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Thursday,
June 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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7 militants killed in encounters J&K leaders come out of hibernation
Plan to sabotage
talks: Shabir |
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Geelani’s changed stance compulsion or realisation? New Delhi The unexpected has happened. The man who till last week, was exhorting protesting crowds in Srinagar and other towns of Kashmir Valley to shout “Hath Ko Hath do — Lashkar Ka Saath Do” (Join hands to support Lashkar-e-Toiba) has recanted.
IAF, Navy to recruit J&K youths
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7 militants killed in encounters Srinagar, June 13 Troops noticed a group of militants attempting to sneak into the valley from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last evening, the sources said. Troops confronted the intruders and asked them to surrender but the militants opened fire and in the ensuing shootout two of them were killed. A self-styled battalion commander of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Mohammad Sultan Bhat, and his bodyguard were killed in an Army operation at Nowhatha-Danter village in Anantnag district of south Kashmir last night. An Army jawan lost his life and another was injured during a gunbattle with the militants. Several houses were also damaged in the encounter. Security forces captured seven militants and seized some arms and ammunition in Kupwara during overnight operations. JAMMU: Five militants were killed in three encounters in Poonch and Rajouri districts on Wednesday. According to defence sources, the security forces launched an operation on information that some militants were hiding in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district. In the encounter, two militants were killed. Two more militants were killed in another encounter which took place in the Surankote area of Rajouri district early on Wednesday. One militant was killed in an ambush laid by troops in the Dobagali area of Poonch district. Four AK-56 rifles, 11 hand grenades, a pistol, 12 magazines of AK rifle, a radio set and 130 rounds were seized.
PTI, UNI. |
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J&K leaders come out of hibernation Jammu, June 13 Despite severe infighting in the state units of the Congress and the BJP, senior leaders and prospective candidates have been seen touring various Assembly segments for mustering support from the electorate. As far as the Congress is concerned, loyalists and dissidents have held parallel corner meetings in different places. This has caused confusion among the people as they do not know which candidate they would be asked to support. Among those who have come out of their hibernation are National Conference MLAs and former legislators. Even National Conference ministers belonging to the Jammu region have been seen paying frequent visits to their constituencies despite the sizzling temperature. The Power Minister, Mr S.S. Slathia, has paid a series of visits to his Vijaypur constituency. Mr Govind Ram has been concentrating on the Akhnoor Assembly constituency and Mr Ajay Sadhotra in the Marh constituency. Mr R.S Sharma of the Congress too has spared time to interact with his electorate in the Sunderbani constituency. The three BJP MLAs have been moving from ward to ward in the three Assembly segments in Jammu city. Some of National Conference legislators had gone to Kashmir for rest and recreation, but most of them have returned after the Chief Minister’s announcement about early elections, Some National Conference ministers and legislators keep track of the wedding ceremonies and births of new babies in their constituencies. They see to it that they attend these functions and present gifts in order to enlist support of the voters. Several political activists belonging to National Conference, the Congress and the BJP, who were defeated in the 1996 Assembly poll, have been seen taking a keen interest in what is called pre-poll exercise. In the Kashmir valley, the pre-poll fever is yet subdued though the National Conference legislators and ministers have stepped up the frequency of their trips to their constituencies. Among the other mainstream political parties that have been taking the pre-poll exercise seriously is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) headed by Mufti Mohd Sayeed. His daughter Mehbooba Mufti too has shown political sagacity by touching the emotions of the people. In the next elections, the entry of the PDP would be a new phenomenon though it did not cut much ice in the two previous Lok Sabha elections. The PDP had won two Assembly seats, Langet and Bijbehara, in the byelections held over two years ago which indicated that the National Conference cannot take its challenge lightly. If one counts the number of party conventions, public rallies, and other public functions, the PDP is on the top. The Mufti and his daughter have left hardly any tehsil uncovered during the past two years’ mass contact programme. As far as the separatists are concerned the People’s Conference headed by Abdul Gani Lone and the Awami Action Committee led by Maulvi Umar Farooq have started strengthening their influence in areas where they have established party units. Though they do not touch poll issues, they want to keep the flock of their supporters intact so that whenever required they could use that power. The JKLF and Hizbul Mujahideen too had decided to set up their units in the district headquarters to enable them to strengthen the vote bank if the situation demanded their participation in the poll process. |
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Plan to sabotage
