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| Wednesday,
July 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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J&K
BJP chief faces no-trust threat APHC for
formal talks with Musharraf
Forces
perform an arduous task |
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Governor comes to aid
of Gujjars, Bakerwals
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J&K BJP chief faces no-trust threat Jammu, July 3 The 28 members authorised Mr Hans Raj Dogra, MLA, and Mr Chandar Mohan Sharma, vice-president, to take up the matter with Mr Kotwal and if he refused to revoke the order, a special meeting of the Executive Committee be convened for adopting a vote of no-confidence against the party president. The meeting also criticised the party’s general secretary, Dr Nirmal Singh, for having “misinterpreted and misreported” the deliberation of the state executive committee held in Jammu on June 24, when the party president, Mr K. Jana Krishnamurthy, was present. The members said that under the party’s constitution, Mr Kotwal had not been delegated the powers to constitute various committees, including that of finance. The agitated members have claimed that they could muster support from members required to form a quoram for the special meeting of the Executive Committee to adopt the vote of no-confidence. The meeting was presided over by Mr Shiv Charan Gupta, MLA. Inside reports said that two party MLAs have been receiving favours from the ruling National Conference so as to encourage them to launch a campaign against Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation. The National Conference leadership is not happy with Professor Gupta over his plain-speaking which has exposed some of the wrongdoings of the state government. The anti-Gupta group is said to have cultivated Vaid Vishnu Dutt, BJP MP, who has been forced to campaign against the Union Minister of State in Delhi. The result of infighting is that the BJP’s eight MLAs have shown no unanimity even while debating on vital issues on the floor of the State Assembly. At least four of the eight MLAs are trying to get elected as party chief in Jammu for which the elections are likely to be held in August. The anti-Gupta group has stepped up a campaign to prevent his supporters from installing one of their leaders as party president. Professor Gupta has gained respect in the Union Council of Ministers because of his performance not only as Minister of State for Civil Aviation but also a senior party leader and the section of the RSS which is opposed to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, is said to be patronising the anti-Gupta group in Jammu. But on the basis of people’s support, Professor Gupta continues to be the tallest party leader in the Jammu region. His supporters argue that the dissidents were harming the party when the assembly poll was round the corner. They said if the BJP continued to be a divided house, the National Conference and the Congress could be the beneficiary during the next Assembly poll. Mr Krishnamurthy has assessed the nature of infighting and decided to send the party’s vice-president, Mr Kailash Pati Mishra, to Jammu to iron out the differences and recommend the date for the organisational election. |
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APHC for formal talks with Musharraf Jammu, July 3 “We are not for being a part of the crowd that would be invited to tea by the Pakistan High Commission in honour of General Musharraf in Delhi,” said the APHC Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat. He said: “We would accept the invitation for tea if sent but we won’t be satisfied simply by shaking hands with the Pakistan President.” Prof Bhat said the APHC leadership had definite reports that Islamabad had not, so far, accepted Delhi’s “No” to a meeting between the Hurriyat leaders and General Musharraf. “We have not received any such hint from official agencies in Pakistan or from the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi,” he said. The APHC chief made it clear that in case both sides rejected “our suggestion for formal invitation to us for purposeful talks, we will not be upset.” Explaining the reason for this attitude, Prof Bhat said “sooner or later the two sides have to talk to us. We are a party to the dispute because we represent the sentiments of the people in the Kashmir valley.” Asked what would the APHC leaders do if the demand for formal or informal talks was turned down, Prof Bhat said “nothing will happen to us. We are a living organism and our organisation has the support of the people whose wishes cannot be ignored while hammering out a solution to the Kashmir dispute.” He lamented that the Government of India had adopted a “rigid” attitude vis-a-vis the APHC and Delhi would be delaying peace in Kashmir by trying to “ignore and sideline us.” He claimed at no stage the APHC leadership could be sidelined. Prof Bhat stated that since “we have the capacity to act as a bridge between India and Pakistan we had suggested that our team be allowed to go to Pakistan for meeting those who matter as far as the ongoing armed campaign in Kashmir is concerned. “We were denied permission despite the fact that the Government of India accepted our demand for resuming the Indo-Pak dialogue.” Indications are that supporters of the APHC across the border are mounting pressure on Islamabad for an audience between General Musharraf and the Hurriyat leaders. |
