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Monday,
December 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Militants kill three children
NEWS ANALYSIS Power scenario in J&K grim |
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| JKLF vice-chief released Srinagar, December 22 Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front vice-chairman Bashir Ahmad Bhat was released from jail yesterday after a year-long detention.
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Militants kill three children Jammu, December 22 Three persons, Munshi Khan, his wife and a tenent, Gurmeet Kaur, were wounded and the police evacuated Gurmeet to a Poonch district hospital in a serious condition. According to the police, a group of militants launched gun, grenade and rocket attack on Surankot police station in Poonch district. The police retaliated and forced rebels to flee. While escaping militants barged into the house of Munshi Khan in Sammote village in the same area and opened indiscriminate firing on members of Khan’s family. Nazarat, Irfan and Asif were killed on the spot. Senior police officers visited the area which were later cordoned off by the police and paramilitary forces for carrying out search operations. The police authorities confirmed that during the past one week militants have stepped up their activities in districts of Poonch and Rajouri where during this period four women and one Army jawan were killed. With today’s killing of three kids the toll has gone up to eight. In a fierce encounter between militants and the troops on the LoC in the Mankot area of the Mendhar sector last night three infiltrators were killed. In the encounter an Army jawan was killed and a captain was wounded. Meanwhile, in a joint operation launched by the police and the Army five militants were killed in Malhan village in the Surankot area of Poonch today. According to the police on receipt of information, the security forces cordoned off the rebel hideout in the village. Militants opened fire on the security forces for carving out escape route. However, the troops retaliated killing all the five of them on the spot. The hideout was completely destroyed. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants which included five assault rifles. In another encounter, two militants were killed in Jabbar village in the Gool area of Udhampur district today by the BSF. A BSF spokesman said when jawans spotted two rebels, belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen, they were asked to stop. Instead they opened fire which was retaliated by the BSF, killing Shams-ud-Din Mailk and Mohammad Iqbal, residents of Gool, on the spot. Large number of arms and ammunition were seized from them. SRINAGAR: A powerful blast had damaged a telephone exchange at Wagoora in Baramula district of north Kashmir last night, official sources said on Sunday. The blast took place in the Wagoora exchange around midnight, but the cause of the blast and extent of damage was not known immediately, the sources said. The police has reached the site of the explosion and further details are awaited. Meanwhile, the Baramula district authorities enforced prohibitory orders to prevent untoward incidents in the wake of demonstrations against the death sentence given to three persons in the Parliament attack case. The orders banned congregation of more than five persons except with the permission of the District Magistrate, the Executive Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police, the order said. No movement is allowed in the area falling within 5 km of border belt from 7.30 p.m. to 5 a.m. and movement of vehicles shall not be allowed between 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., the order said. In border area of Gurez, all movement withing Uliakbar, Amar Kismal, Razdaan, Kuljan, Galim Viji Gali, Kisar Gali, Vishan Sar, Kaobal Gali is prohibited except with permission from Tehsildar Gurez, the order said. Meanwhile, people in Kupwara took to streets today to protest against the alleged kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl by two surrendered militants working with the security forces. Demonstrators charged the surrendered militants Din Gujjar and Karim Gujjar with kidnapping Hafiza from her house five days ago. They also alleged that Karim was hiding in a security force camp to avoid arrest. The police has arrested Din Gujjar and registered a case against the two for allegedly kidnapping the girl.
PTI, UNI |
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NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, December 22 The gruesome killings of three children of a single family in the Surankot area of the Poonch district of Jammu today has sent shock waves in the region and there was a scare among the people as this was the second incident in a row following the beheading of three girls in the neighbouring Rajouri district on Friday. Although no militant outfit has so far owned responsibility for these killings, but security agencies suspect that it was the handiwork of some foreign mercenaries who were trying to derail the “healing touch” policy of the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, for the local youth who had indulged in terrorist activities. There were reports that policy has made local militants rethink about their activities and the mercenaries were trying to block these efforts. Although the government claims to have controlled terrorism in the state, but Surankot continues to be called as a “liberated area” by the terrorists. Security forces normally do not venture to cross the riverbed on the outskirts of the town as terrorists have reportedly constructed bunkers on the hill top. The Hillkaka area is also notorious for terrorist activities as the civil officials have virtually ceased to exert their position. Poonch and Rajouri districts have many weak areas which are being used as launching pads for terrorists by the ISI of Pakistan. The recent withdrawal of troops from the borders and the security forces after the Assembly elections has made the Line of Control porous for terrorists. The closure of the SSB set up in the border areas in Rajouri and Poonch by the Home ministry for deployment on the Indo-Nepal border has also hit the intelligence network which the organisation had excellently established over the years in the border villages. The rise in terrorist activities is also being attributed to the appeasement policy of the Mufti who is going soft on militants. Killings have once again increased throughout the state. Emboldened by the disbanding of the task force of the police, the terrorists have issued a diktat to girls to wear “burqa” and not go