 |
| Monday,
August 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Talks may induce APHC to take part in poll NEWS ANALYSIS
Honeymoon trip of JKLF leader spoiled 29 Kargil
martyrs’ families honoured 3 militants killed in valley |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 cr project to boost walnut production Srinagar, August 5 The Jammu and Kashmir Government has embarked on an ambitious Rs19 crore project to boost walnut production to increase its annual export potential from the present level of Rs 100 crore to Rs 300 crore.
|
|
Talks may induce APHC to take part in poll New Delhi, August 5 The APHC, which has shown a change of tack after the Agra summit, is apparently looking for an appropriate opportunity to start negotiations with the government. But the talks, Hurriyat leaders emphasise, should not be merely for ascertaining viewpoints but should be directed towards finding a solution to the Kashmir problem. Hurriyat spokesman Abdul Majid Banday denied that the APHC was against talking to the government. “We want negotiations where we can talk issues. This is lacking in the existing brief of Mr K.C. Pant,” he said. Though the Hurriyat has repeatedly expressed its desire to talk to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee directly, it may still agree to talk to Mr Pant — the government’s interlocutor on Kashmir — provided there is an offer of “something new.” Observers here say that having raised the stakes by seeking an audience with the Prime Minister, the APHC would not like to make a unilateral climbdown. An audience with the Prime Minister would enable the Hurriyat to send a message to its constituents while providing it an opportunity to start the process of negotiations with the government. Realising the limited options before them in the post-Agra scenario, Hurriyat leaders seem to be trying to create more space for political manoeuvrability as also projecting a moderate face which has greater acceptability both in Jammu and Kashmir and outside. After their meeting with veteran CPM leader Jyoti Basu, senior Hurriyat leaders — Mr Abdul Ghani Lone and Mr Mirwaiz Umer Farooq — are now in Chennai in connection with a conference on peace in South Asia. They are expected to meet political leaders of the state during their stay in Chennai to convey the Hurriyat’s viewpoint on the situation in Kashmir. A meeting of Hurriyat leaders with various opposition parties including the Congress, is also on the cards. Though aware that rigidity will not help matters, Hurriyat leaders, however, are against compromising their stand about involvement of Kashmiris in any final solution to the Kashmir problem. A reason for the subtle shift in the APHC’s stand towards talks with the government is its failure to gain anything tangible from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s visit. Hurriyat leaders emphasised that the dialogue had to focus on deciding the status of Jammu and Kashmir, including the area presently with Pakistan. Once Assembly elections form part of such a dialogue, there was a possibility of the APHC participating in it, they pointed out. |
|
NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, August 5 During the past seven years the state of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed 61 massacres and out of them 26 have been in Doda district and another 20 in Udhampur, Rajouri and Poonch districts. As the trend of selective killings continued the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, announced during a visit to a site of carnage in the Jammu region over two years ago that he would resign if such massacres reoccurred in any part of the region. Since this announcement a series of massacres have taken place in Doda, Udhampur, Poonch and Rajouri districts and neither the Union Home Minister resigned nor the militants felt scared of such a declaration. When Mr Advani told newspersons yesterday that the militants attacked the soft targets after they had failed to engage security forces in direct encounters, he went on to say that militants no longer dared launch an armed attack on the security forces and in order to register their presence they attacked innocent and weaponless people. Mr Advani is party correct. The real story behind those carnages, according to defence experts, is a three-dimensional picture. First, by attacking Hindus the Pakistan-backed militants aim at carrying out ethnic cleansing of Doda, Poonch and Rajouri districts. These militants have massacred several Muslims in Poonch and Rajouri also and in that case they wanted to punish those who were cooperating with the police and other security and intelligence agencies. Such massacres were being carried out to create a scare among the people who would not dare to refuse shelter and food and avoid giving any information about rebel hideouts to the police. Secondly, Pakistani agencies, which find themselves rocked by ethnic clashes and communal trouble, have felt upset over the way the state of Jammu and Kashmir and other areas in India did not witness any ethnic or communal trouble. These rebels have been directed to carry out selective killings which could have a direct impact on the communal amity in