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Tuesday,
November 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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J&K
House members administered oath Top
Hizb ultra among 10 killed CM: forces
free to deal with ultras |
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Leaders
favour accountability panel Release
of ultras worries VHP APHC
posers to Kashmir panel BJP to
expose Cong stance on Jammu areas
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J&K
House members administered oath Jammu, November 18 Mr Balwant Singh of the Panthers Party, who has won from the Udhampur constituency, took the oath in Dogri. He insisted on being sworn-in in his mother tongue and not in English, Urdu or Hindi. Several other members wanted to take the oath in their respective languages, but the pro-tem Speaker, Abdul Aziz Zargar, did not oblige them. It was for the first time since 1975 that not even one member of the family of Seikh Abdullah won the election and the National Conference occupied opposition benches. Dr Farooq Abdullah did not contest the Assembly election and had projected his son Omar Abdullah, as the Chief Minister. He too lost the election. Dr Mustafa Kamal, younger brother of Dr Abdullah, who had been a minister all these years, too lost the election. The Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, was not present in the oath-taking ceremony and was busy with the meeting of the Unified Command. Moreover, he is not a member of the House. The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Mr Mohiuddin Shah and Mr Abdul Rahim Rather (NC), and Ms Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), daughter of Mufti Sayeed, were among those who were administered the oath. Most of the members took oath in English followed by Urdu. Only four of the 87 members took the oath in Hindi. Mr Manjeet Singh (BSP), only Sikh member of the House, insisted on taking the oath in Punjabi, but the pro-tem Speaker did not allow him to do so. Mr Jugal Kishore (Cong) took the oath in Hindi, but in between added that he was doing so in the name of Goddess Vaishno Devi. Mr Abdul Gaffar Sofi and Mr Shahjahan Dar wanted to take the oath in Kashmiri, but Mr Zargar did not allow him to that Mr Nazir Ahmed (NC) and Dr Ramesh Chand Sharma (Cong) insisted on taking the oath in Sheena, the dialect of the Gurez area of Kashmir, and Pahari respectively, but they were not allowed to do so. PTI adds: As CPM member M.Y. Taragami raised an objection on taking oath only in the English language, the chairman said “anyone interested to take oath in Urdu and Hindi can do so”. This is the 9th Legislative Assembly formed under the People’s Representation Act in Jammu and Kashmir. The Assembly comprises 87 elected representatives and two government-nominated members. |
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Top Hizb ultra among 10 killed Srinagar, November 18 A BSF spokesman said troops of 171 Battalion, on a specific information, raided a militant hide-out and arrested Mohammad Yaseen Rather, a self-styled battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen at Chaoora in Badgam yesterday. He said later, the militant was taken to a hide-out where two AK rifles, one wireless set, two grenades and three magazines were seized. The spokesman said on the basis of information provided by him, troops raided another hide-out at
Nowpora. However, when the troops were about to storm the hide-out, they came under fire from militants hiding there. The troops immediately retaliated and killed a self-styled company commander. One AK rifle, one wireless set, four AK magazines and five rounds were seized from the slain militant. In all, at least 10 persons, including eight militants, were killed and seven others injured in separate incidents of violence while security forces apprehended seven suspects across the state since yesterday. Three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in Shopian area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir yesterday. Two of them were identified as locals, while the third one is believed to be a foreigner, a police spokesman said here. Two Pakistani militants, identified as Shahid Islam and Wasid Ahmad, were killed in an encounter with security forces at the Mahore area in Udhampur district of Jammu region. Two AK rifles, five magazines, 118 rounds, a landmine, four hand grenades and a landmine were seized from the site of encounter. The police here said that two Pakistani militants of the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen outfit were killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Surankote area of Poonch district yesterday. They have been identified as Abdullah Bhai and Qari Abid alias Mohammad
Sadiq. Two AK rifles, seven AK magazines, 185 rounds, one pistol, one pistol magazine and a grenade were seized from the site of encounter. Meanwhile, unidentified persons shot dead a civilian,
Ibrahim, in the Gool area of Doda district last night. In another incident, unidentified militants shot dead one person in Doda district yesterday. |
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CM: forces free to deal with ultras Jammu, November 18 This assurance was given to senior officials of the Army, paramilitary forces and the police at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed here today. The meeting had been convened to review the security scenario in the state and finalise the strategy to handle the activities of militants. Those who attended the meeting included Lt-Gen
R.K. Nanavati, GOC-in-Chief, Northern Command, Mr A.K. Suri, Director-General of Police, and senior officers of the
BSF, the CRPF and various intelligence agencies. The Chief Minister is said to have told the officers that “Our job is to provide a healing touch to the people and your duty is to contain the activities of the militants so that the level of violence dips further”. Mr Sayeed urged the security agencies that while dealing with the militants, care should be taken to avoid causing any harassment to the civilians. He said called for coordination among different security and intelligence agencies so that specific and result-oriented operations against the militants could be carried out. The Chief Minister was briefed on the situation in the state. |
