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Wednesday,
November 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Contest
against me, Malik dares Mufti J&K to
free more detainees |
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J&K
People’s League leader released Mufti favours healing touch Addl 5
crore for Srinagar district Scramble
for J&K Council seats Zargar
is pro-tem Speaker Former
NC MLA quits party Administrative
reshuffle on cards Soz’s election is advantage to Congress Army
man, 3 ultras shot General
visits ASC units Pension for widows to be enhanced
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Contest against me, Malik dares Mufti Srinagar, November 12 Talking to newspersons at the APHC headquarters here, following his release after an eight-month-long detention on hawala charges, Mr Malik claimed that Mr Jethmalani had urged him to participate in the elections as he had been “emotionally loyal”. Mr Jethmalani as head of the nine-member committee, had a series of meetings with the Hurriyat Conference and other separatist leaders since August, the period during which Mr Malik was under detention. the APHC chairman, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat, accompanied by other executive members, had two rounds of talks with the Kashmir Committee since August. Mr Malik said he would discuss the issue of “Mr Jethmalani’s approach” with his colleagues. Recalling his acquaintance with Mr Jethmalani, Mr Malik pointed out that during their first meeting last year, Mr Jethmalani had projected himself as a champion of complete freedom of Kashmir. However, later Mr Jethmalani changed his stand and instead urged him and other leaders of the APHC to participate in the Assembly elections, he said. The JKLF leader also questioned the credibility of recent Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and challenged the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to contest from any constituency against him in the Kashmir valley. “Then let us see who has a representative character”, Mr Malik said, adding that his slogan would be “Kashmir movement”. The JKLF leader also questioned the claims of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, that the elections in Jammu and Kashmir were in favour of the country’s integrity. He held that the Central Government’s assertions in the international fora regarding the credibility of elections were misguiding. Referring to his release, Mr Malik held that it had been a practice with the change of governments in the state over the years. He said hawala cases against him could not be proved and the new government’s view that all those having minor charges would be released was also misguiding. Describing all those detained as “freedom fighters”, Mr Malik said they were all political prisoners and political militancy was going on in Kashmir. |
J&K to free more detainees Jammu, November 12 The instruction of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to the police that no detained person released on bail or parole be rearrested saw four top activists of separatist groups — Showkat Bakshi, Mohammad Ayub, Nazir Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed — enjoying freedom after an eight-to-12 year detention without a trial. The Mufti won the hearts of people in Srinagar city when the JKLF supremo, Mohammad Yasin Malik, was back home after an eight-month imprisonment in a Jammu jail. Official sources said from
November 5, three days after the Mufti took over as the Chief Minister, the Home Department in the Civil Secretariat was asked to start screening cases of all jailed persons. The screening committee has, according to these sources, prepared a list of 26 detainees who are to be released shortly. These 26 persons have spent between 10 and 12 years in jail. The sources said the screening committee had been asked to examine cases of about 400 detained persons. At present, there are over 650 detainees in various jails and of them over 200 are foreign mercenaries. The cases of these rebels belonging to Afghanistan and Pakistan are not going to be reviewed for the time being. Among the 400 detainees, there are over 60 persons considered to be leaders of various outfits and separatist groups. Indications are that most of the detained persons are to be freed before Id-ul-Fitr which falls on December 6. At present, the state government is in touch with the Centre on the issue of release of senior Hurriyat leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Sheikh Aziz Ahmed. The two may also be released before Id-ul-Fitr. The Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, appreciated the
government's gesture to free Mohammad Yasin Malik and others. Asked to comment on the statement of Mr Malik in which he criticised Mr Ram Jethmalani for doubletalk and challenging the Chief Minister to contest the Assembly poll to prove his representative character, Professor Bhat said, “When a person is jailed on false allegations he is bound to be angry.” He said Mr Malik wanted time to study the ground realities as the detention had made him a “bitter person”. The Hurriyat chairman feels that the release of all detained persons will not remove people’s alienation. He said the key to peace and normalcy was trilateral dialogue. Whatever may be the impact of the liberal policy being pursued by the Mufti, the PDP, according to Kashmir watchers, seems to be engaged in its image-building exercise. But the Chief Minister, they explain, has to take into account the aspirations of the people of the Jammu and Ladakh regions. Already Congress leaders, besides the Panthers Party, coalition partners, are incensed over the delay in implementing the recommendations of the Wazir Commission. A senior Congress leader and MLA, Mr Raman Bhalla, has urged the PDP-Congress government to implement the report of Gajendragadkar Commission which alone could resolve the problem of regional discrimination. He said first of all Jammu’s share in government services had to be increased as of the 1.58 lakh youths recruited in government offices, including the police, during the past six years, not more than 20,000 belonged to the Jammu region. Reports indicate that the Mufti is keen to rope in various sections of people alienated because of wrong policies of the previous government rather than in dishing out meagre sops to the people. As far as economic reforms are concerned, he has to bank on the financial assistance from the Centre. He has, so far, been able to reduce the power-shedding period by four hours which has given some relief to the people. His promised package to people affected by militancy is yet to see the light of day. However, he has been able to create a favourable impression among the people. |
J&K People’s League leader released Srinagar, November 12 Mr Waza, who represented the People’s League at the Hurriyat Conference Executive meetings, was arrested on January 12 this year and was lodged in different jails outside the valley. He was shifted to the central jail here 20 days ago from Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu and released on parole today. Mr Waza was received by party workers outside the jail around 5 p.m. and taken to party headquarters at Rajbagh. He release comes barely 24 hours after the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation front, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, was released by a special court on parole from the Kot Balwal jail yesterday. Earlier, two top commanders of the JKLF — Shaukat Bakshi and Nazir Ahmad Shah — and Hizbul Mujahideen leader Ayub Dar were released on bail last week.