to the educational institutions.The beheading of the three girls in Rajouri was aimed at getting their diktat implemented. Such diktats are not new in the state, but for the past few months the terrorists were lying low and girls wearing jeans and other outfits without the “burqa” were seen moving even on the Residency Road at Srinagar. Most of the girls going to the college were also seen without the “burqa”. However, the demand for the veil has once again increased due to the fresh killings. Reports said hardly any girl attended the educational institutions in Rajouri and Poonch yesterday following the killings. The terrorists have pasted posters on the walls in these two towns asking the girls to obey the orders. During his recent visit to Rajouri, the Mufti had asked the people not to be afraid of the terrorist threats by succumbing to their diktat. The killing of an MLA of the ruling PDP at Srinagar and a school teacher in the Kalakot area of Rajouri has also made the people rethink on the soft approach of the Mufti towards the terrorists. It is being pointed out that the terrorists have adopted the pre-1991 tactics of killing women and children to create panic among the people. These issues are expected to be discussed threadbare when the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, visits here on December 27 to preside over a meeting of the unified command which was fighting terrorism in the state. The release of terrorists from jails has already been stopped by the Mufti government following the orders of the Centre. |
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Power scenario in J&K grim Jammu, December 22 The Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, has said that against the cumulative power bill of over Rs 2,200 crores, the government could recover not more than Rs 155 crores a year. In fact a four-hour reduction in the daily power supply is going to cost the government Rs 1 crore a day. Jammu and Kashmir continues to have a grim power picture. Against the peak demand of about 1,437 MWs, the installed capacity in the state was 547 MWs. And during the lean period, when the river discharge gets a reduced to a trickle, the daily generation of power falls to 200 to 250MWs. This has forced the state government to buy additional electricity from the national grid. It is in this connection that the Chief Minister has requested the NHPC to start work on seven projects that were handed over to it for generating 3,000 MWs of power by 2010. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is equally worried over the problem in the Ladakh region which is not connected with the national grid. He has, therefore, sought Central assistance for treating the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh grid line as a national project. He said if this project was completed, about 62 MWs of electricity could be carried to the Ladakh region. Another worry of the Mufti is the gap between the approved plan outlay and the actual allocations. He has conveyed to the Centre and the Planning Commission that Rs 9,500 crore had been approved in the Ninth Plan but allocations made were to the tune of Rs 8,850 crore. The shortfall, besides a phenomenal increase in the loan component, would leave insufficient funds for development works in the state. The Chief Minister has also brought to the notice of the Central Government and the Planning Commission that the outlay of Rs 14,500 crore for the 10th Five Year Plan “does not match with the state’s trageted growth rate of 6.3 per cent. “The increase in the loan component, despite the fact that the Central financial assistance to Jammu and Kashmir was given on the formula of 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loan since 1990, leaves a meagre amount for generating jobs and for providing basic amenities to the people. Even only on Rs 1,275 crore, a pre-1990 loan component, the state has to pay an annual interest of Rs 600 crore. The state government has been persuading the Centre for the past over six years to waive the loan component, but so far there has been no response. The Chief Minister has now suggested to the private sector to set up power projects in the state for which required assistance by way of land and technical assistance would be provided. Various fiscal problems, confronting the state, could have been tackled had the Centre agreed to provide compensation for the losses it suffered on account of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan. Under the treaty, the state cannot harness water of three rivers — Jehlum, Chenab and Sindh — for irrigation and power generation without the approval of Islamabad. At one stage, the state government had conveyed to the Centre that the yearly losses owing to this treaty amounted to Rs 6,000 crore. And the coalition government would be satisfied if the Centre compensated the loss even to the extent of Rs 600 crore a year. Till new power projects are functional, the Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, has directed the Power Development Department to install meters at the houses of all government officers. The drawing and disbursing officers have been asked not to release pay to the employees without a certificate from the PDD confirming that they had cleared the power tariff arrears. Hitherto, most of the senior government functionaries received power supply free of cost. People have not yet responded to the appeal made by the Finance Minister that they should use power judiciously. Most of the shopping centres in Jammu and Srinagar use all types of electric gadgets and bulbs to make their shops look attractive in the evenings. If the government enforces austerity measures, it could reduce the burden on the state exchequer. |
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JKLF vice-chief released Srinagar, December 22 The APHC has welcomed Bhat’s release, saying that it will further strengthen the “freedom struggle’’ in Jammu and Kashmir. Bhat was arrested on January 13 this year and detained in Kotbalwal Jail, Jammu. However, he was re-arrested after his release following court orders the same month. After being detained in different state jails and interrogation centres, he was set free last evening by the police, an APHC spokesman said. Mr Bhat’s release is being seen as part of the “healing touch” policy of the Mufti government. The policy aimed at winning over people had come to a halt after the Centre opposed the release of separatists leaders in the state. As many as 26 separatist leaders, including JKLF chairman Yasin Malik and Showkat Ahmad Bakshi, were released by the state government.
UNI |
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