J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Ultras kill J&K Bank manager
Grenade attack on DD Kendra
SRINAGAR, Feb 1 — Militants made an attempt to blow up Srinagar Doordarshan by lobbing three grenades towards the main complex this evening. 

Quake halts APHC’s Pakistan visit
JAMMU, Feb 1 — The All-Party Hurriyat Conference has decided to adopt a wait-and-watch attitude as far as its insistence on granting travel documents to the five member team selected by it for visiting Pakistan is concerned.

3 J&K ministers get independent charge
JAMMU, Feb 1 — Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today re-allocated the portfolios of three of his Ministers of State giving them independent charge.

Farooq: make LoC permanent border
JAMMU, Feb 1 — The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today said the conversion of LoC into a permanent border was the only solution to the vexed Kashmir problem. Speaking at Amar Kapoor Memorial Lecture here, the Chief Minister said the day was not far when the LoC would be converted into an international border to settle the 53-year-old dispute. 

JKLF men donate blood for quake-hit
SRINAGAR, Feb 1 — More than 100 activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and others donated blood for the quake victims of Gujarat and Sind at a blood donation camp organised here today.

Ultras kill J&K Bank manager
Grenade attack on DD Kendra

SRINAGAR, Feb 1 (UNI) — Militants made an attempt to blow up Srinagar Doordarshan by lobbing three grenades towards the main complex this evening.

Official sources said militants fired at least three grenades from an unknown direction towards the heavily guarded Doordarshan Kendra complex at around 18.30 hours this evening.

Sources said the grenades fell short of the target and exploded near the main gate. There were no casualties.

This is the sixth attack on the Doordarshan Kendra, Srinagar by militants in the past 10 years.

A bank manager of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and two militants were among four persons killed in the valley since last evening.

Security personnel arrested a foreign militant in north Kashmir even as unidentified gunmen forcibly took away a vehicle from a person in downtown city today.

An official spokesman said the body of bank manager Mohammad Altaf Malik, a resident of Chatabal, was recovered from a hotel at Qazigund this morning.

He informed that the security forces and the Jammu and Kashmir Police Special Operations Group killed two militants in an encounter at Bahak in the frontier district of Kupwara last night.

An AK-47 rifle, a magazine, three rocket launchers, three boosters, six grenades and 54 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

Business establishments were closed at the busy Hari Singh High Street, Goni Khan, Maharaji Bazar, Sarai Bala and the Naaz crossing when the body of Bilal Ahmad, an auto-rickshaw driver reached there after the police found it at Tangbagh, near here.

Khan, a resident of Maharaj Bazar, was reportedly killed by SOG personnel who boarded his autorickshaw and directed him to drive towards the bypass where he was shot dead. Agitated residents demanded an inquiry into the incident.

People of the area and adjoining localities took to the streets soon after the body was handed over to his kin. The angry demonstrators pelted stones on vehicles at Magermalbagh road, disrupting traffic on the road leading to Srinagar airport.

Unidentified gunmen fired on Ghulam Nabi Shah inside his house at Waibug in Mattan area of Anantnag last night, but he escaped unhurt.

Four special police officers deployed in the Kunzar-Lalpora area of Baramula district in north Kashmir have deserted their post. A search has been launched.

Quake halts APHC’s Pakistan visit
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Feb 1 — The All-Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has decided to adopt a wait-and-watch attitude as far as its insistence on granting travel documents to the five member team selected by it for visiting Pakistan is concerned.

According to the APHC Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, “The Gujarat tragedy has caught every body’s attention. In this hour of grief and the government’s preoccupation with the relief and rescue measures we cannot mount pressure on the Centre for issuing passports”.

He said the passport issue had been relegated to the background by the Gujarat earthquake. “We have to be patient and this is no opportune time to force the government to settle the passport row”, he told TNS today.

Professor Bhat made it clear that if the Government of India wanted the peace initiative, declared by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to reach its logical conclusion it “has to resolve the passport controversy”.

He said the APHC had announced its team and the government was bound to allow the team to visit Pakistan for a detailed discussion with the military regime, political leaders and militant outfits to resolve the Kashmir issue which had endangered peace in the Indian subcontinent.