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Forces perform an arduous task Baltal (Base Camp), July 3 During the 40-day-long yatra, which started yesterday, the security forces are entrusted with the task of protecting the lives of the pilgrims. Last years’ attacks by suspected terrorists on pilgrims seems to have made the security authorities doubly cautious. A visit by this correspondent to the Amarnath cave for first-hand information regarding the deployment of the security forces revealed that 15,000 securitymen have been deployed from Pehalgam up to the holy cave. On the other route, about 5,000 securitymen have been deployed from Baltal onwards. In all, over one lakh security personnel of the Army, the BSF, the CRPF and the J&K Police are operating in the area to ensure the safety of pilgrims. Besides being equipped with the latest weapons, the forces have been provided with sniffer dogs. Inquiries made by TNS showed that the Army is providing protection up to a height of 14,000 feet. It is also monitoring infiltration routes. a 24-hour patrolling is being carried out on the hills. It is evident that domination of land whether at night or during the day in this difficult terrain is not easy. The BSF is providing protection on trekking routes. The BSF has been deployed in strength on the 18-km route from Rangamor-Baltal up to the holy cave. It s learnt that three battalions of the BSF are guarding the route on the Pehalgam-Chandanwari as well as the Baltal routes. Mr Gurbachan Jagat, Director-General of Police, BSF, has already visited the area. Core Commanders of the BSF and the Army inspect the routes regularly to ensure coordination between the forces. A 24-hour rotation system has been enforced by the BSF on the two routes. Parties to detect IED have been deployed. The yatris are allowed only after clearance and frisking. Road protection parties are always on the move. Communication from the holy cave up to the base camp has been ensured so that there is no difficulty for the yatris. Hand-sets have been provided to securitymen accompanying groups of pilgrims on both routes. The authorities plan to allow 700 pilgrims per day via the Baltal route, while on the main route, the number to be allowed per day is estimated to be 5,000 pilgrims. The authorities at the Baltal base camp said they might allow 1,000 pilgrims per day provided the weather conditions allowed it. The yatris would be allowed only in case of weather clearance. The CRPF personnel have been deployed to escort the yatris during the journey. Medical aid is being provided by the BSF, the CRPF and the Army. The task of frisking is being undertaken by the J and K Police. Likewise, intelligence also falls under the preview of the police. Besides, the police has been deployed in the holy cave premises to ensure easy and incident-free ‘darshan’ of the holy Ice lingam There is a joint operation room at both where a representative of each force is present to coordinate activities. Senior security personnel interviewed by this correspondent said the only difficulty encountered by them was when the pilgrims defied the advice given by the forces. |
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Governor
comes to aid of Gujjars, Bakerwals Jammu, July 3 Official sources said the vice-chairman of the Gujjar Development Board, Haji Buland Khan, had met the Governor at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar, and sought his help in saving the Gujjars and Bakerwals and their livestock. Mr Khan had pleaded with the Governor that these Gujjars and Bakerwals from Jammu and Kathua districts had been going to the Suru valley during the summer months for the past over 52 years for taking their livestock for grazing. Mr Khan had cited instances which speak volumes about the nationalist spirit of these two ethnic groups. It was on the request of Haji Buland Khan that the Governor discussed the issue with the Chief Secretary, senior Army officers and the police. According to sources, the Governor had brought the matter to the Defence Secretary and desired that the Gujjar and Bakerwals, who have already reached the entry of the Suru valley, be granted permission to allow their livestock grazing