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Friday,
September 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Fight terrorism through ballot: JD Sonia cancels Mendhar, Naushera visit Migrants’ role decisive in Chhamb BSP man killed, 47 hurt in mishaps |
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Fight terrorism through ballot: JD Jammu, September 12 Before addressing election rallies in Bishna and other constituencies, Mr Yadav told mediapersons in Jammu that the ongoing militancy was the creation of Pakistan which had become the epicentre of terrorism. He said the Government of India and the people of Jammu and Kashmir were determined to “defeat the Pakistan designs” by strengthening the democratic structure. He said: Even if fight against terrorism require sacrifices we should be prepared because through democratic process alone we can end the menace of terrorism.” Referring to the killing of political activists by militants Mr Yadav said it was the part of the Pakistan plan to derail and disrupt the poll process and Islamabad would continue to shed blood in Kashmir. He said terrorism would end and that was to be the last nail in the coffin of Pakistan. In reply to a question, Mr Yadav opposed the demand for the trifurcation of the state. While replying to another question, the minister said raising the demand for the restoration of greater autonomy was a political stunt of the National Conference (NC) . He said the NC raised the demand only during the elections and it should know that Jammu and Kashmir already enjoyed autonomy under Article 370. Mr Yadav blamed Dr Abdullah and his NC for encouraging defections and said it had wooed five MLAs who had been elected in 1996 poll on the Janata Dal ticket. |
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Sonia cancels Mendhar, Naushera visit Jammu, September 12 Mrs Sonia Gandhi was to visit these two places in Poonch and Rajouri districts to campaign for the Congress candidates. However, the security forces are learnt to have advised her to cancel her visit in view of the yesterday’s terrorist attack near the place of rally at Surankot where the Congress General Secretary, Mrs Ambika Soni and the PCC chief, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, were present. It is learnt that Mrs Soni and Mr Azad talked to Mrs Sonia Gandhi on the telephone from here and appraised her of the situation. Mrs Soni and Mr Azad, however, flew to Mendhar and Naushera to address election meetings. |
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Migrants’ role decisive in Chhamb Devipur (Akhnoor), September 12 This is the tale of several thousand border migrants living in abject poverty and deprivation in tents at Devipur and three other places since the 1999 Kargil conflict when the Pakistani troops opened a front in the Akhnoor sector pounding scores of villages, including Pallanwala, Panjtoot and Ghariyal, with mortar shells. Only one change has come over these border migrants. They have been shifted from the government school buildings to a tented colony in the village. While most of them have been provided with rainproof tents, others had to build thatched sheds where they live as if in concentration camps. For the past three months, free ration and cash assistance to them have been stopped. “We have not been given free ration, 7 kg of flour and two kg of rice per head and Rs 200 as cash relief for the past three months,” said Mr Prem Chand of border village Panjtoot. Mr Prem Chand has set up a make shift grocery shop just at the entrance of the tented colony here. He said, “During the past two months, a majority of the people living in the camps have purchased several commodities, including foodgrain, edible oil and sugar, on credit.” “I have no other alternative but to help them as we hope that free ration and cash relief may be distributed after the Assembly poll is over,” he said. Another border migrant Mr Pawan Kumar Sharma, said, “We had been promised Rs 200 per family for
fodder for our cattle. However, during the past three years, each family has received only Rs 600 and this facility has been suspended.” There are nearly 16,000 border migrants living in tents at four places and the one here is the biggest housing about 6,000 migrants. Pandit Gansham Das Sharma (80), who walks with the help of a stick, is bitter against those politicians who have not “fulfilled their promises.” He said, “During the panchayat elections, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, had promised to allot us a one-room dwelling each and 10 marla plots for the construction of houses. But two years have passed and there is no sight of plots or tenements.” Mr Prem Chand Sharma said, “We are in deep distress but we will vote.” He refused to disclose which party candidates would they vote for. He simply said “a majority of the border migrant voters may vote against the National Conference.” There are nine candidates in the Chhamb constituency in the field. But a cross-section of voters agreed that the main contesting candidates were from the NC, the Congress, the BSP and an Independent, Mr Chaman Lal. There are 63,376 voters in this constituency. In this constituency, the pro-Sangh Parivar voters have been placed in an embarrassing position. The RSS-led State Morcha has fielded Mr Tej Ram, who had lost to the Congress as a BJP candidate by a margin of 556 votes in the 1996 poll. He could have won the poll had Mr Chaman Lal, who is a BJP leader, not filed his nomination as an Independent candidate. The NC has fielded Mr Chhaju Ram who wields influence in some pockets of the constituency and the Congress has retained Mr Tara Chand, who had won the seat in the 1996 poll with a margin of 556 votes. As a reserved constituency, the Dalit voters have the potential to tilt the scales in favour of the candidate of their choice provided they vote en bloc for that candidate. Indications are that the Dalit votes will get divided with a major chunk going to the BSP
candidate, Mr Sham Lal, who as an Independent candidate, lost his security deposit in the 1996 poll. The border migrants have a vital role to play in deciding the fate of any of the four key contestants. That a majority of them are planning to vote against the NC is no longer a secret. Despite this, Mr Chhaju Ram of the NC feels confident that his personal rapport with the people will dilute the anti-incumbency factor. The Congress candidate, Mr Tara Chand, pins his hopes of success on a sharp split in the pro-Sangh Parivar voters. However, these border refugees are of the firm opinion that whichever party or candidate wins the poll “we will have no immediate respite from our problems and tribulations. Mr Pawan Kumar Sharma and Mr Ganesh Das Sharma said, “We may go back if there is some agreement between India and Pakistan.” “Whenever we attempted to return to our villages we were forced to flee by intermittent gunfire from Pakistani troops,” they added. Mr Prem Chand said, “There has been no mortar or artillery shelling from across Pallanwala and Panjtoot during the past four months but intermittent small arms fire keeps us away from our ancestral hamlets.” |
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BSP man killed, 47 hurt in mishaps Jammu, September 12 BSP worker Joginder Singh was killed and 19 others injured, six of them seriously, when the Matador in which they were travelling fell into a ditch at Pradhani, 70 km from here, while on way to Ramnagar from Khoon village. The seriously injured have been admitted to District Hospital at Udhampur and remaining to sub-district hospital at Ramnagar. Twentyeight persons were injured, four of them seriously, when the bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge at Galigarh in the Kishtwar area of Doda district. The critically injured have been airlifted to Jammu and admitted to government medical college hospital.
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