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Sunday,
August 18, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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7 ultras
killed in J&K Statehood
for Jammu: going not easy for morcha G. M. Shah
not to meet Jethmalani panel
J&K
poll: Soz seeks impartial mechanism |
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Pandits urged to take part in poll Cancel
appointment orders: EC EC’s J
& K visit today
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7 ultras killed in J&K Srinagar, August 17 Three militants, two of them identified as self-styled deputy district commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Mohammad Yousuf and Rafiq, both Pakistani nationals, were killed in an encounter with security forces at Wanidhorus-Lolab in frontier district of Kupwara today, he said. The third militant could not be identified but is believed to be a local, the spokesman added. He said security forces during search operations at Wanidhorus were fired upon by the militants hiding in the area. The security forces retaliated and in the ensuing encounter three militants of the outfit were killed. One Special Police Officer, who was injured in the encounter, was hospitalised. The spokesman said three AK rifles, 11 magazines, 76 rounds and 12 hand grenades were recovered from the slain militants. Two more unidentified militants were killed in a gun- fight between security forces at Shindera Top in Poonch sector of Jammu region today the spokesman said. Security forces also smashed a militant hide-out in frontier district and recovered two AK rifles, three pistol silencers and four hand grenades last evening the spokesman said. Two unidentified militants, one each at Najam in Budgam and Devar-Cherkote in Kupwara, during encounters with security forces last evening, a Defence spokesman said. He said a jawan received bullet injuries when militants fired on a patrolling party of security forces at Pusitana forest area in Tral in Pulwama district of south Kashmir last evening. Security forces arrested a militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit at Gofabal-Kunzer in Baramula district and recovered arms and ammunition from his possession, the spokesman said. A militant of the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen outfit surrendered before the police at Kupwara. Security forces destroyed a militant hide-out at Nagri Malpora forest in Kupwara and recovered arms and ammunition from the hideout the spokesman said. JAMMU:
Pakistani troops targeted a border outpost in the R S Pura sector of Jammu Division with small arms fire injuring a BSF soldier, official sources said on Saturday. Sohan Singh was injured at Jabowal border outpost around midnight on Saturday when
Pakistani troops resorted to firing from across the international border, they said. Intermittent exchange of small arms fire between Indian and Pakistani troops was reported from several places along the international border in the R S Pura, Samba and Akhnoor sectors since Saturday evening without any casuality or damage on the Indian side, the sources said. Exchange of fire between the two sides was also reported from some places along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch districts on Saturday night. “However, there was no loss on our side,” they added.
PTI |
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Statehood
for Jammu: going not easy for morcha Jammu, August 17 The morcha has decided to contest these elections by entering into an alliance with all pro-Jammu forces which at one time or the other struggled for a statehood or raised voice to highlight discrimination against Jammu. The general secretary of the morcha, Mr Tilak Raj Sharma, told The Tribune here today that “we want to give a decisive defeat to the ruling National Conference in the Assembly elections”. The morcha has received a shot in the arm with Mr P.C. Dogra, a former Director-General of Police, Punjab, joining it recently. A former Director of the CBI Mr Joginder Singh, was also expected to attend the public meeting being organised by the morcha here on August 25. With the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad giving their blessings to the movement, the activities of the morcha are expected to be intensified and BJP leadership at the Centre might also listen to the grievances of the Jammu region. Although the morcha has been set up with 19 outfits merger, yet it is to be seen as to how much support it secures and shows its strength. A number of top leaders of the morcha were considered to be close to the RSS and the BJP as they were at one time or the other, part and parcel of these organisations. Mr Sharma said that the plan of the morcha was to organise seminars in other parts of the country to make people aware of the problems which the Jammu region had been facing at the hands of the Kashmiri masters. Such seminars have already been organised at Nagpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, six cities of Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Ranchi. He said that such seminars have helped remove misgivings among the people that Jammu and