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Friday,
May 9, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Migrants want Pak guns to fall silent
Recent attacks acts of desperation, NEWS ANALYSIS |
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Another showdown in BJP on May 10
Custodial death: Centre told to pay 5
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Migrants want Pak guns to fall silent Jammu, May 8 Since the 1999 Kargil conflict, about 45,000 persons in various border villages of the Akhnoor sector have not been able to return to their villages. Most of them continue to live in shanties and in tented colonies. A majority among them hope that the proposed Indo-Pak talks may result in the guns falling silent. They say that once the Pakistani troops stop targeting villages on this side of the International Border, they could return to their ancestral villages. However, they have not stopped approaching government officials with one main demand of allotting land in safer areas where they could build houses and lead a life free of repeated migration. The state government has initiated measures in this direction and 2000 kanals of land have been acquired at two places in the Akhnoor sector where each family would be allotted 50 feet x20 feet size plots. The state administration had decided to provide assistance in building houses or huts on the new sites. The government agencies have also identified about 6,000 houses which have suffered damages owing to Pak firing and shelling in the Akhnoor, R.S. Pora, Samba and Kathua sectors during the past over five years. In case the Centre made the requisite funds available, these houses would be repaired provided there was no firing and mortar shelling from across the border. As a result of intermittent but heavy firing and shelling by Pakistani gunners, several thousand acres of land in these border sectors has not been cultivated. The state government has directed the officials of the revenue and agriculture departments to carry out a survey so that areas that have become barren could be conserved and farming could be resumed. Another problem facing villagers living on this side of the International Border is that a major chunk of their cultivable land has gone on the other side of the fence which was being raised by the BSF for checking infiltration and arms smuggling. These villagers fear that they may not be able to cross the fence and sow and harvest crops. They have approached the state government with the request that it should take up with the Centre the need for granting compensation to those farmers who, on account of the 8-foot high barbed wire, cannot carry out farming practices. Mr Raj Kumar and Mr Gulshan Kumar of the R.S. Pora sector are among the several thousand border migrants who are more interested in the Pak guns falling silent than seeing trade and diplomatic ties opened between the two countries. “We want peace on the Indo-Pak border so that we can live a happy life in our tiny villages,” said Mr Raj Kumar. |
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Recent attacks acts of desperation, says CRPF I-G Srinagar, May 8 “Frustrated by the erosion of public support to militancy in the valley, foreign ultras are indulging in acts of desperation to keep the pot of militancy boiling and to create panic among the people”, Mr Srivastava told reporters at a function here today. He said the way people participated in the last Assembly elections demonstrated they want peace to return in the state. Mr Srivastava said the initiatives set in motion by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his recent Kashmir visit was progressing well and hopefully, the process would usher in an era of peace in the state. The number of misguided people in Kashmir had come down as the masses had realised that violence is going to take them nowhere. “People are fed up with violence as it is the foreign mercenaries who are running the show (militancy) in the valley”, he said. Reacting to chemical weapons reportedly acquired by the militants, the CRPF chief said ultras had not used chemical weapons as of yet. But there are no borders for them and they can go to any extent. However, the security forces are fully geared up to drive out foreign militants from Indian soil, he said. “Let them use whatever they have but the security forces are determined to root out militancy from the state” , he said. Regarding the government proposal, mooted last year, to relieve BSF from the internal security duty and hand it over to CRPF in the state, Mr Srivastava said the process had started and was likely to be accomplished during the current year though no timeframe had been set for it. Under the plan, the Army and the BSF would be deployed along the borders to stop infiltration while the CRPF and the local police would take on the militants in the state, he said. Earlier, kin of constable Ghulam Mohammad and constable Ghulam
Hassan, who were killed by militants at Dalgate and Safakadal on March 8 and 9 in 2001, were handed over Rs 3 lakh each as ex-gratia relief.