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Leaders
favour accountability panel Jammu, November 18 “Those who have the opinion that we are soft towards the militants are mistaken, “said the Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Khan, soon after he along with other MLAs were administered the oath of office. He told a group of newsmen, “We have demonstrated great courage in dealing with the situation with a healing touch and this should not be mistaken for being soft towards militants”. The Finance Minister, who holds Law portfolio also, said a Bill on the setting up of the accountability commission would be tabled in the Assembly. A senior national Conference leader and MLA, Mr Mubarik Gul, said his party would support this Bill. “We want all Ministers, including the Chief Minister, legislators and others to come under the ambit of the commission,” he said. The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, also supported the move to make all bigwigs in the government accountable. He said, “We want to have a government which is transparent and accountable.” Mr Sharma denied the charge that the government was releasing separatists and militants without screening. The coalition partners explained that there was no harm in discussing the various facets of the Kashmir issue with different sections of people. |
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Release
of ultras worries VHP Jammu, November 18 The concern was expressed in a resolution adopted at a meeting of VHP leaders and workers here today. The VHP chief, Dr Ramakant Dubey, presided over the meeting. The resolution said the PDP-led coalition government had not done anything to end regional discrimination. It said even in the field of rehabilitation of victims of militancy by providing government jobs, the Jammu region had been given a raw deal. The resolution said in the Kashmir valley the Chief Minister, Mr Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, himself distributed appointment letters to over 250 victims of militancy, but no such step was taken in the Jammu region where several hundred families were the sufferers of militancy. Dr Ramakant Dubey, who piloted the resolutions, said the Mufti-led government had given priority to the release and rehabilitation of separatists and militants while the priority should have been in the sphere of rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants. The resolution said the Kashmiri migrants needed to be rehabilitated and assisted in reviving their trade that had been destroyed by militants 13 years ago. Through another resolution, the VHP condemned the government action on VHP leaders in Ahmedabad who were taken into custody for preventing them from taking out a religious yatra. It said such steps not only hurt the religious sentiments of the people but amounted to muzzling of the religious freedom of the majority community. The resolution also criticised the Election Commission for “interfering” in the religious affairs of Hindus. |
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APHC posers to Kashmir panel Jammu, November 18 At the two meetings, the APHC leaders and the Kashmir Committee members had decided that there was need for finding a permanent, durable and honourable settlement of the Kashmir issue through structured dialogue among the parties connected with the dispute. Other “specifics fixed” included permission from the Governments of India and Pakistan for a meeting between the members of the Kashmir Committee in Delhi and a similar committee in Pakistan, to the APHC team to visit Pakistan for meeting the government, leaders of militant outfits and political functionaries. The two sides emphasised that dialogue should replace violence, whether that be from the security forces or from the rebels. Another decision taken was to create a situation in which Kashmiri migrants could return to the valley honourably. According to the APHC Chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, there has been no progress in the implementation of the “specifics fixed”. Asked whether the exercise of the Kashmir Committee was futile Professor Bhat told ‘The Tribune’ that the role of the Committee was limited. “It could simply recommend to the Government of India as it is not a government body,” he added. He said, “When we meet the members of the Kashmir Committee we will definitely inquire about the implementation of, at least, some of the decisions taken by the committee. He said the Centre was trying to adopt a policy of adhocism while dealing with the Kashmir affairs. The Hurriyat leader said, “The settlement of the Kashmir issue is not in the hands of the Sayeed government and the Government of India may be mistaken if it believes that with the change of guard in the Civil Secretariat, the Kashmir problem is over.” |
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BJP to expose Cong stance on Jammu areas Jammu, November 18 The call was given by the Senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Defence, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta, at a rally here today. Prof Gupta said that the Congress had made several promises to the people, especially those of the Jammu region, before the Assembly poll, which included the setting up of regional development councils or boards. He said when the Congress excluded the forming regional councils from the common minimum programme. He said the Congress promise of undoing regional discrimination too had been shelved and BJP workers should expose the Congress for it. Prof Gupta told the party workers to remain vigilant in respect of dangers the state faced from within and from without. |
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Srinagar, November 18
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