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Thursday,
March 27, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Cracks appear in Mufti-led coalition Mufti Sayeed admits security lapse in Nadimarg
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Govt has sovereign authority: Mufti CM meets Kargil deputation J&K MLAs to declare assets Students protest against Iraq war
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Cracks appear in Mufti-led coalition
Jammu, March 26 The Panthers Party with the strength of four MLAs is supporting the coalition government and two of them are ministers. The anger of Mr Sharma was witnessed in the Assembly this morning when a Panthers Party member, Mr Balwant Singh, refused to withdraw the two Bills moved by him seeking state subject rights for those persons who migrated here from Pakistan during Partition and increasing the number of Assembly seats in the Jammu division. Mr Balwant Singh said trifurcation of the state was inevitable if we did not rise above politics and give what was due to the Jammu region. Both Bills moved by him were rejected by the House by a voice vote at the introductory stage.
Mr Sharma snubbed the Panthers Party member by saying that they should not try to dictate terms to the government and not adopt double standards by raising such sensitive issues in the House without discussing these in the coordination committee of the coalition partners. While the common minimum programme (CMP) of the coalition pledged to strengthen regional unity, the utterances of the Panthers Party members were aimed at
disintegration of the state. Mr Sharma pointed out that the issues being raised by Mr Balwant Singh had already been addressed in the CMP in which it has been provided that a delimitation commission will be set up and balanced development undertaken in all regions of the state. He pointed out that the Panthers Party members should keep in mind that they are coalition partners and two of their legislators are ministers. We will not allow you to become heroes by raising such contentious issues. Mr Balwant Singh and Mr Faqir Nath (Panthers Party), Mr Manjit Singh (BSP) and Mr Jugal Kisore (BJP) reacted sharply to certain remarks of Mr Sharma and Mr Balwant Singh walked out of the house. There were noisy scenes as the Congress members came to the rescue of Mr Sharma and shouted at the Panthers Party
members. Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Law and Parliamentary Minister, tried to save the situation by saying that a difference of opinion can arise even between two brothers. He said that the Assembly should not be made the platform for a regional
divide as such developments would further strengthen the hands of our enemies who have unleashed militancy in the state. We should not provide strength to the enemy by raising the issue of
trifurcation. The Centre has already made it clear that it was not in favour of trifurcation of the state. Mr Beig said there are about 87,000 persons who had migrated from Pakistan who have not been granted state subject rights because of hurdles due to the provisions of the Constitution. We don’t treat them as second class citizen and are equally keen to solve their problems. Regarding the other Bill seeking state subject rights for those who migrated here from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Mr Beig pointed out that 30,000 sq. km of area of J&K is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and 12,000 sq. km with China. Parliament has already adopted a resolution that this area will be taken back from the occupation of the two countries. He said that moreover the matter is
sub-judice because three petitions pertaining to the issue are pending before the Supreme Court. Mr Balwant Singh insisted that the citizenship rights cannot be denied to the refugees from PoK who have settled in J&K because those settled in other parts of the country have not only been granted all citizenship rights, but some of them have been even become Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the country. He said of the 24 Assembly seats earmarked for the PoK areas, four should be earmarked for the nearly five lakh refugees who have come from there. Nine more seats should be added for Jammu to meet the complaint that the number of seats was more in the Kashmir valley where the population was about 3 lakh less than that of the Jammu region. Mr Manjit Singh (BSP) said the migrants of PoK had always faced the wrath of the Pakistani troops as they were residing on the borders. |
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Mufti Sayeed admits security lapse in Nadimarg Jammu, March 26 Asserting that the state government will take measures to restore a sense of security among the Kashmiri Pandits in the wake of the Nadimarg massacre, the Mufti said the Jammu and Kashmir police will be geared up to meet the challenge of militancy in a more effective manner with courage and fortitude. Replying to the debate on the Governor’s Address in the Legislative Council here today, the Mufti said even the Army presence about 1.5 km away from the site of the carnage, could not prevent the incident. Referring to the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani and his own visit to Nadimarg where heart-rending scenes were witnessed, the Mufti said these courageous Kashmiri Pandits had preferred to stay back when many of us (political leaders and Muslims) had opted to migrate to safer environs. They stayed back because they were deeply attached to the roots of Kashmiriyat. He recalled that during his visit to Delhi and Mumbai, he literally begged his Kashmiri Pandit brethren to return to their homes and hearts to restore the colour and compositive culture of Kashmir. Saying that the massacre was aimed at derailing the peace process which had kindled hope and confidence among the people for restoration of peace with dignity, Mufti Sayeed said that these enemies of peace are exploiting our vulnerabilities to achieve their nefarious designs. We have to plug loopholes and remain over-vigilant against the machinations of enemies of peace. The Mufti said the coalition partners had charted out their course of action after a serious thought and critical appraisal of the genesis of the situation and there is no question of deviating from this path. “We are committed to steering the state from the morass and change the scenario,” he said and solicited cooperation of everyone across the board to achieve the objective. “This serious challenge cannot be met alone by me or the coalition parties, but