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| Wednesday, February
14, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Tohra opposes migration J&K Govt grilled over power crisis Division of J&K not
acceptable: Shabir ABVP students pelt stones at
cops J&K promotes 11
IPS officers |
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Tohra opposes migration NEW DELHI, Feb 13 — The President of the Sarb Hind Akali Dal (SHSAD), Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, today said migration was no solution for the Sikhs living in the Kashmir valley as the uprooted families needed years, sometimes more than a generation, to resettle. The former SGPC chief, who was in Srinagar yesterday, said he had a meeting with the Hurriyat leaders and they had assured full security to the Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir. He felt the Sikhs instead of depending solely on the protection provided by the security forces, should seek the support of the majority community in the valley. He felt that the proposal to arm Sikhs to defend themselves could lead to problems as the militants often attacked families to snatch their arms. Mr Tohra was critical of the Government, alleging that it failed to provide security to the Sikhs in Srinagar. He charged the Central team leaders, who visited Srinagar, with playing politics rather than providing succour to the terrified Sikh minority there. Mr Tohra said here that he was told to advise Sikhs to seek the support of the majority community there instead of looking for the security forces’ umbrella for the protection of their life and property. He said the Hurriyat leaders had assured security to the Sikh minority in the Kashmir valley provided they refrained from cooperating with the State Task Force
(STF), created by the government to fight militancy. The hurriyat leaders alleged that the
STF had been indulging in fake encounters, extra-judicial killings, rapes and lootings and any one found cooperating with the force was being treated as ‘anti-people’ in the valley. If the Sikhs got themselves armed with weapons taken from the security forces, then they too could be exposing themselves to danger as in most of the cases the militants attacked families to snatch arms, of which there is always a demand, the Hurriyat leaders told Mr Tohra. The former
SGPC president said Sikhs in the valley should realise that any level of security force protection would not make them safe if they developed inimical relations with the locals comprising the majority community. Opposing the migration of Sikhs from the valley, Mr Tohra said both the Muslim and Sikh minorities should rather come on a common platform and increase their interaction to meet the fascist trends arising in other parts of the country against pluralism and the multi-religio-cultural society of the country. |
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J&K Govt grilled over power crisis JAMMU, Feb 13
The issue of severe electricity shortage, warranting an 11-hour load shedding every day, was raised by the Opposition members during question and zero hours. In fact, today’s first question was tabled by the Panthers Party member, Mr Harsh Dev Singh, who blamed the government for having bungled over the supply of uninterrupted power to the consumers. As the members felt dissatisfied by the reply from the Minister for Power, Mr S.S. Slathia, legislators belonging to the BJP, the Congress, the BSP, the Panthers Party and the Janata Dal staged a walkout. The Speaker, Mr Abdul Vakil, suggested to the Opposition members to raise the issue, which is important and sensitive, through a separate motion. He said that staging walkouts was not going to resolve the problem. The Power Minister, Mr S.S. Slathia, informed the House that curtailment in power supply was due to a big gap between availability and demand. In reply to a question, Mr Slathia said against the requirement of 1363 MW the supply ranged between 600 MW and 700 MW, resulting in a heavy deficit. He explained that the local generation was 184 MW which usually experienced a sharp fall in the winter months. He said during the lean period when water level touched its lowest in the state the generation figures went down to 30 MW. He said the state government was taking all possible measures to increase power generation and in this connection it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the central government under which seven hydel power Projects would be constructed in the state. He made it clear that cash crunch had restricted the state government from buying additional electricity from the Northern grid when the outstanding amount with the government had touched Rs 1400 crore. The opposition members accused the government of having failed to formulate a definite policy on power generation and supply. When they were not satisfied with the reply from the minister they staged a walkout while shouting slogans against the state administration. The House witnessed another walkout by the BJP members during zero hour. The BJP member, Mr Shiv Charan Gupta, criticised the government for having ordered a crackdown on students who were protesting against admission of students of private college in the two Government medical colleges. He said these students had been given admission which was “illegal.” He was supported by another BJP member, Mr Bali Bhagat. The BJP members said in yesterday’s police lathi charge at least 50 students were injured. When the government did not respond to the accusations the entire BJP team walked out of the House. While the members were giving vent to their strong feelings over curtailment in power supply, the BJP member, Mr Shiv Charan Gupta, wanted to know why tenders were not floated for the construction of the Bhagliar power project. He alleged a company had received favours from the government. At this juncture