly Lashkar-e-Toiba, have rejected the unilateral ceasefire offer by the Centre and intensified attacks after the month-long ceasefire was extended by yet another month in December last. The first attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba was at the Red Fort in Delhi and the latest was the “fidayeen” attack on the Srinagar airport on January 16. All six militants of the “suicide squad” who attacked the outer gate of the airport were killed. The Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit had earlier threatened to make the PMO its target. The Central Government has taken a strong notice of the threat. The Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, stated early this week that such attempts would scuttle the peace process initiated by the Central Government. The militants also made an attempt on the life of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah while he was addressing a function after the inauguration of Habba Kadal bridge here. |
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‘Yasin’ in Kafkaesque maze SRINAGAR, Jan 19 — As Mr Mohammad Yasin Malik prepares to visit the USA for treatment, his namesake from Baramula has been running from pillar to post for the past two years for a visit to Pakistan. His trauma began when his passport was seized and he was sent to jail from the Attari border in Punjab in January 1999. Mohammad Yasin Malik, son of Ghulam Hassan Malik, from Zandfaran was on his way to Bahawalpur in Pakistan to meet his uncle who had remained on the other side of the border after the partition in 1947. It was his cherished dream to see his uncle. He got a visa on January 17, 1999. He reached Attari by train on January 25, eight days later. That was the beginning of his trauma. His fault was that his name was the same as JKLF leader’s. This led to cases against him under FIR dated January 17 and 25, 1999 at the GRP, Amritsar, Punjab. The visa of the electronic engineer from Baramula was cancelled after emigration check. He has been appearing before the CJM, Amritsar, after every couple of months. He has written to the Punjab Human Rights Commission, Chandigarh, the J and K Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission. At one stage, his case was even sent to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He spent two months in jail in Amritsar and continues to be in a state of shock. Even the local police in Baramula has cleared his name. “They (customs officials) wanted Rs 1,000, which I could not pay”, says Malik. His passport bearing (A 1542660) dated January 1, 1997, was cleared after verification, says Malik but he was stopped by customs officials who asked him if he was going to Pakistan to “attend an emergency meeting”. “Then I was handed over to the police, who again demanded Rs 1,000. The next morning I was taken to Amritsar where I spent two months in jail”, he says. His lawyers at Amritsar had also demanded huge amounts ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 to get him “released”. “If I had adequate resources, I would have reached the Prime Minister for justice”, he says. |
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‘Hurriyat being
given undue
importance’ NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — Warning the Centre against rushing through peace moves on Jammu and Kashmir, speakers at a seminar on “Peace overtures in Jammu and Kashmir — National Response and Pandit Perspective” said that undue importance was being given to the All-Party Hurriyat Conference. Speaking at the seminar organised by Panun Kashmir, defence analyst Brahma Chellaney referred to the increase in the number of civilian killings in Kashmir since the ceasefire was announced and said that the government had to ask itself what price it was paying for peace. “In Hurriyat Conference, the government is creating a monster which it will find difficult to control later,’’ he opined. Mr Chellaney said while the aim behind recent moves may be to create a wedge between hardliners and others, it may not succeed as happened in the case of Muslim League. “The APHC is becoming a powerful force without having the requisite support base,’’ he said, adding that some of its members had faced criminal charges. “We never faced this kind of situation in Kashmir before,” he said, referring to the attacks by militants on camps of security forces in the valley. Mr Chellaney said the Kashmir problem was being defined the way Pakistan would like it to be and there was only nominal talk by the Centre of reclaiming Pakistan occupied Kashmir. He said government never talked of the one-fifth area of Jammu and Kashmir that was under the illegal occupation of China. Referring to the process of Indo-Pak dialogue, Mr Chellaney said talks were likely to be held before the snow started melting in May. He claimed that both India and Pakistan were acting under US pressure. Mr K.P.S. Gill, former Punjab Director-General of Police, expressed anguish at the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from their ancestral land. The nation, he said, should resolve that the Kashmiri Pandits would return to the land of their birth. Mr Ajay Cherngoo, a senior leader of Panun Kashmir accused the government of bungling in its efforts to find solution to the vexed problem. |
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Tension as temple
set ablaze JAMMU, Jan 19 — Tension gripped Tathri town of Doda district when militants set ablaze a temple last night. The people learnt about the incident in the morning. The shrine was totally damaged. Groups of people raised anti-government slogans. Additional companies of the police and paramilitary forces were rushed to the area to maintain law and order. Senior civil and police officers assured the agitators that adequate financial assistance would be made available for the reconstruction of the temple. More than 3,000 people from Rajouri and Poonch, including over 400 Muslims, have migrated from the upper reaches of these border districts during the past one month. They have been forced to flee their ancestral villages to seek shelter in Jammu on being threatened by militants. |
