J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Attempt to create scare among Sikhs
Jammu, February 28
While a senior Akali leader, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, has expressed satisfaction over Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s decision to induct a Sikh legislator in the Cabinet, attempts were afoot to force over 50,000 Sikhs living in the Kashmir valley to migrate to areas outside the troubled valley.

Major tragedy averted in valley
Srinagar, February 28
Militants beheaded a person and attacked security forces with rockets, grenades and IEDs at various places in the valley, where a tragedy was averted with the timely detection of a powerful landmine since last night, an official spokesman said today.

Army launches operation Sadbhavana
Wusan (Ganderbal), February 28
Once a hotbed of militancy, this tiny picturesque village on the Srinagar-Leh national highway is bubbling with activity these days with the Army launching a massive operation to help the needy in the entire belt on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Oppn walkout in J&K Assembly
Jammu, February 28
The Government’s refusal to declare Jammu and Kashmir as a drought-hit area provoked opposition members belonging to the BJP, the Congress, the BJP, the Janata Dal and the Panthers Party to stage a walkout from the House today.

Attempt to create scare among Sikhs
M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 28
While a senior Akali leader, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, has expressed satisfaction over Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s decision to induct a Sikh legislator in the Cabinet, attempts were afoot to force over 50,000 Sikhs living in the Kashmir valley to migrate to areas outside the troubled valley.

Mr Mann has in a communication to the Chief Minister, Dr Abdullah, thanked him for having given for the first time in the past several years a Cabinet post to a Sikh, Mr Harbans Singh, and has suggested to him to ensure that the lives and property of the minority community are safe. He also advised Mr Harbans Singh to justify his induction by ameliorating the lot of the community. He wanted both Mr Harbans Singh and Dr Abdullah to take steps for the betterment of the Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, reports revealed anti-India agencies were trying to create a scare among Sikhs in Kashmir so that they sold their housed and land to find settlement in Jammu and its neighbouring areas.

One community leader, who returned to Jammu recently after a month’s stay in Srinagar, said a number of Sikh families had sold their immovable property in Allooch Bagh, Srinagar, Baramula and on the outskirts of Budgam district.

He said brokers had been frequently seen visiting houses of Sikhs in various areas in Kashmir, persuading them to sell their lands and houses for which they were offering them lucrative prices. Higher prices were offered to encourage others to sell their property. Report said these brokers had been concocting stories to create fear among the minority community. These very brokers would dish out stories about migration of Sikh families from Mehjoor Nagar, where recently eight Sikhs were killed, but the president of the state Gurdwara Prabandhak Board, Mr S.S.Wazir denied such reports and said there “has been no migration of Sikh families in recent days.”

He, however, said certain Sikh families had either purchased land or built small houses in Jammu and its adjoining areas to have a second home which could be utilised in case migration was forced on them. He did not rule out the possibility of some Sikh families having sold their land to get money for purchasing a second home in Jammu.

Reports from Srinagar and other areas revealed that some fundamentalists had started using mosques for imparting religious training to the Kashmiri youths. These separatists have been found forcing or persuading teenagers to join these centres where for the first three months reading and recitation of the holy Koran and learning of Islamic laws are carried out. This is followed by indoctrination to prepare these youths for joining the ongoing “Jehad.”

Once these youths are fully brain-washed most of them are sent for arms training in camps across the border. In recent months more then 500 Kashmiri boys have been sent to Pakistan and occupied Kashmir for arms training.

Reports said the exercise regarding indoctrination of Kashmiri youths was being carried out in some of the mosques during night hours. The training exercise is preceded by a dinner which the fundamentalists usually prepare within the mosque complexes. In a number of areas, including, Batamaloo, Qamarwari and Lal Bazaar locality, elders had objected to the use of mosques during night hours. They had suggested to the fundamentalists to carry out their programme of imparting religious training to the youths during daytime.

According to these reports, the fundamentalists and the trainees reacted sharply and saw to it that no one locked the mosques at night for preventing them from running the training camps.

The reports said that such activities coupled with step-up in militancy related violence in the past three months had caused a scare among the minorities, especially those following the Khalsa faith. Their fears had been compounded with the security forces finding themselves helpless following the enforcement of non-initiation of combat operations against the militants.

The only thing the security agencies had been able to do was seal the roads passing close to the Army Corps headquarters in Badami Bagh and other police headquarters. In Batmallo area the road artery that runs close to the police headquarters had been closed for traffic in order to prevent militants from hurling explosives from rifle grenades.

Major tragedy averted in valley

Srinagar, February 28
Militants beheaded a person and attacked security forces with rockets, grenades and IEDs at various places in the valley, where a tragedy was averted with the timely detection of a powerful landmine since last night, an official spokesman said today.

The anti-tank mine weighing 10 kg and connected with two electric detonators was detected at Tapper in Pan, 27 km from here on the Srinagar-Baramula national highway, today following which it was neutralised by experts of bomb disposal squad without causing any damage, the spokesman said.

A civilian was beheaded by the militants near his village at Wayiloo in Anantnag district yesterday, the spokesman said.

A security jawan was wounded when Hizbul Mujahideen militants set off an IED on the main road near Darnor-Tahab in Pulwama district this morning. A BSF vehicle was also damaged in the explosion.

