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| Wednesday,
August 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong blames
BJP, NC for J&K mess Lone takes exception to Gupta’s
charge J&K integral part of India:
Dalai Lama
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‘Chhari Mubarak’ back in
Srinagar Plan to better water, power supplies to Katra
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Cong blames
BJP, NC for J&K mess Jammu, August 7 Talking to newsmen here today Mr Azad and others said the Ruling National Conference and the BJP government at the Centre had done “nothing on the ground” to ensure the protection of lives of innocent people. Mr Azad demanded the immediate resignation of the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani on the plea that he had failed to deliver the goods. The Congress delegation did not favour either resignation of the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, or the imposition of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Mr Azad said if Farooq was thrown out there was none to replace him at this crucial juncture and the imposition of the Governor’s rule would mean “BJP rule.” Accompanied by Mr Avtar Singh Badana, Col Sona Ram and Major Ved Prakash Mr Azad had flown to Atholi and Ludar villages where the Congress delegation interacted with people yesterday. In support of his contention that the BJP and the National Conference governments were responsible for the dismal security situation, Mr Azad said six months ago ITBP, Rashtriya Rifles and Special Task Force pickets were withdrawn from the upper reaches of Kishtwar. He said when militants came to know about it they started planning strikes against soft targets. He said there was total communication failure in Doda district and stated that it took him 48 hours to see his lightning call on the telephone to get through from Delhi to Kishtwar. He said both state and Central Governments had adopted a “casual” approach as far as security and economic development of Doda district were concerned. The Congress delegation suggested to the government to strengthen the village defence committees and each committee should have atleast 20 members equipped with sophisticated weapons. It also demanded that youths belonging to the two communities be enrolled as members of the VDCs. The Congress leaders cited instances to prove that militancy had increased in the state under the National Conference and the BJP rule. Mr Azad want a step further and said three parties were responsible for the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP, the NC and Pakistan. Explaining that while Islamabad was responsible for promoting cross-border terrorism the ruling parties in Delhi and Srinagar were incapable of tackling to it. He said as a result of the defective policy the upper reaches in Doda and other districts had no security cover. They had become safe
sanctuaries for the militants and people were being simply misled by the BJP blaming for the NC and the vice versa. |
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Lone takes exception to Gupta’s
charge Srinagar, August 7 Reacting to news items appearing in a section of the Press yesterday, the Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State for Home, Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Lone described the attempt on the part of the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, to lay the blame of the massacre in the Atholi area of Kishtwar at the doors of the unified headquarters most unfortunate. This, he said, would serve to demoralise the security forces in the state who were dealing with a very delicate situation created by the proxy war perpetrated on the state by the enemy. The deployment of the security forces was done by the core group of the UHO headed by the corps commanders concerned . This process of deployment involved experience, knowledge of the terrains and great professionalism. According to an official spokesman here the minister said a static deployment of forces in the obtaining security situation could be maintained only at the peril of the counter militancy operations being carried out in the state. Therefore, to say that the UHO was virtually inviting militants to strike in the areas inhabited by the minority communities and failed to meet the requirements of the vulnerable areas was to say the least preposterous. He said terrorist groups could choose the place, time and target at their will and incidents did happen despite the best of security arrangements made under the given circumstances. It is pertinent to note that what had been prevented by various security measures would not be known but what could be prevented despite the best of arrangements became available for such criticism. He added that at this hour of tragedy one expected from all citizens of the country to lend a helping hand to the forces doing a difficult job at the risk to their lives. A criticism of the security forces and the state security organisation by no less a person than a Union Minister would provide grist to the rumour mills and a handle to adversaries and vested interests to fish in troubled waters. He said that the UHO of the state and its core groups were doing a fine job in the drive against terrorist groups bent upon fomenting communal tension. The state government was fully satisfied with the performance of various forces, including the state police deployed in the counter-insurgency operations. Mr Lone said the State government had often asked to the Centre to make available more security forces to the state for deployment in the remotest and inaccessible areas like Paddar in Doda where the recent incident had taken place. However, the response from the Centre had not been encouraging so far in view of the pressing requirements elsewhere in the country, he added. |
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J&K integral part of India:
Dalai Lama New Delhi, August 7 In a statement, the Dalai Lama said there was a great deal of speculation from various quarters about my stand on the status of Kashmir. “This is to categoricaly state that I have always accepted the fact that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India”. The Dalai Lama also made clear that “no invitation has been extended to representatives of the Hurriyat Conference.” “They indicated their interest to visit me at Dharamsala to explain their stand and I responded in my usual way that they were welcome”, he said. “I am also appreciative of the fact that the people of Jammu and Kashmir elect their government through a well-established democratic process”, the Tibetan leader said. |
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‘Chhari
Mubarak’ back in Srinagar Srinagar, August 7 This year, a total number of 1,19,041 pilgrims participated in the yatra, which was thrown open on July 4. The yatra has been closed. An official spokesman said in all, 33 pilgrims died during the yatra. Of them, seven were killed in the militant attack at Sheshnag on July 21. Twentyfive of them died of natural death and one in an accident. Twenty pilgrims received injuries. Mahant Dipender Giri has thanked the security forces, the administration and the Muslim brethren of the valley, for their support for the successful completion of the yatra. |
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Plan to better water, power supplies to Katra Jammu, August 7 In response to the people’s demand for better water and electricity supply the Chief Minister directed the authorities concerned to prepare a composite plan for augmenting the drinking water supply not only for Katra town but also for pilgrims from the base camp to the shrine by lifting water from the Chenab river. As for the demand of the bus stand the Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 5 crore for the project and the remaining money would be provided by the local bodies. The Director Local Bodies was directed to prepare a plan for the bus stand besides the shelter sheds for porters and ponywallas. The future of Mata Vaishno Devi University was also discussed. The Chief Minister asked the Government agencies to acquire land for the university. |
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