PTI |
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Mufti favours healing touch
Srinagar, November 12 Winding up the five-hour Srinagar District Development Board meeting here last evening, first in the series of such meetings in the valley, he sought cooperation of all political parties to bring a turning point in the situation and called for rising above partisan interests and utilise the opportunity the recent elections had provided for improving the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Describing alienation of the people as responsible for sustaining militancy, Mr Sayeed said his effort would be to remove it by giving a healing touch on one hand and by providing good governance to the people on the other. The Chief Minister said the victims of militancy needed to be looked after with compassion and care.
UNI |
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Addl 5 crore for Srinagar district
Srinagar, November 12 Decision to this effect was taken at a joint meeting of the state Cabinet and District Development Board of Srinagar, an official spokesperson said here today. The meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was attended by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, Urban Development Minister, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, Education Minister, Mr Harash Dev Singh, Rural Development Minister, Peerzada Muhammad Sayed, Social Welfare Minister, Mr Mulla Ram, legislators of Srinagar
district, Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Iqbal Khanday, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir District Development Commissioner, and almost all heads of the departments. The legislators of the district projected demands of their respective areas and demanded an additional allocation for the completion of the ongoing works. After threadbare discussions over the implementation of the current year’s plan, several
decisions were taken to ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of the plan process so that the desired results are achieved at the ground level. The decisions include the allocation of Rs 2 crore for the completion of circular road project, Rs 1 crore for the repair of damaged transformers and Rs 1 crore for the execution of works of Srinagar Municipality. Earlier, the District Development Commissioner, Mr Abdul Hamid, giving details of the current year’s plan and allied para meters said Rs 6.50 crore was being utilised on agriculture and allied sector, Rs 2.40 crore and Rs 2.56 crore on Rural Development and Industries sector, respectively, besides Rs 14.80 crore on Communication facilities during the current financial year. The Chief Minister said the government would involve people in the socio-economic development of the state so that the educated youth do not feel neglected. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, said the CMP of the
coalition government was to ensure the unity of the state. The government would ensure equitable development of all three regions of the state, he added. The Minister for Finance, Planning, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, said the coalition government would regard the Oppostion parties partners in the development process and would expect their cooperation in mitigating the sufferings of the people.
UNI |
Scramble
for J&K Council seats Jammu, November 12 All four candidates, Dr Farooq Abdullah (National Conference), Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mr Saifuddin Soz (Congress) and Mr T.S. Bajwa (PDP) have been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. Some Panthers Party activists have been claiming publicly that Mr Bhim Singh, had been betrayed by denying him a Rajya Sabha seat. Though the Congress had promised him in this regard. He had filed his nomination papers but decided not to contest at the eleventh hour. Mr Bhim Singh now has issued a six-month ultimatum to Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed, to implement the points included in the Common Minimum Programme at the insistence of the Panthers Party. It is being claimed that Dr Abdullah was got elected to the Rajya Sabha by the coalition on the request of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was expected to give him some responsibility at the Centre. On the other hand, some Congress leaders claimed that Dr Abdullah had been sent to the Rajya Sabha due to the commitment of Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, PCC chief, who wanted to repay the former for having supported him for becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1996. It was for the first time that Mr Azad represented the state in the Parliament in 1996. However, NC circles had been pointing out that Mr Azad was elected with the blessings of Dr Abdullah. Mr Bajwa is a first timer and has been sent to the Rajya Sabha because he was a Mufti loyalist. His candidature came only after Ved Bhasin, a noted journalist, refused to accept the offer despite repeated requests of the Mufti and certain other leaders. The filling of the four Rajya Sabha seats, a large number of people from various sections of the society now has started making a beeline for a seat in the Legislative Council. Seven nominated seats became vacant last month and another eight are due to fall vacant on March 18 in the House of 36. Six seats from the civic bodies are vacant as elections to the local bodies and panchayats were held recently in the state. |
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Zargar is pro-tem Speaker
Jammu, November 12 Mr Zargar, who represents Noorabad constituency in Anantnag district, will administer oath to the newly elected legislators on November 18, official sources said here today. However, the Speaker will be formally elected on November 21, the day new Assembly meets for the first time. The special Assembly session is likely to last for four days. Highly placed Congress sources said party MLA Tara Chand from Chhamb (reserved) constituency in Jammu district was likely to be elected as speaker on November 21. They said the post had been given to the Congress by the PDP and other coalition partners. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) had considered Mr Tara Chand’s name for the post. Several Congress legislators and PCC chief Ghulam Nabi Azad also favoured him, they said. Mr Tara Chand had retained his seat with a huge margin in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
PTI, UNI |
Former
NC MLA quits party Srinagar, November 12 Mr Bawan, who had won from the Sonawar constituency in 1996, but was denied the ticket this time, said he was resigning from the party. “I have not decided to join any party yet,’’ he said. He said “I joined the NC with a purpose to provide a healing touch to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.’’ “But I found honesty, integrity and dedication has no value in the NC. They just needed persons who always say yes sir,’’ he said, adding that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had proved the NC leadership wrong, which had the impression that people would not go against it.