The militants fired two rockets and followed it by firing on a security camp at Seiloo-Sopore in Baramula district last night, but no one was hurt, he said.

The militants also lobbed two grenades upon police guards stationed at a government school in Seiloo. No one was hurt in the explosions, he said.

A CRPF picket was also attacked by the militants with a grenade at Dalina in Baramula last night, but no one was injured, he said.

The militants also lobbed a grenade towards a BSF picket at Mughal Mohalla in the Rainawari locality of downtown Srinagar last night. The grenade did not explode and was removed by the experts.

A report from Jammu said two top militants were arrested by Village Defence Committee (VDC) members in R.S. Pura today, official sources said.

The sources said the members observed some movement near Moka village early this morning and surrounded the area.

They later overpowered the militants, who had crossed over from Pakistan.

Two AK rifles, five magazines and two explosive bags had been seized from them, the sources added. PTI

Army launches operation Sadbhavana

Wusan (Ganderbal), February 28
Once a hotbed of militancy, this tiny picturesque village on the Srinagar-Leh national highway is bubbling with activity these days with the Army launching a massive operation to help the needy in the entire belt on the outskirts of Srinagar.

Brig Harendra Mohan, commander of three-sector Rashtriya Rifles, said the camp was organised to help bridge the gap between the people and the Army. The villagers were all praise for the Army for providing the bridge. The earlier one was washed away in flashfloods several years ago. PTI

Oppn walkout in J&K Assembly
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 28
The Government’s refusal to declare Jammu and Kashmir as a drought-hit area provoked opposition members belonging to the BJP, the Congress, the BJP, the Janata Dal and the Panthers Party to stage a walkout from the House today.

The question on drought, tabled by the CPM member, Mr M.Y. Tarigami, was raised in the House by the NC member, Mr Dilavar Mir, as the former was not present. When the members expressed concern over the drought conditions in the wake of failure of rains the Speaker, Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil, also endorsed the opposition members’ anxiety. The opposition members wanted to know if the government had earmarked a separate fund for the relief of people in drought-affected areas, especially in Anantnag and Pulwama.

The Revenue Minister, Mr Abdul Qayoom, informed the House that several measures were being taken by the government to tackle the situation in drought-hit areas. He said a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary had been constituted to examine the intensity of drought and recommend measures for providing relief to the people.

The members were not satisfied with the quantum of aid being provided in the drought-hit areas. They blamed the government for having taken the situation lightly. When they demanded that the entire state should be declared drought-hit the government refused to concede it. The opposition members then staged a walkout.

Several opposition members, including Mr Somnath, who moved a resolution seeking government jobs for at least one member of every family in the state, walked out of the House when the resolution was rejected. The opposition members, cutting across party affiliations, supported the resolution on the plea that jobs to at least one member of every family could not only reduce the size of unemployment but also allow youths belonging to remote and backward areas to find government jobs.

The government made it clear in view of the difficult financial situation in which the state was placed there was no scope for increasing job opportunities. The National Conference government had carried out a record number of vacancies and absorbed over 1.50 lakh youths in different government departments during the past over four years.

The moment members saw the resolution had been rejected by the House several opposition members walked out of the House.

The House witnessed another walkout when the resolution moved by the BJP member, Mr Ashok Khajuria, was rejected by the House. Mr Khajuria, in his resolution had demanded a high-level inquiry into the mismanagement in the movement of foodgrains. He had alleged huge sums of money were being misappropriated in the name of transportation of foodgrains from one place to the other and those who were involved were being given promotions. He was supported by several other members who later walked out when the resolution was rejected by a voice vote.

Two important resolutions, one seeking steps for settlement of the Kashmir dispute and another demanding stoppage of grant-in-aid to private educational institutions, were not taken up by the House as those who had moved the resolutions were not present.

Mir Saifullah and Mr Abdul Gani Naseem, both National Conference members, had sponsored these two resolutions which were slated to come up for discussion yesterday. Since the House was adjourned as a mark of respect to the Law Minister, Mr P.L. Handoo, who expired in Delhi, those two resolutions were listed for today.

Missing girl brought back
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 28
The state police will stop carrying out further investigations in abduction of a teenaged girl, Meenakshi, once the CBI formally started its probe into the incident which rocked Jammu and Udhampur during the past 17 days.

Meenakshi who was traced in Indore was brought by a taxi to Jammu and was presented before the newsmen by Mr R.V. Raju, IGP, here today.

Mr Raju said the police was still questioning those involved in the abduction. But the investigation would be stopped once the CBI formally takes over the case.

Meenakshi was handed over to her parents. He denied newspaper reports that the girl had married a man of her choice.

However, inside reports said after her abduction Meenakshi had felt scared of her parents. She had therefore travelled on her own to Chandigarh. From here she wanted to go to Indore where she knew an acquaintance working in bank. But by the time she was in Chandigarh she had no money with her. Meenakshi told the police that she had sold the gold chain which fetched her over Rs 4,000. She was spotted by a woman running a hostel for girls. It was on her persuasion that Meenakshi had phoned her father and requested him to take her back to Jammu.