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Saturday,
February 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Mufti files papers for council seat
Byelections: campaigning hots up NEWS ANALYSIS |
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J&K Govt borrows from LIC Three militants killed in valley Govt gives relief for migrants Rs 168 crore for bypass project Medico’s death
mourned
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Mufti files papers for council seat Jammu, February 21 In all, 14 candidates have filed their papers for the eight seats and among them two are from the PDP, five each from the Congress and the NC and two Independents. The NC kept the ruling coalition guessing till the last minute and its five members filed their papers shortly before the nominations were to close at 3 pm. This has upset the calculations of the PDP and the Congress which were expecting a smooth sailing in the election. Moreover, a single cross-vote would put Mufti Sayeed to embarrassment as some other partners of his coalition government were annoyed over the denial of any share of these seats which had been distributed among the two main partners. It was expected initially that with the strength of 28 members in the house of 89, the NC might contest only one seat paving the way for unopposed election of the other seven candidates. However, now it has become a contest and the polling will be held on March 4. There were signs of annoyance particularly among the 13 Independents and the four members of the Panthers Party for reportedly not having been consulted on the council election by the Chief Minister. The ruling coalition leaders were upset over the development and were keeping an eye on the legislators who were annoyed with the Mufti or PCC chief Ghulam Nabi Azad, for not having been included in the ministry. Besides the Mufti, among those who have filed their papers are Mr Ved Mahajan (PDP), Mr Lal Mohammad Sabar, Mr Amrit Malhotra, Mr P. Namgial, Mr Nassarullah and Mr Ali Mohammad Sofi (all of the Congress), and Mr Ghulam Qadir Tak, Mr Ghulam Hassan Geelani, Mr Qamar Ali Akhoon, Mr Bashir Ahmed Naaz and Mr Bashir Ahmed Zargar (all of the NC). Mr Abdul Rehman Wani, a retired executive engineer, and Mr Darshan Kumar, have filed their papers as Independent candidates. |
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Byelections: campaigning hots up Srinagar, February 21 The main contest is going to be between the National Conference and PDP candidates, both the parties having represented the constituency in the last two Assembly elections, respectively. The National Conference has fielded Mushtaq Ahmad Kuchay. He lost to PDP candidate by a margin of over 3800 votes in October, 2002, elections. The PDP has fielded Zahoor Ahmad Mir, son of the former PDP MLA, Abdul Aziz Mir who was shot dead by unidentified militants on December 10 last. There are seven other Independent candidates in the fray, whose fate would be decided next week by an electorate of over 51,000. A total of 58 polling stations have been set up at 50 locations. Adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure free, fair and transparent polling. The National Conference campaign revolves around the severe criticism of the PDP-led coalition government on the demolition drive. Hundreds of shops and business establishments along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway at Pampore, about 15 km south of here, have been demolished in the recent drive against encroachers. The NC also criticises the failure of the ruling coalition parties to come to the expectations of the people as per promises made in the common minimum programme. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, February 21 Several factors have prompted the Centre to appoint Mr N.N. Vohra, a former Secretary, Ministry of Home and Defence, as government’s interlocutor for holding discussions with the elected representatives and others, including the separatists in order to work out a solution to the Kashmir turmoil. Mr A.S. Dulat, OSD in the PMO, has had series of channels for interacting with separatists and some rebel groups. In fact he was the author of the move which encouraged Abdul Majid Dar, chief commander, operations, the “Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, to announce a unilateral ceasefire in 2001. The ceasefire lasted for eight days and Dar had to face expulsion from the outfit. This episode and the continued efforts by Mr Dulat to win over the separatists exposed him. Hardly a week ago the Centre had toyed with the idea of replacing Mr K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, by Mr Dulat as government’s chief interlocutor but the move was dropped simply to keep the former RAW chief away from the public gaze when some rebel outfits were not prepared to accept his offer for talks. Hence Mr Vohra was considered an ideal choice for the post of interlocutor. Informed sources said that Mr Pant had to be replaced because working as an interlocutor needed full time and as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission he had no sufficient time to engage himself in prolonged negotiations and parleys. That has been evident from the way he could visit the state only twice during the past one year. Secondly, several rebel leaders, besides the APHC leadership, had boycotted Mr Pant when he had invited them for talks. At one stage the APHC gave a call for general strike to register protest against the Pant Mission. The Kashmir Committee led by Mr Ram Jethmalani was acceptable to the APHC and other separatist outfits but not to the state government and the Centre. The reason was that the committee focused its attention towards interacting with the separatists ignoring others. The committee members were possibly of the opinion that winning over the APHC and other separatist groups could set the stage for peace in Kashmir. As an impression went round that neither Mr Dulat, nor Mr Pant, nor Mr Jethmalani had succeeded in breaking the ice in Kashmir, the Centre had to find a person who had some semblance of acceptability among the Kashmiri separatists and political leaders not only in the state but in Delhi also who could act as its interlocutor in the wake of Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s commitment to initiate dialogue with leaders of different political shades after the Assembly poll and the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s repeated demand for a comprehensive dialogue for the settlement of the turmoil in Kashmir. It was after prolonged discussion among men who matter in Delhi that Mr Vohra was selected for the most tedious delicate assignment. As former Union Home Secretary, as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary Mr Vohra has