Kashmir was confined to the Kashmir valley. The morcha was trying to carry along the leadership of the Ladakh region which over the years has been demanding union territory status and separation from Kashmir. Mr Sharma accused the ruling National Conference of being responsible for the Kashmir problem and generating anti-national sentiments by on one hand speaking against terrorists and on the other hand demanding greater autonomy for Kashmir. All this smacks of separatist tendencies of the national Conference leadership. The morcha was also highlighting the Resettlement Act through which the National Conference government had tried to open the gates for those Pakistani nationals who had migrated to Pakistan during the partition of the country. Mr Sharma said that more than two lakh Pakistanis would have got the opportunity to cross back to India in case the Act had been cleared by the Centre. Mr Sharma said that the morcha was demanding statehood for Jammu and was against the Article 370 providing special status to Kashmir and the demand for autonomy. We want that Jammu and Kashmir should remain on par with other states of the country, he said. He said that the Jammu and Ladakh regions constituted 85 per cent of the total geographical area of the state, while Kashmir had only 15 per cent area. The aspirations of those constituting 85 per cent area cannot be trampled upon. Mr Sharma said that by granting statehood to Jammu and Union territory status to Ladakh, the Centre would be able to handle effectively the Kashmir region which has been the epicenter of the militant activity. The militancy in the state can be tackled only with determination which the state government was lacking. Terrorism in Punjab could be wiped out by determination of the state government, he added. Meanwhile, observers are keenly watching turns and twists which the morcha is giving to the long-standing demand for statehood for Jammu. Many agitations in the past for similar demand ended without results. However, two commissions, Sikri and Gajendaragadkar, were set up by the then governments to suggest measures for greater financial benefits and representation in services to various regions. The reports of these commissions are gathering dust in the secretariat. |
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G. M. Shah not to meet Jethmalani panel Srinagar, August 17 A senior party leader, Mr Muzaffar Shah told The Tribune here that the party chief wanted Mr Jethmalani to clarify his position whether he was a nominee of the Government of India. Mr Jethmalani yesterday said here that the committee had the patronage of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, he commented. The former Chief Minister also announced his retirement from active politics, Mr Muzaffar Shah said and added that the same was not agreed to by the Working Committee of the party. The Working Committee members have asked Mr Shah to continue as life-long chief of the party. The party decided to hold a public meeting here on Saturday next to announce further course of action, Mr Shah
said. The Awami National Conference is also organising an intra-Kashmir conference on “Search of Peace and Solution” that was scheduled to be held during August. Since the announcement of the election schedule in Jammu and Kashmir, the party has also decided to discuss the issue and announce its decision next week. UNI adds:
Head of the Awami National Conference (ANC), Mr Shah said he was now too old to shoulder the responsibilities of the party. “I am now 82. ... I have decided to say goodbye to politics,’’ Mr Shah told UNI. He said he had taken the decision after a long thought. “My age does not permit me now to carry on in politics,’’ he added. Mr Shah, a close associate of late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, played an active role during the ‘Quit Kashmir’ movement and was jailed for nearly eight years during the movement and plebiscite front struggle. |
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J&K poll: Soz seeks impartial mechanism Srinagar, August 17 Mr Soz, who has recently joined the Congress, after his life-long dismissal from the ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir for voting in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Vajpayee government in 1999, said the conduct of elections in the state was not as important as the dialogue to resolve the crisis in Kashmir. He pointed out that the announcement of Assembly elections reflected the “impatience” of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. At his first press conference after joining the Congress, Mr Soz said a “vigorous dialogue” with separatists was needed instead of the one undertaken by the former Union Law Minister “without a proper exercise”. He said Mr Ram Jethmalani, leading a seven-member committee currently on a three-day tour of the valley, did not understand the “complexity of Kashmir situation. Mr Soz held that a vigorous dialogue with the separatists was needed, apart from an Indo-Pak dialogue, adding that talks be initiated with the people of all three regions of the state. Mr Soz said when Mr Jethmalani would return to Delhi tomorrow, his