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Thursday,
March 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Ultras warn Hurriyat on poll
issue J&K hikes road tax
on tourist vehicles SC, ST organisations hold
demonstration Mystery of fudged samples unresolved |
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AISSF
demands impartial probe Katiyar asked to appear before court Gang selling fake stamp papers busted
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Ultras warn Hurriyat on poll issue Srinagar, March
20 Asking the Hurriyat leaders to instead concentrate in the “freedom struggle” of Kashmir, desist from “anti-movement activities” (holding talks with government) and “cancel” its frequent visits to Delhi, JKIF, headed by Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant Bilal Ahmad Beig, said the participation in elections would fetch “nothing but betrayal from the government”. Meanwhile, the Hizbul Mujahideen has asked the state government employees not to take part in the ensuing Assembly elections. In a statement released through a local news agency from Muzaffarabad, its supremo Syed Salahuddin claimed the people of Kashmir had rejected the elections in the past and they would never be a party to it in future too. Most
militant outfits have rejected Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s
call to separatist outfits to participate in the Assembly election in
the state scheduled later this year. PTI |
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J&K hikes road tax
on tourist vehicles Jammu, March 20 This was stated by the Minister for Transport, Mr Ajat Shatru Singh, as he introduced a Bill to amend the
Motor Vehicles Taxation Act in the state Assembly here today. The minister said hitherto vehicles registered in Jammu and Kashmir were being charged between Rs 1,400 and Rs 2,000 per day while passing through neighbouring states. The Bill has made it clear that the state suffered heavy losses from granting exemption to all-India tourist coaches. These coaches will now have to deposit Rs 2,000 at Lakhanpur tax barrier while entering the state. According to sources, tax-collecting authorities were charging some money from these coaches which would not go to the state exchequer and to check it these coaches will have to pay road tax. The measure is likely to inflate the bus fares. Another Bill introduced in the House by Mr Harbans Singh, Minister for Labour and Employment, provided for an increase in shop taxes and penalties for those violating the Shops and Establishments Act. During question hour, the government informed Mr R.S. Sharma of the Congress that 13 border villages in Rajouri district had been evacuated by the Army for the laying of mines. The House was told that 5,666 persons had been affected by the laying of mines in these villages due to escalation of tension on the border. More than 1000 kanals of agricultural land had been mined and there was no social package for the affected villagers. The Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, pacified the Opposition members when he announced that measures were being taken to reinstate all Class IV employees sacked by the Department of Education. The Chief Minister said the government had dismissed them under a court direction and promised that soon the members would hear “a good news” about their resettlement. |
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SC, ST organisations hold
demonstration Jammu, March 20 However, their plan to gherao the Assembly was foiled by the police when the processionists, shouting anti-government slogans, were stopped some distance away from the Civil Secretariat. Led by a couple of MLAs and organisation leaders, the demonstrators, after taking out a procession through the city, staged a dharna at Indira Chowk. Mr Jagjivan Lal, MLA, was allowed to go inside the secretariat to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister. The demonstrators demanded an increase in reservation up to the level of Directors. They demanded that the reservation for SCs be increased from eight to nine per cent, for STs from five to 10 per cent and in case of OBCs from two to 27 per cent. They also called for setting up a commission for SC and ST and demanded that reservation for SCs, OBCs and STs be enhanced and fixed for those seeking admission and jobs in private educational and technical institutions business enterprises and public sector corporations. They also called for measures for permanent settlement of nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals and demanded that reservation for these categories be included in the state Constitution. Reservation at district and divisional level be made as per the population ratio, they said. Earlier, BSP member Mr Somnath, staged a walkout from the Assembly while protesting against the failure of the government to introduce reservation Bill. He said the government had assured the House that during the current Budget session, the Bill would be introduced. |
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Mystery of fudged samples unresolved Jammu,
March 20 The government suspended four doctors, Balbir Kaur, Atiba Kosar, S.M. Saleem, Fazili, a technician and a deputy superintendent of police who were associated with the collection of blood samples of relatives of five persons who had been killed in police firing in Anantnag district. Under public protest, the five bodies had been exhumed and their blood samples collected sent to DNA centres in Hyderabad and Kolkata. The reports from these centres had revealed that the samples had been fudged. The government was taken aback and when Assembly members raised the matter the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, announced the setting up of a commission to inquire into the episode. Justice G.A. Kuchai (retd) heads the commission and he has been requested to submit his report to the government within two months. What has deepend the mystery is that those very persons placed under suspension were again associated with the collection of blood samples from Raja Begum, mother of one slain person, and Rafiqa, sister of another victim. Two of the doctors who have been suspended have stated that they were being made scapegoats. They said they had no knowledge about fudging of blood samples. They said they collected the blood samples and sealed them. If there has been any fudging some higher authorities, authorised to send the packs to the DNA centres, could have indulged in tampering with the samples. One of the doctors said that the possibility of samples having been exchanged in the DNA centres could not be ruled out. Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Home, Mr Najib Sohrawardhy, said there was no truth in the charge that these six officials were being made a scapegoat. He said that the Kuchai Commission had been set up and if the commission found them innocent, they would be reinstated. But if it was established that fudging had been done by them they would be sacked. |
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AISSF demands
impartial probe Srinagar, March 20 “The Sikh community in general and the AISSF in particular have failed to understand the silence of the government over the issue of inquiry into the massacres”, its general secretary Mr Manjeet Singh, said in a statement.
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Katiyar asked to appear before court Srinagar, March 20 Taking cognizance of the two complaints filed by Kashmir Bar Association advocate Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and journalist Imdad Saqi on March 16, Principal District Judge (Special), Srinagar, B.A. Kirmani directed Mr Katiyar to appear before the court on April 29. Both complaints were filed against Mr Katiyar for his reported remarks published in a daily about the holy relic in Hazratbal here belonging to a Hindu seer. President Bar Association, Nazir Ahmad Ronga, and complainant Imdad Saqi were present in the court when the judge passed the order. The complainants said they had good reasons, based on historical records, to believe that the sacred hair preserved in the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar belonged to Prophet Mohammad. They said like other Muslims of Kashmir, they treated this holy relic as their most cherished and a central and fundamental symbol of their religious heritage and identity in Kashmir. The complaints were filed before the court following permission granted by Srinagar District Magistrate to proceed against Mr Katiyar.
PTI |
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Gang selling fake stamp papers busted Jammu, March 20 The arrested persons include the kingpin of the gang, the police said today, adding that their fourth accomplice had absconded. Several sets of fake stamp papers have been seized from their hideouts in the past few days. Raids were also being conducted on possible hideouts of the leader of the gang in Delhi. The gang had extended its area of operation from Delhi to UP and then to Jammu, the police said.
PTI |
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