the state and other parts of India. Having failed to carry a majority of people in the Jammu region with them the rebels have targeted Hindus and innocent civilians belonging to other communities to keep alive the Kashmir issue. Thirdly, foreign mercenaries and others, operating in Jammu and Kashmir, are as good as daily wage earners on the wage list of Pakistan. Before crossing into Jammu and Kashmir these mercenaries are promised big sums of money for each major strike. Authoritative sources say the agencies across the border have kept drawing blood from the Indian security forces. Those who kill security personnel get the maximum financial benefit. Since the militants do not get an opportunity to carry out ambushes or engage security personnel in armed duels they have been resorting to selective killing of innocent people to convey to their mentors that they are carrying on “jehad” which deserves bigger cash incentives. The contours of this three-dimensional picture are known to the state and central governments. Where have the two government erred? The reasons are not difficult to find. First of all, the entire LoC and the International Border (IB) have remained porous during the past 12 years. Despite some measures taken to check infiltration there has been no considerable progress with the result that one finds well-equipped militants in large groups, active in various parts of the state. During the past several years the security forces have built pressure on militants to be either on the defensive or be on the run. However, it has been hide-and-seek on both sides, allowing militants a chance to strike at their sweet will. This happened in the troubled district which is the largest district in the state with about 12,000 sq km area. A large number of forest belts and rocky routes were left unmanned. These very grey areas have become safe sanctuaries for the militants. The government’s main mistake was to weaken the counter-insurgent groups. First the counter-insurgent groups in the Kashmir valley, which had done a remarkable job of not only containing the activities of the rebels but had succeeded in liberating several areas from the clutches of militants, were discarded like rotten apples by the state government and the security agencies. This resulted in a situation in which scores of counter-insurgents were killed, others fled from Kashmir, yet others rejoined militant groups. And in case of Doda district members of the village defence committees (VDCs) were to be given the backup for launching anti-insurgency operations. They were not. They were not paid regularly Rs 200 per month as sustenance allowance. Despite repeated promises made by the central government leaders, including the Home Minister, they were not given sophisticated weapons. When VDC members found themselves vulnerable with .303 guns many of them started playing safe after at least 20 VDC members were gunned down by the militants in recent months. After every major incident the state authorities announce sanctioning of additional VDCs. And these VDCs do not get the funds because the Union Home Ministry’s sanction has not been available. Also, withdrawal of the security forces on the suggestion of the state government is another loophole in the security set-up in Doda district. However, the Defence Ministry authorities view the situation in various parts of the Jammu region from a different angle. They say it was practicably impossible to provide security cover to all isolated hamlets situated in the upper reaches of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts. They suggest that people living in these isolated hamlets in far-flung areas be encouraged and financed to live in cluster villages where security cover could be provided. Those going up the forests for carrying their cattle for grazing should be assisted by VDC members and this too could be made possible when the grazers inform the civil administration about the areas they would be spending their summer months. Whatever may be the reasons for such massacres the entire security system needs to be reviewed and committee of experts from the Army, the police and the BSF be constituted to prepare a blueprint for a new security set-up. |
|
Honeymoon trip of JKLF leader spoiled
New Delhi, August 5 Mr Mir and his wife arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport this morning to board Indian Airlines flight IC 813 to Kathmandu. However, after going through the initial check-in procedure, he was detained inside a room for an hour during which he entered into a verbal altercation with the immigration authorities. The couple was allowed to go out of the airport premises only after the plane had left for Kathmandu. There was no official word about his detention but informed sources confirmed that a letter of cancellation was issued against Mr Mir from travelling abroad. An agitated Mr Mir said he was stopped by the airport authorities despite he was going on a private visit to Kathmandu. He had tied the nuptial knot on July 23. He alleged that his detention spoke of the dual policy of the government who on one hand claimed Kashmir to be an integral part, but on the other continued repression against them.