facilities. It was under the orders of Lieut-Gen Arjun Ray, Corps Commander, that the Gujjars were stopped at Challang Nallah and advised to carry out grazing in Wardwan valley in the Kishtwar area. General Ray had informed the Minister for Health, Mr Mian Altaf, that permission was denied because of security problems. He had stated in his reply to Mr Mian Altaf’s letter that since militants had picked up Bakerwal language, they could infiltrate into Kargil and Zanskar area as Bakerwals, thereby endangering peace. He had also stated that following the killing of three Buddhist monks and a German tourist in a militant strike at Zanskar last year, the local people were opposed to the entry of Gujjars and Bakerwals into the Suru valley. However, the Governor is said to have expressed his reservation over the way the bona fides of Gujjars and Bakerwals were being suspected. |
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WOUNDED VALLEY Srinagar, July 3 The latest pretext for entry is the Amarnath Yatra. Most migrants come to Srinagar during this part of the season because they get many free provisions here. For Amarnath yatris, the Jammu and Kashmir government has made many lucrative arrangements — free tented accommodation, free food at langars and special buses to transport them to various places. Another surprising fact is that most of these migrants secure entry into this region on the tourist list. Since they register with the state transport people, the Government conveniently counts them among the visiting tourists. So where on the one hand the State government gets an easy chance to exaggerate the number of tourists by registering these migrants as the same, the latter also make full use of the wonderful opportunity. According to official sources, the number of tourists between January and May was about 19,000. Police officials, however, do not rule out the fact that many among them would actually be simple migrants from other states. A senior police officer said: “This is a rotten lot, which carries diseases into the Valley”. Once they enter the region, it is easier for them to operate. In the bargain, it is the beauty of the Valley which suffers. Today, about 70 per cent of the beggars in Srinagar hail from outside states. They have also raised small slums in the Batmaloo area which has the largest concentration of migrants. The Tribune went around the shopping areas and tourist spots of Srinagar to find out how deeply these migrants had penetrated into the system. This correspondent was surprised to find that the Boulevard Road (which runs along the Dal Lake) alone had about 60 beggars at a time. While about 10 of them were local Muslim Kashmiris, the rest were all migrants from outside states. Large pockets are also found on the Amira Kadal bridge and Hari Singh Estate area. On Fridays they cluster outside the mosques. Interestingly, most of these beggars have divided their areas of operation. Sudhi Devi, who hails from Rajasthan, begs in the Lal Chowk area. She entered the Valley about a month back. When asked why she came here of all the places, she replied, “It is easy to come here. No one enquires much about the antecedents. We just said that we were Amarnath yatris.” Ramiya Rani, another beggar who also hails from Rajasthan, told The Tribune that her entire family had come to Srinagar. She now lives in Batmaloo along with 30 other families from Rajasthan. A visit to Batmaloo revealed that while the men in the migrant families worked as daily wagers, the women begged alms. Most children have also been forced into this business of begging. Mr Ghulam Rasool, owner of a grocery shop in Lal Chowk area, informed that there were many beggars in the main Lal Chowk, Regal Chowk and Bus stand area. “Here they get easy money and easy entry. So they come.” As for the local Kashmiri Muslims, many of them have taken to beggary, in the absence of other means of earning a livelihood. Said Ahmad Shah, who is working as a teacher with a private school, “Begging is against Islam. On the contrary our religion inspires us to donate money and funds. But now you can find many beggars in Kashmir because they have no other means of livelihood. The entire tourist sector lies ravaged. What will the people do? They have to beg to eat. They can’t even get employment because the rate of employment in the Valley is very low.” The local police officials, when contacted, admitted that the Valley was now seeing a record number of beggars. “But we don’t have the time to control this menace because our priorities are very different. Where militants keep striking, how can the police pay attention to beggary. At the moment our entire energy is concentrated on wiping off militancy from the Valley. We will come to beggary after that,” said Mr K. Rajendra, DIG, Kashmir Range. |
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