hands would be “empty”. Referring to the reason behind his parting ways with the National Conference after over two decades, Mr Soz said he “disagreed with Mr Farooq Abdullah in many ways”, and described NC’s alliance with the BJP as a “historic blunder”. Mr Soz pointed out that the National Conference deviated from the path shown by its founder leader, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The party, which became an ally of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre on the plea of development of the state, failed to justify its alliance, Mr Soz remarked. He described the rejection of autonomy resolution as humiliating for the ruling National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the NC was the only party from a Muslim majority state to have supported Modi’s government following the massacres in Gujarat. Mr Soz, represented the Baramula constituency of north Kashmir in the Lok Sabha in all elections since 1971, except that of the 1996 elections when NC did not participate in the elections. He had unsuccessfully contested the 1999 elections as an independent candidate and lost to Abdul Rashid Shaheen of the NC. |
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Pandits
urged to take part in poll New Delhi, August 17 In a statement, the AIKS said all political parties which were serious about normalising the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, should make the return of over three lakh Kashimri Pandits to their homes a commitment in their election manifestos. It said there was nothing substantial in the coming elections for Kashmiri Pandits, yet if the parties taking part promised to reverse the situation, the poll would be meaningful for them as well. It urged the Election Commission to create favourable conditions for Pandit migrants all over the country to exercise their franchise effectively. |
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Cancel appointment orders: EC Srinagar, August 17 Besides, as a follow-up of action following instructions of the ECI, the Chief Engineer, Roads and Buildings, Jammu, has rescinded the transfer orders of 75 junior engineers. The rescind order was issued yesterday maintaining the status quo ante as on August 1, 2002, an official spokesman said. Meanwhile, the district election officer, Jammu, has deployed all available resources to impart training in handling Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to the poll personnel and representatives of political parties. He said 20 demonstration centres had been set up in the suburban areas of Jammu district. These include Akhnoor, Samba, Bishna, R.S. Pora, Vijapora, Purmandal, Densal and Marh. Besides, an equal number of demonstration centres had also been set up in the areas of the Jammu municipal limits. In addition, 295 electoral assistance camps had been set up panchayat-wise in the district. The roaster about the EVM training camps had also been made available at block development offices. The district election officer, Budgam, had chalked out a detailed schedule of demonstration centres for the EVM training for common people and employees at block and tehsil levels. In this connection, as many as 134 demonstration centres had been set up in the nine community blocks of the district. The training started from this week will conclude on August 31, A detailed roaster of the schedule had been displayed at all prominent places of the district.
UNI |
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EC’s J & K visit
today Jammu, August 17 The Election Commission consisting of the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr J.M. Lyngdoh and Election Commissioners Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon, will come to Jammu first and review the arrangements. All deputy commissioners, who are also returning officers, will attend the meeting of the commission in the evening. During their three-day visit to the state, the commission will visit the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region. They will also meet leaders of various political parties. A large number of complaints of irregularities regarding electoral rolls have been made by various parties. |
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Chhari Mubarak leaves for Pahalgam
Srinagar, August 17 A large number of sadhus attended the special function at the Amreshwar temple in Dashnami Akhara here early this morning. Tight security arrangements were made in the Budshah Chowk area on the occasion. The holy mace is scheduled to leave Pahalgam, the base camp of the Amarnath yatra, on Monday for the first halt at Sheshnag. It will have another halt at Panjtarni before it reaches the cave on the Shrawan Poornima coinciding with Raksha Bandhan on August 22. This will mark the conclusion of the month-long yatra which began here on July 22 last. Meanwhile, with the arrival of 534 more pilgrims from Jammu today, the number of pilgrims who joined the yatra this year so far has gone up to 1,07,034, an official spokesman said. The number of those who have returned after performing the pilgrimage so far has gone up to 1,00,273.  |
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