UNI |
Administrative
reshuffle on cards Srinagar, November 12 With only 12 days in office, changes in the civil and police administration are being awaited. An administrative reshuffle is expected to follow the expansion of the Council of Ministers by November 25. The government has so far effected only one change. The first order for the posting of the Director of Information was issued in Jammu last week, whereby former Director K.B. Jandial was shifted to the department again. Sources in the new set-up said the changes in the administration were being delayed for making it more “responsive”. The common minimum programme agreed upto by the coalition partners included non-implementation of POTO in Jammu and Kashmir and disbanding of the Special Operations Group (SOG). The sources said the top police authorities had been asked to give some proposals to convert the SOG into a regular force. Over 2,000 SOG personnel had been engaged in anti-militancy operations in the valley alone. One of the first relief measures taken by the government included reduction in power cut, from nine hours to four-and-a-half hours. A senior government functionary said this had been made possible by the “proper management of power and finances” from the existing resources. The Chief Minister, along with ministers and government functionaries had been camping here since yesterday to discuss the district Plan outlay and other issues at joint meetings of the Cabinet and district development boards. Three such meeting pertaining to Srinagar, Budgam and Baramula districts had been held during the past two days. The Chief Minister had made it clear during the meetings that the government was committed to giving a healing touch to victims of militancy and checking the alienation of people. Ms Mehbooba Mufti and Mr Tariq Hameed Qarra, of the PDP would be holding regular public meetings at the party headquarters here to listen to grievances. |
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Soz’s election is advantage to Congress Srinagar, November 12 Professor Soz, who represented the Baramula Lok Sabha constituency between 1977 and 1996, was among the four senior political leaders elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. Others elected included the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) patron, Dr Abdullah, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress and Mr Trilok Singh Bajwa of the PDP. According to observers, Soz’s election would give credibility to the more secular party of the country, particularly following the transfer of power from the NC to the PDP-Congress coalition government. Professor Soz has had a long association with the NC, prior to his decision to vote against the NC whip and the no-confidence motion of the BJP government in April, 1999. This had led to his life-term expulsion from the NC, which he had joined under the leadership of late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. After being in political oblivion for over three years, Professor Soz joined the Congress prior to the recent Assembly elections in the state, but did not participate in the elections. Beginning with his election to the Rajya Sabha, Professor Soz seems to be a contender for other important positions in the party, both at the state as well as the national level. His vote against the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in April, 1999, bringing it down, followed by being politically inactive for three years, has earned him a goodwill in the Kashmir masses. He looks at the decision of voting against the Vajpayee government as a “political asset”. The Congress, during the recent Assembly elections under the leadership of Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, made inroads in the Jammu region after a long gap, while PDP of the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed also emerged victorious for the first time in the Kashmir valley. Under the political scenario, the Congress was poised for more gains, which according to observers, could be achieved by the leadership of Professor Soz. |
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Army man, 3 ultras shot
Srinagar, November 12 Official sources said the security forces, on specific information, cordoned off some villages at Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara last night to arrest the militants. They said when the security forces were about to storm a house they came under heavy fire from militants hiding inside. Later, the security forces retaliated and killed both militants. The security forces also gunned down a foreign militant at Nutnusa in the same district in an encounter late last night. Meanwhile, a report from Jammu said an Army soldier was killed when Pakistani troops opened unprovoked firing on vital defence installations in Jhanger and Kalsian border outposts in Nowshera sector along the Line of Control in Rajouri district this afternoon. The exchange of fire was on in Nowshera when reports last came in, defence sources said here. Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fire at 12 border outposts along the border in Jammu district overnight.
UNI |
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General
visits ASC units Jammu, November 12 The General visited the headquarters of the world’s most active command and had detailed discussion with the Army commander of the Northern command and other senior officers regarding the maintenance of the heavily-committed troops of the active field formations. |
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Pension for widows to be enhanced
Srinagar, November 12 The decision was taken at a meeting of the Srinagar District Development Board presided over by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed here yesterday. The government has decided that the pension would be delivered at their doorstep via money orders and save widows from facing hassles in collecting the sum, according to the deliberations at the meeting.
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In video: Separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik says he will
contest in elections. (
