 |
Friday,
March 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Talks fruitful, says
N.N. Vohra
J&K ASSEMBLY NC members stage walkout |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREEN BELT CASE Bandh observed in Sunderbani
|
|
Talks fruitful, says N.N. Vohra Jammu, March 6 “I am happy the way talks are progressing and meetings held with the Chief Minister, ministers and other political leaders were very fruitful” Mr Vohra told reporters. Indicating willingness to expand the ambit of his talks, he said “everybody is welcome to meet me and I would wish to hear everyone”. On how he would assess his first visit to the state, Mr Vohra said “I established contact with important personalities with whom I would be working in future for finding a solution to the problem”. After a series of meetings with leaders of the state government, which continued for over nine hours, Mr Vohra today left for Delhi. Yesterday he met the Governor, Mr G.C. Saxena, the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Tara Chand, the Chairman of the Legislative Council, Mr Abdul Rashid Dar, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, separately. Official sources said during these meetings the government interlocutor received varied suggestions on the way he needed to adopt in initiating a meaningful dialogue with the elected representatives and others. Before paying another visit to Jammu, which would be followed by a trip to the Kashmir valley, Mr Vohra is expected to meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to brief them on his first dialogue with the state government functionaries. According to official sources, Mr Vohra had a “fruitful” discussion with Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, NC MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. The Hurriyat Conference has set up a two-member committee, comprising Molvi Umar Farooq, chairman, Awami Action Committee, and Mohammad Yasin Malik, the JKLF chief. The committee members plan to visit Delhi to meet diplomats, prominent intellectuals and human rights activists in order to secure their opinion on the need to participate in the talks. A CPM leader MLA, Mr M.Y. Tarigami, today appreciated the sense of dignity Mr Vohra had shown during his meetings with several government functionaries. During his address in the Assembly on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s Address, Mr Tarigami said he wanted the Union Government to ensure that Mr Vohra would not be asked to pack up as in case of Mr K.C. Pant and Mr Arun Jaitley. |
|
J&K ASSEMBLY Jammu, March 6 The Minister of State for Home, Mr Abdul Rehman Veeri, said under the plan, four to five marla would be provided to the migrants who were forced to leave their villages owing to heavy firing and shelling by Pakistani troops. He said the plots would be given to the migrants in Jammu, Kathua, Hiranagar, Sunderbani and Haveli tehsils. The plan was expected to be completed within 45 days. The question was tabled by Dr Romesh Chander who wanted to know whether the government planned to provide cash relief to the migrants in
lieu of their houses, land and cattle and give jobs to their wards. Mr Veeri said there was no proposal to provide them cash relief and jobs. He said jobs under SRO 43 were being given to the next of kins of those killed in militancy-related violence. When members criticised their policy saying that it was discriminatory against people of Jammu the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, expressed his resentment over the way the issue of regional imbalance was being raked up unnecessarily even in trivial matters. He said the criteria for grant of cash relief to the migrants had been fixed by the Centre. He said the government had disbursed Rs 46 crore, released by the Centre, among people belonging to the areas where the Army had occupied their land for laying mines. Referring to the Kashmiri migrants, he said they had left their houses at the time of exodus and the relief to them had been sanctioned much earlier. In reply to a question tabled by Mr Jugal Kishore, the government informed the House that in its common minimum programme, the ruling coalition had stated that due consideration would be given to the recommendations of the Wazir Commission. It also announced that it would constitute a delimitation commission when required by law. The government told Mr Mubarik Gul of the NC, who had tabled a question on the Public Service Commission and the Subordinate Services Selection Board, that the process of selection by the agencies had become time-consuming. Mr Veeri told the House that since the number of applicants was large delay in selection was inevitable. During question hour, the House was informed through a written reply to a question regarding job opportunities tabled by Dr Mehboob Beg of the NC, that the government was committed to provide at-least one “productive job per family.” The government was also initiating steps for generating jobs in the private sector and in Central Government departments and undertakings. The government said steps were being taken to persuade the Ministry of Defence and the Union Home Ministry to expand their recruitment base in Jammu and Kashmir. The government said bullet-proof vehicles and security guards had been withdrawn or down-graded or upgraded in case of former legislators following threat assessment by the Security Review Committee. It denied the charge that security had been withdrawn from those belonging to the National Conference only. |
|
|
NC members stage walkout Jammu, March 6 The NC members staged a walkout from the House in protest against the Speaker, Mr Tara Chand, who had refused to give more time to the NC members for participating in the discussion on the Governor’s Address. Mr Tara Chand reminded the NC members that they had been given sufficient time during the past four days and it was not possible for him to give them more time as it would delay the Chief Minister’s reply. The NC members stood up and walked out of the House while shouting against the Speaker’s ruling. Unruffled by the protest walkout, the Chief Minister told the members that he was hopeful about the success of the Centre’s interlocutor, Mr
N.N. Vohra, in his mission of resolving the problems in Jammu and Kashmir. Replying to the four-day debate on the motion of thanks on Governor’s Address, the Chief Minister said: “Nobody could afford to reject the offer of talks meant for resolving the problems in the state.” Mr Sayeed referred to the objection raised by some Opposition members about the selection of a former bureaucrat for the dialogue and asked who facilitated the Indira-Sheikh accord in the 70s. “It was Mr G.
Parthasarthy, a seasoned bureaucrat who had engaged a continuous dialogue with Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beg that culminated into the historic accord,” he said. The Chief Minister hailed the Prime Minister’s Rajya Sabha statement in which he had stated that mistakes of past on Kashmir would not be repeated. Making a plea for waiving about Rs 1,200 crore debt to the Centre, the Chief Minister said this has been accumulated due to delayed implementation of the central funding pattern to Jammu and Kashmir. |
|
Three militants killed Srinagar, March 6 The operation was launched by the Rashtriya Rifles at Kawacheck village near Kreeri yesterday following information about the presence of some militants which led to a fierce gunbattle between the two sides, the sources said. The house of a local police official Ali Mohammad Bhat, was damaged during the encounter, they said. The bodies of three militants, two of whom were identified as Shabir Ahmad Wani and Farooq Ahmad Khan, and two civilians Abdul Rashid, a government teacher and Ashi Hussain were recovered from the debris of the house.
PTI |
|
GREEN BELT CASE
Srinagar, March 6 A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Nissar Ahmad Kakroo and Mr Justice Pramod Kohli also directed the state Home Commissioner to submit all records relating to the allotment of land by any government agency to the Police Department latest by Tuesday next, failing which he should appear in person in the court. Mr Suri and the Managing Director, Police Housing Corporation, Mr Madan Lal, today appeared in the court in response to court orders but were exempted from personal appearance till further orders. The court also directed the three-member committee constituted by it to make a fresh inspection of the site to find out if there had been any addition or alteration made to the complex under construction in the prohibited area since the last inspection and submit its report when the case came up again for hearing.
PTI |
|
Bandh observed in Sunderbani Jammu, March 6 All shops and other business establishments remained closed and vehicles were off the roads at the town in Rajouri district today, police sources said. Twentyseven persons, including 13 policemen, were injured in police-public clashes over the demolition of four “samadhis” by the police yesterday, the sources said. "The situation is well under control and peace is prevailing in entire belt, the sources said, adding that prohibitory orders had been clamped on the town. PTI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
(