He explained that the binding was the result of the separatists, militants and political leaders.

The APHC Chairman said: “We are not in a hurry. We are for a final resolution of the Kashmir issue and we have to be patient”. He added that in case the government raised hurdles in the way of the Pakistan visit, the peace process may get sabotaged for which the government will be held responsible”.

When reminded that a fortnight ago he had stated that the APHC “cannot wait for an indefinite period”, he said the tragic events in Gujarat had forced them to wait and watch. He, however, added that further delay in granting travel documents to “our team will only delay the onward march of the peace process”.

3 J&K ministers get independent charge

JAMMU, Feb 1 (PTI) — Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today re-allocated the portfolios of three of his Ministers of State giving them independent charge.

Minister of State for Supplies Ajay Sadhotra would now hold independent charge of Rural Development, while Minister of State for Transport B.A. Nengroo had been given independent charge of Food and Supplies, an official announcement said today.

Minister of State for Irrigation Sakina Itoo has been given charge of Tourism, it added.

Farooq: make LoC permanent border
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Feb 1 — The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, today said the conversion of LoC into a permanent border was the only solution to the vexed Kashmir problem.

Speaking at Amar Kapoor Memorial Lecture here, the Chief Minister said the day was not far when the LoC would be converted into an international border to settle the 53-year-old dispute. Amar Kapoor was Additional Director-General of Police who died four years ago while in service.

Dr Farooq said the people in Kashmir had been sandwiched between political machinations of Delhi and Islamabad. “We do not know what to do,” he said. A dialogue with the people of Jammu and Kashmir was the only way out, he suggested.

He said a change of heart among separatist leaders could be read in Mr Abdul Gani Lone’s statements in Pakistan and on his return to Delhi. He said Mr Lone had realised the futility of the gun which had spelt ruin for Kashmir. The government should not only hold talks with Hurriyat Conference leaders but also people belonging to Jammu and Ladakh regions, he said.

Dr Farooq said Pakistan could be involved in these talks at a later stage. He blamed Pakistan for “exporting” terrorism to Jammu and Kashmir.

He claimed had a plebiscite been held 50 years ago, the people would have endorsed Jammu and Kashmir accession with India. He wanted India critics to understand that the people of Kashmir had willingly acceded to India and there was no question of undoing this exercise.

A former RAW chief, Mr A.S. Dulat, endorsed Dr Farooq’s claim that the conversion of LoC into a permanent border could be a viable solution to the Kashmir problem. He, too, saw a change in the mindset of the people and the separatists and predicted that the turmoil would end within the next one year.

He suspected certain Hurriyat leaders were not sincere in their peace efforts as some were “feigning” illness to avoid visiting Pakistan.

Dr Farooq made it clear that “for buying peace with Islamabad, India cannot part with an inch of Jammu and Kashmir.”

JKLF men donate blood for quake-hit
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Feb 1 — More than 100 activists of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and others donated blood for the quake victims of Gujarat and Sind at a blood donation camp organised here today.

Javed Ahmad Mir, Vice-Chairman of the JKLF, a constituent of the separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC), was the first to donate blood at the specially organised camp at Maisuma in the heart of the city today. Paramedical staff of SMHS Hospital here provided necessary assistance at the camp. A large number of JKLF activists from different parts of the valley had attended the camp.

“Those in distress can feel the pain of the quake victims in Gujarat and Sind, said an activist at the camp. They offered to extend more help to the needy in quake-ravaged Gujarat where thousands of people fell victim to the killer quake on Republic Day. The JKLF had earlier urged the government to allow its team to help the victims in Gujarat and Sind province in Pakistan.

Senior APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone has also expressed grief and sorrow over the death of those killed in Gujarat. He said the Hurriyat Conference had also condoled the death of the people at a special meeting held here. The Hurriyat Conference has also expressed sympathies with the family members and relatives of those killed in the quake.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has already announced a grant of Rs 1 crore to the quake victims of Gujarat and called for massive fund collection drive on the magnitude of the Kargil relief fund.

The Jammu and Kashmir Bank has also donated Rs 21 lakh for the assistance of the victims in Gujarat. Several other organisations have also donated cash for the assistance of the victims.