everyone, including the National Conference and Independents, have to join hands to mobilise the public against the perpetrators of violence.” He said he has been encouraged by the commonman’s response to small initiatives taken by the government to address their socio-economic problems Making a fervent appeal to the people to face the situation with commitment, the Chief Minister referred to the courage of Iraqi people in giving a stiff resistance to the mighty power. He said religious places have been bombarded but the people of that country did not leave their ground and fought back. Asking people to fight with same spirit, those elements which are striking at our glorious traditions of brotherhood, ethos and blackening our chequered history, the Chief Minister said what we need is motivation, commitment and even courage to risk our lives to fight to what we stand for. Saying that unconditional dialogue is the only way to address the internal dimension of the Kashmir situation, Mufti Sayeed said, “We politicians are mainly responsible for the present and cannot absolve of our responsibility. |
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Hurriyat for impartial probe Srinagar, March 26 “Hurriyat wants an impartial probe into the massacre so that the culprits are identified and such incidents do not occur again,” a Hurriyat spokesman said after nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting of the seven-member executive council here. He said the members expressed grief and sorrow over the massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits on Monday. Hurriyat sources said the Nadimarg carnage dominated the meeting and separatist leaders called for steps to restore the confidence of the minority community, living in the valley. They said Hurriyat’s stand on the issue of dialogue with Centre’s interlocutor
N.N. Vohra was also discussed. It was not decided yet whether the Hurriyat should go ahead with the dialogue process or not, the sources said. Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat, executive members Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq, Mohammad Yaseen Malik, Moulvi Abbass Ansari and Bilal Gani Lone and a representative of the Jamaat-e-Islami Zahid Ali attended the meeting. No one from the People’s League turned up for the meeting as most of its leaders were not present in the city, the spokesman said. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the recent visit of two senior Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Moulvi Umer Farooq and Mohammad Yaseen Malik to Delhi where they met Congress President Sonia Gandhi, several diplomats, intellectuals and other political leaders. The two leaders briefed the council on their visit during the meeting, the spokesman said.
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Govt has sovereign authority: Mufti Jammu, March 26 The Mufti was replying to supplementaries regarding the release of the detained militants in the Assembly. The main question was tabled by Mr Ashwani Sharma (JSM). The Chief Minister clarified that although the Centre’s representative was there in the committee, the decision of the state government shall prevail in case of a dispute. He said that we are a responsible government which would never compromise with the security
scenario. The Mufti accused the BJP of having politicised the issue of the release of eight detenues during the Gujarat election and unfortunately a signal went around that the government was soft towards terrorists. He said these detenues were released with the concurrence of the central intelligence. Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar (NC) said that of the 17 detenues released by the Mufti government with much publicity, 11 were those who were detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on the charges of timber smuggling. By doing so the government was trying to create an impression as if it had provided a healing touch. Replying to the main question, the Chief Minister said that as many as 16,103 persons had been arrested between 1990 to January 31 this year. Out of these, 476 are presently detained under the PSA. Eighty-five
persons have been arrested in militancy-related incidents ever since the present government came to power in November last. He said that among the arrested were six policemen and four other government officials. |
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CM meets Kargil deputation Jammu, March 26 Interacting with a high-level deputation from the Zanskar area of Kargil led by the Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Lama Chosphal/Zotpa, here this morning, the Chief Minister said that the coalition government was keen to promote all languages and dialects spoken in the state. The deputation thanked the Chief Minister for granting the hill council status to Kargil on the analogy of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and pleaded that due representation in council seats be given to Zanskar on special consideration of area, backwardness and principal Buddhist minority. The president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Zanskar, Mr Sonam Nangial, lauded the steps taken by the Mufti government to ensure an equitable development of all three regions of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh for a speedy socio-economic transformation of the people. |
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J&K MLAs to declare assets Jammu, March 26 Rules pertaining to declaration of the assets and liabilities by the members were laid on the table of the House today by the secretary of the Assembly. The rules have been framed by the Speaker under the Representation of the People Act, 1957. The rules provide that a member will be required to submit written comments within 15 days in case any complaint is received regarding his property, in case the information is not furnished within the stipulated period, the Speaker shall suomotu refer the matter to a committee for an inquiry. |
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Students protest against Iraq war Srinagar, march 26 Raising anti-America slogans and carrying placards which read ‘Bush, a war monger, stop war’ and ‘No blood for oil’, the students assembled on the university campus at Hazratbal on the outskirts of the city and tried to take out a march, official sources said. They were stopped by the police following which the students set ablaze pictures of US President George Bush, the sources said.
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