remained fully acquainted with Kashmir, its politics and its people. Whether it was Mr Pant and Mr Jethmalani their political ideology was well known to the Kashmiri separatists and hence there was guarded approach from various segments of political leaders and rebels when they invited them for talks. Mr Vohra does not carry any such label because as a senior bureaucrat he had proved effective and disciplined without aligning himself with one political organisation or the other. Since Jammu and Kashmir has been plagued by a severe tussle between the separatists and the nationalists, between forces that have voiced resentment over what they call regional imbalance, and the battle between the Pakistan aided and trained militants and the Indian security forces experience and integrity alone may not help Mr Vohra fulfil his mission of buying peace in Kashmir within days or weeks. According to the Kashmir experts, Mr Vohra has to adopt a multipronged strategy while initiating talks with leaders of different political shades. He will have no problem in interacting with elected representatives of people and leaders of mainstream political organisations. But the most difficult task for him would be to motivate separatists to accept his invitation for talks when several separatist outfits, including the APHC, continue to be a divided lot. |
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J&K Govt borrows from LIC Jammu, February 21 The overdraft from Jammu and Kashmir Bank has already touched over Rs 1200 crore. Despite vigorous drive for the collection of sales tax and power tariff arrears, more than Rs 2100 crore are to be realised from these two sectors. A senior functionary of the State Finance Department said power tariff arrears had mounted to Rs 1,700 crore and even if “the department deducts about Rs 700 crore by the way of transmission and distribution losses, the government has to realise over Rs 950 crore from consumers and different government departments.” Reports said due to growing budgetary deficit, treasuries had started returning bills submitted by various government departments. Several departmental heads revealed that they did not have money to purchase stationery for their offices. “Bills submitted to the treasuries were returned with a note that it has no money,” they said. Finance Department functionaries said two factors had warranted seeking of vote on account instead of presenting a full-fledged annual budget proposals. “First, the plan size has not been finalised by the Planning Commission. Then there is a mismatch between the receipts and the expenditure. In fact, there is no balance between the quantum of expenditure and the receipt amount, with the result the deficit has been growing,” they said. According to these functionaries, the state government had decided to take in hand several measures for raising additional resources, including replacing sales tax by valued added tax (VAT) and bringing down items which were exempted from sales tax from 90 to 25. |
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Three militants killed in valley Srinagar, February 21 A report from Baramula said that militants shot at and critically wounded photographer Syed Mohammad Altaf at Kreeri Pattan this afternoon. He was rushed to hospital where he died, it said. Two militants of pro-Pakistan Jaish-i-Mohammad outfit were killed in an encounter with security forces at Chiva in Safapora area of Baramula district last evening, they said. One of the slain militants has been identified as Liaqat Ali, a resident of Kupwara district, while the other could not be identified as yet, they said, adding some arms and ammunition were also recovered from the slain ultras. Two civilians and two security forces personnel were also injured in the incident, they said. In another encounter in Budgam district, security forces killed a Pakistani militant belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen last evening, the sources said. Tariq Mehmood alias Chachaji was killed in a gunfight at village Wadwan, they said, adding that one AK rifle, four magazines and 65 rounds of ammunition were recovered from him. A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman said the paramilitary force cordoned off Wadwan village in the central Kashmir Badgam district after a tip-off last evening. When the troops were sealing the exit points they came under heavy fire from militants. In the return of fire, a top HuM militant Tariq Mehmood alias Abu Shopian alias Chachaji was killed. An assault rifle, four magazines and 63 rounds of ammunition were hauled in the operation. Official sources said in another similar clash at Sumbal in Baramula district troops killed two militants of the Pakistan-based Jaish-i-Mohammad last night. Two jawans and two civilians were also injured in the clash and a house was damaged while two assault rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered. The encounter followed after militants hiding in the house fired upon a search party. Security forces also arrested two militants at Bandipora in north Kashmir last evening. BARAMULA: Life in the town and
adjoining villages was disrupted due to a spontaneous strike in protest against yesterday’s mine blast that left five persons dead and three others wounded. Shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was off the road. A few vehicles were damaged as some youths pelted stones in the morning, official sources said.
UNI, PTI |
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Govt gives relief for migrants Jammu, February 21 This was informed by Minister of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Hakeem Mohammad Yasin here yesterday. About 55,103 migrants in Jammu, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, would be celebrating 14th Shivratri out of Kashmir. The government had assured them that it was keen to mitigate their problems and also take all measures for their return with dignity and honour to their native places. The Minister directed the Relief Commissioner (Migrants) to make all arrangements to ensure that the cash was disbursed in time. |
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Rs 168 crore for bypass project Jammu, February 21 Stating this at a meeting of the committee of Secretaries here yesterday, the Chief Secretary said work on this vital route would start soon as the Works Department of the state government had already invited competitive bidding. |
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Medico’s death
mourned Jammu, February 21 Ms Sidhu belonged to Ludhiana and was doing her MBBS here. The vehicle in which she was going to the college slipped due to rain and she lost her life. Two other girls were injured. |
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