PTI |
|
29 Kargil martyrs’ families
honoured Kathua, August 5 Mr Charak, Mr Lal Singh, and Mr Mohinder Singh honoured the 29 families with shawls and mementoes. Sudhir Mahajan sang a patriotic song “Watan ko jaga kar, khud so gaye”. Sunil recited a poem “Kargil ki goonj. Balkar Singh, Sarpanch, Janglote and Khajur Singh recited poems related to the wars of 1962, 1965, 1971 and that of Kargil. Mr Charak regretted that the NDA government was focussing on the martyrs of Operation Vijay only and ignoring martyrs of operation Rakshak. He demanded equal status and treatment to all martyrs and their families. Later, plants were distributed among the residents and langar was also arranged. The martyrs whose families were honoured included Major Ajay Singh (13 JK Rif), Hav Rajinder Singh (13 JK Rif), Hav Jagan Nath Sharma (13 JK Rif), Hav Sartool Singh (153 Md), NK Pawan Kumar (12 JAKLI), LN Karnail Singh (8 JKLI), Gen Rattan Chand (18 Gen), and Sep Lakhvinder Singh (8 Sikh Regt). |
|
3 militants killed in valley Srinagar, August 5 Two foreign militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kupwara district, the police here said. They were identified as Ibrar and Musaib. Two AK-47 rifles, four magazines, four hand grenades and 50 rounds were seized from the site of the encounter. A top militant of Hizbul Mujahideen, Abdul Rashid Rathor, alias Jehangir Israni was killed in an encounter with the SOG of the Jammu and Kashmir police and the Army at Galwanpora in Budgam district last night. One AK-47 rifle with two magazines and 32 rounds were seized from the site of the encounter. Residents of Kralpora, the locality to which the militant belonged to, claimed that he had been picked up from a local shop on Friday evening and killed in custody. They held protest demonstrations against the alleged custodial killing. Unidentified militants shot dead a former militant, Ghulam Mohammad Rathor at Fijpora, Khansahib in Budgam district on the night of Saturday. In another incident unidentified militants kidnapped and subsequently killed Bilal Ahmad Dar, a shopkeeper at Gadapora, Shopian in Pulwama district on the night of Saturday. Meanwhile, separatist organisations in the Kashmir valley have demanded a probe by the Amnesty International into Friday’s slaying of civilians by unidentified gunmen at Kishtwar in Doda district. “We have been demanding probes into various massacres by impartial agencies,’’ said a spokesman for the 23-party amalgam Hurriyat Conference. Condemning the massacre, former Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani called it the handiwork of criminals. “There was no scope for such misadventure in Islam,’’ he added. |
|
19 cr project to boost walnut production Srinagar, August 5 The project proposed to cover 12,000 hectares of land in a five-year period commencing from the current year itself, an official spokesman said. He said walnut production had tremendous export potential and the state had about 40,000 hectares of land suited for the cultivation of high-quality walnut. The kernel processing unit under the brand name of Kashmir Kesar Mart, Munwarabad, exports three world-famous products of Kashmir, including walnut kernels, saffron and black mushroom. The unit, which has come up at a cumulative cost of about Rs 6 crore, provides employment to 700 persons throughout the year and has exported these pride products of the valley worth Rs 22 crore this year so far against an export of Rs 17 crore last year. He said the unit had a target to export products worth Rs 28 crore during the current year. The unit exported 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes of fully processed walnut kernel per year. It also exported about 100 tonnes of almond kernel, 600 kg of saffron and 1500 kg of black mushroom per year, the official spokesman said. The unit was equipped with electric drying system to check the influence of moth and fungus on walnut kernel, he added. He further said walnut export from the state had touched Rs 80 crore mark and there was still a vast scope to increase this export keeping in view the tremendous demand for walnuts in the Gulf and other European countries like Spain, France and Italy. The high altitudes of the state, particularly the districts of Anantnag, Kupwara, Budgam, Pulwama, Poonch and Doda offered immense potential for expansion of area under walnut, he added. As per a preliminary survey, there is potential of about 40,000 hectares and the present level of 1 to 15 metric tonnes per hectare can be raised to 3 to 4 metric tonnes per hectare with the application of advanced management practices and technologies, particularly vegetatively propagated planting material, tree management and other post harvest handlings.
UNI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