talks: Shabir Jammu, June 13 After spending a week in the Jammu region for interacting with various shades of political and public opinion, , the DFP president told newspersons here today that among the forces that were trying to derail the meeting included the National Conference leadership. In reply to a question he said these forces had become nervous because if the meeting proved meaningful it would force these forces to “close their shops”. Mr Shah said he was ready to contest the next Assembly election provided it was held under the supervision of Indian and Pakistani intellectuals. Earlier, he had demanded that the elections be conducted under the supervision of the United Nations. He said even the Hurriyat leaders had to establish their claim that they were genuine representatives of people of Kashmir. He said this could be established through elections. Only those elected could be treated as the real representatives. Mr Shah disputed the claim of the National Conference that it represented the people because it had two-thirds majority in the state Assembly. He claimed in the 1996 Assembly election not more than 5 per cent people had participated in the elections and 95 per cent were opposed to the National Conference. Mr Shah decried the misuse of religious places by the militants. He said he had never used any religious place for holding rallies. |
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Geelani’s changed stance compulsion or
realisation? New Delhi Syed Ali Shah Geelani, hardline Hurriyat leader, has now opted for “no hatred, no stir”, —all for peace in the trouble-torn State and the success of the forthcoming Vajpayee-Musharraf summit in Delhi. Only a month ago, Geelani had reportedly shouted down his moderate colleague. Abdul Gani Lone for pleading with Hurriyat leaders to distance themselves from the Jehadi militants, and tone down their incendiary-rhetoric against the peace process underway in the sub-continent. The Jammat-i-Islami hardliner did not confine him to upbraiding those who wanted the Lashkar-e-Toiba to leave Kashmir alone, but took the battle to the streets. There were clashes between Geelani’s supporters and those of Lone forcing the latter to adopt a low profile to let the extremists have their way. To make their presence felt, extremists within the Hurriyat, headed by Geelani, led street demonstrations to muster support for the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which had intensified their suicide attacks against both military and soft civilian targets. The surprise and overnight changeover from a hawkish to moderate stance by Geelani, not only marks a gain for the Lone-Mirwaiz axis within the 23-party Hurriyat conglomerate, but also denotes a virtual endorsement of Pakistan chief executive, General Musharraf’s criticism of Jehadi clerics in his country, urging them to keep their hands off politics in Pakistan. General Musharraf had made a specific reference to the Jehadi boast that they will hoist their flag over Red Fort in Delhi, saying such rhetoric defamed Pakistan and created doubts about its credibility in the comity of nations. Though marking a welcome change in the chequered political career of the firebrand Jamaat-i-Islami leader, the sudden somersault by Geelani, cannot be ascribed merely to a change of heart. It is a political compulsion dictated by General Musharraf’s open criticism of Jehadis in Pakistan, who are up in arms against the Pakistani military ruler. Geelani and the Hurriyat appear to have been left with no alternative but to fall in line with General Musharraf’s stance against Jehadis in general and the Lashkar-e Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad in particular. IPA |
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IAF, Navy to recruit J&K youths Srinagar, June 13 A recruitment rally in Srinagar would be held next month while the Navy will organise two recruitment rallies at Anantnag and Pulwama in September to make on-the-spot recruitment of youths. Similar rallies will be organised at Leh and Kargil also for benefit of the Ladakh region. The Navy has already selected 22 youths from the valley during its earlier recruitment rally. They are at present undergoing training. The Employment Department will arrange coaching for the unemployed youth of the valley for recruitment of 300 jawans in JAK LI every year. The coaching will be given to 800 youths, the official spokesman said. The meeting
revived the progress of Delhi Employment Cell set up by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to liaise with private sector concerns, central public sector undertakings, defence forces and other organisations to secure more jobs for the state’s youths. The cell has announced the decision to appoint 2,000 technocrats and professionals to various organisations. Of them, 13 candidates were selected recently while 310 more candidates have been lined up for interviews. The Central government has also constituted a Task Force for arranging employment for the youth of the state. Around 300 professionals are likely to be sponsored for placement by the Task Force shortly. The bio-data of the youths will also be hosted on websites by leading private sector organisations like FICCI, ASSOCHAM, CII and PHDCCI. Nearly 14000 income generating units will be set up in the state under the Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojna (PMRY) and Jammu and Kashmir State Self-Employment Scheme during the current financial year. Besides providing financial assistance of Rs 500 per trip for unemployed professionals, technocrats and other youth to facilitate their visits outside the state for interviews, a 50-room hostel for youths will also be constructed in Delhi for providing accommodation to them. |
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12 youths handed back to families Srinagar, June 13 The spokesman said it was found that some overground workers were planning to recruit unemployed young boys for ex-filtration. This led to the arrest of two youths, Wasim Hassan Malik and Ismail Hussain, who confessed that they were recruited for ex-filtration to PoK. On the basis of information given by these youths, 10 more young boys who were also trained for the same purpose were apprehended.
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