the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, intervened and informed the House that the government had accepted the lowest tender. Mr Gupta wanted to know the names of other companies who had submitted their tenders. Dr Abdullah informed him that since JP Industries had quoted minimum rates, lower than that of the Dhul Hasti project, the government readily accepted his bid. During zero hour the Panthers Party member, Mr Harsh Dev Singh, expressed deep anguish over the kidnapping of a teenaged girl in Udhampur recently. He said it was shocking that no senior government functionary had visited the area to look into the matter. The Speaker, Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil, said the matter was urgent and directed the government to send a high-level team to probe into the incident. The House must be taken into confidence over the incident and the steps the authorities took to redress the grievances of the victims. Another BJP member, Mr Piara Singh, threatened that the supply of milk to the milk plant in Jammu from the producers would be snapped in case the government did not release payment to them within one week. He said the milk plant in Srinagar had become sick but the one in Jammu was functioning well at the cost of the suppliers who were poor people. Mr Abdul Gani Malik, NC member, was advised by the Speaker not to communalise the incident of massacre of 16 Muslims in Rajouri district recently. The Speaker intervened when Mr Malik blamed members of maintaining silence whenever there was massacre of whenever there was massacre of muslims. The speaker said there was no question of being silent over the killing of Muslims. He said bloodshed was an act which the House has always condemned. |
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Division of J&K not acceptable: Shabir SRINAGAR, Feb 13 — Separatist leader Shabir Shah today opposed the division of Jammu and Kashmir, saying “Kashmiris will not accept freedom if it comes as a result of partition of the state”. “We do not need such freedom,” he told the media here, recalling the state had been divided into two in 1947 when Pakistan-backed tribals had attacked it and occupied a part of it. The Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party President welcomed the Centre’s unilateral ceasefire, but maintained it was not being implemented in letter and spirit. “If you want to make it (ceasefire) a serious effort, it should be implemented in letter and spirit. The ground should be prepared for initiation of dialogue with representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani Government,” he said. Alleging that 18 custodial killings had taken place during the past two months, he said, “but we are not depressed as we want the ceasefire to be strengthened so that a solution can be found to the Kashmir issue.” Mr Shah said he was not against track-two diplomacy. “It is not a sin to talk to whosoever wants to meet freedom-loving leadership of Kashmir. I am even prepared to meet Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee if he so desires.” “I have met former Prime Ministers of India, ex-Foreign Secretaries and other intellectuals and presented the case of Kashmiris before them,” he added.
— PTI |
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ABVP students pelt stones at
cops JAMMU, Feb 13
For the second consecutive day, ABVP supporters staged a demonstration and made an attempt to storm the Assembly complex while protesting against what they called the illegal means adopted by the government in “accommodating” students of an unauthorised college in recognised medical colleges. The ABVP activists, including women, marched to the Civil Secretariat but were stopped by the police 100 metres from the entrance. The demonstrators jostled with the police and were lathi-charged. As the protesters seemed determined to break the police cordon, tear gas shells were fired and the demonstrators chased away. The protesters regrouped and pelted stones on the police. Four policemen were injured and more than 20 demonstrators received lathi blows, resulting in injuries. The demonstrators fought a pitched battle with the police for several hours. During the daylong clashes, scores of shops in the area remained closed in Kanak Mandi and the Shalimar Chowk. In adjoining areas, shopkeepers kept only a portion of their business establishments open to prevent damage to the shops. At least 22 ABVP activists who were arrested yesterday on charge the disrupting peace during the Jammu bandh were let off late in the evening on Monday. A spokesman of the ABVP said the agitation against the admission policy and curtailment in power supply would continue. He blamed the government for the suffering of college students as all had boycotted classes for the past 40
days. The police said that students were cane-charged when they ambushed the car of NC MP Ali Mohammad Naik. Mr Naik was rescued by a DSP who took him away in a police jeep. Women protesters had blocked his way and before they could damage his car, the police escorted him to safety. |
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J&K promotes 11
IPS officers JAMMU, Feb 13
The DIG (Security), Mr S.K. Sinha, currently on deputation in the state, was promoted as IGP while Mr Dilbagh Singh, Mr Aijaz Ali Khan, Mr S.C. Sharma, Mr S. Owais Ahmad and Mr Ashok Ghave were promoted as DIG. Mr M.A. Shah, Mr Z.H. Chisti and Mr Khalid Durani were given IPS selection grade with effect from January, an official note said. Mr M.A. Bhat, IGP (Security), has been transferred as IGP (Modernisation and Technical Services). He has been replaced by Mr S.K. Sinha. Mr A.R. Khan, DIG (Headquarters), has been posted as DIG (Armed Police), Kashmir. He succeeds Mr Navin Agarwal, who will take over as DIG (CID), Jammu, the note said.
— PTI |
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