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NEWS ANALYSIS Rajouri, May 8 The new trend of the locals, including some Gujjars, providing shelter to these militants, is alarming. Reports indicate that a large number of militants have shifted to the two towns from Surankot, Bafliaz and Hilkaka in Poonch where the Army has eliminated a number of top militant leaders in a string of encounters. The locals generally in the past did not oblige militants by providing them with shelter and due to this their activities were restricted to certain pockets. However, with the new trend, the Army will have to undertake house-to-house searches bound to be resented and resisted by the locals. A senior Army officer told this correspondent that with militants hiding in residential areas, there was always the possibility of some innocent persons becoming victims of cross-fire. This is what happened yesterday at Behrot where three persons were hurt in the cross-fire. What was baffling was that instead of uttering a single word against the terrorists, the local elders and youth raised slogans against the security forces and blocked the main road for over three hours. The Army has already launched the operation “sadbhavana” in a big way for the development of remote areas and providing medical and education facilities to the civilians to win their confidence. What success this operation yields in this terrorists affected area, is to be seen. Village elder Mehmood Chaudhary said that there had been a lot of movement of militants in the villages around Arhal in the past couple of days. The terrorists on gun-point force villagers to cook food for them and there have been incidents when they maltreated women in the house. Mr Ibrahim Khan said that he did not relish the presence of terrorists in his village, but the people were helpless because of the fear of the gun. There were indications that the Army was preparing to be tough with the terrorists and their harbourers here. Lt Gen T.P.S. Brar, GOC 16 Corps, has cautioned residents of the district against providing shelter to militants. To isolate the militants this time the district authorities have prohibited the nomadic Gujjars and Bakkarwals from proceeding towards the traditional pastures on high hills this summer. There were reports that these nomads with their cattle and goats were forced by militants to play host to them. Most of the grazing areas fall in the Pir-Panjal route which the militants take while infiltrating into Jammu and Kashmir. Security forces at the moment aim at clearing Surankot, Bafliaz and Hilkaka of militants. Militants have been calling the shots particularly in Surankot and Hilkaka areas so far. It is alleged that policemen look the other way on seeing militants in Surankot town. The forest across the river in the town is inhibited by Pakistani militants. Hilkaka is virtually the launching pad for militants from across the Line of Control. A number of terrorists have been shot by the Army in this area in the past few days. |
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Another showdown in BJP on May 10 Jammu, May 8 The state BJP chief, Prof Nirmal Singh, has declared the dissidents’ move as an “anti-party activity” and has apprised the BJP high command of this. Mr Gupta, when contacted on telephone at Udhampur, told this correspondent that celebrating the golden jubilee of the Praja Parishad with a historical background was not an anti-party activity. The Praja Parishad had later become the Jana Sangha with Pandit Prem Nath Dogra as its leader. He said that the Praja Parishad Yaadgar Samiti, which had been set up to make arrangements for the functions which would be held at the district-level throughout the state, had also invited the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and the BJP chief, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, for the function. However, on the other hand, Mr Nirmal Singh is not taking things lying down and has asked Mr Gupta to cancel the function which would be viewed as an anti-party activity. Mr Gupta is considered a close confidant of the Minister of State for Defence, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta. However, one faction claimed that although Mr Chaman Lal Gupta was distancing himself from the function and had tried to persuade its organisers to abandon the show, but some of his close relatives were in the forefront to organise the function. Explaining the importance of the function, Mr Shiv Charan Gupta said that the Praja Parishad was not a political party alone, but had a history behind it as this was the only party to oppose the National Conference of Sheikh Abdullah after the Partition of the country. The Jana Sangha stalwart, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, had come to Kashmir to oppose the granting of a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and demand complete integration of the state with India. |
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DYF workers lathicharged Srinagar, May 8 The protesters demanded the release of all those languishing in various jails, education and employment for all youth and lifting of ban on government recruitments. DYF general secretary M. Amin said the government should make efforts to create alternative sources of employment for youth or else pay them unemployment allowance. In a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister, which they could not submit, the DYF also demanded an increase in the budgetary allocation to improve quality of education and ensure access to higher education to people in remote areas. The protesters also demanded rehabilitation of youth released from jails.
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Custodial death: Centre told to pay 5 lakh Jammu, May 8 Mr Justice Muzaffar Jan yesterday directed the Centre to pay the compensation within two months on a petition filed by Ahmed’s parents. The parents in the petition alleged their son, a class XII student of Government Higher Secondary School in Kishtwar town of Doda district, was dragged out of his house by BSF personnel on February 10, 1995, and mercilessly beaten while in custody which resulted in his death three days later. They accused the Commandant and Deputy Commandant of the 38th Battalion of the BSF of torturing Ahmed and prayed for a compensation of Rs 65 lakh. The respondents, while admitting that Ahmed was picked Up by a JCO at Kishtwar, claimed that the boy died due to illness. The Judge observed that since the respondents did not get a post-mortem examination conducted on the body of the boy, which was a legal requirement, and in the absence of evidence of the nature of illness which had caused the death, it is conclusively proved that Ahmed died in custody and his death was not on account of any natural cause or grave sickness. The court said the respondents were held liable for causing custodial death and referring to an apex court order in a similar case ruled that the state was bond to compensate the persons claiming compensation for death caused in an illegal manner.
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