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Kupwara kids on countrywide tour JAMMU, Jan 19 — Wearing blazers, caps and scarfs, 31 children, including 12 girls, along with two teachers, were thrilled on landing Jammu on their countrywide tour. These students belonged to the remote areas of Kupwara district and most of them had come out of the valley for the first time. Their eyes blinked with joy. They felt excited on being with soldiers and officers of the Tiger division who received them in the winter capital. These kids are being taken on a tour of several parts of the country under “Operation Vajra Panther”. The Army in Jammu and Kashmir has launched the operation to create awareness among children in the valley about the cultural heritage of India and oneness of its people belonging to different faiths. These children were flagged-off for the second leg of the tour to Chandigarh from where they would visit Delhi. They will also attend the Republic Day function as guests of the Army. All of them were of the opinion that they had been given a chance to be free from the roar of guns and grenades during which period they would interact with people of different states and understand their lifestyle. |
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J&K to have 1 lakh solar lights JAMMU, Jan 19 — The Jammu and Kashmir Government has formulated a project for the installation of one lakh solar lights in un-electrified, partially electrified and areas facing power scarcity in the state. The Global Environment Facility of the UNDP or World Bank funding will be sought for the Rs 89 crore project after a detailed technical feasibility study. The Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) has prepared the project. This was disclosed at a meeting of the governing body of JAKEDA chaired by the Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitly, here yesterday. It was stated that over 60,000 improved ‘‘chullas’’ were being set up in the state during the current financial year under the National Programme on Improved Chullas. These chullas are being established in 100 villages of 56 blocks in the state. Over 49,000 chullas were set up last year. The scheme of solar street lights has been extended to all 2,600 villages in 41 border blocks of the state. Nearly 500 such lights were installed last year. Seven renewable energy parks are also being set up in the state this year. These parks will set up at SKUAST, SKIMS, S.P. College and Government Degree College for Women, M.A. Road in Srinagar, Government Degree College, Rajouri, Government Degree College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, and Government Degree College, Poonch. The matter regarding the setting up of energy parks for Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, Government Degree College, Udhampur, and Jammu University has been taken up with the Union Government for financial support. An amount of Rs 10 lakh is provided to set up each energy park under the Centrally-sponsored scheme. A wind monitoring station has been installed at Sanasar with technical assistance from IITM, Bangalore, to explore the possibility of setting up a wind energy station there. The Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources is assisting in the implementation of various non-conventional energy-related programmes in the state. These include setting up of small hydro projects and water mills, promotion of solar cookers, establishment of Aditya solar shops and national programme on energy recovery from municipal and industrial waste. The meeting took stock of the progress achieved under the programmes of solar home lighting systems, solar lanterns and solar power plants. It was revealed that 3,000 home lighting systems and 2,000 solar lanterns will be provided to the people in remote and border areas of the state this year. Besides, 20 water mills will be upgraded. |
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Tarigami blames it on Indus Treaty SRINAGAR, Jan 19 — The CPM state secretary, Mr Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, has urged the state government to start its gas turbine while seeking restoration of 400 mw through the 220 kv and 132 kv transmission lines to overcome power shortage in the Kashmir valley. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Tarigami, MLA, demanded a review of the Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan. He said the state should be compensated for the losses incurred on account of the treaty as no hydel resource could be tapped. He said the treaty had resulted in a “large potential of about 15000 mw of hydel power generation remaining untapped”. “The state government instead of getting its due share in power and compensation on account of the treaty from the Centre has forced long spells of dark wintry nights for the helpless people in the valley and has utterly failed even to abide by the heavy doses of scheduled power cuts announced by it”, Mr Tarigami stated. Mr Tarigami also expressed concern at the performance of the NHPC, which is in charge of the hydel schemes under the Central sector. He expressed concern over the fact that the state had to buy high-cost thermal power when cheap power could have been available in the state in adequate quantity if the hydel potential had been exploited in time. “The state opted for the soft option of purchase instead of building its own generating capacity”, he stated. Mr Tarigami said despite the 15000mw capacity, the power sector in Jammu and Kashmir was the “weakest component in our economy”. Mr Tarigami held that inadequate power supply, poor quality of supply, high cost of project execution and operation and maintenance, a weak transmission and distribution network, huge line losses and power theft were some of the reasons for this “unfortunate” state of affairs. |
Poll arrangements
reviewed UDHAMPUR, Jan 19 — The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Mr Anil Goswami, and the Inspector-General of Police, Jammu, Mr Radha Vinod Raju, reviewed the arrangements for the conduct of the ensuing panchayat elections in Udhampur and Doda districts at a meeting held here yesterday. Among others, the District Development Commissioner, Udhampur, Mohammad Sayeed Khan, and the District Development Commissioner, Doda, Mr Shailendra Kumar, the SSP, Udhampur, Mr Satvir Gupta, and the SSP, Doda, Mr Aashqoor Wani, participated in the meeting. During the meeting, election schedules and security arrangements were discussed.
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