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Friday,
May 30, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Plebiscite only solution: Geelani BJP flays govt’s rehabilitation policy Partners look up to Sonia rally
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Amarinder pays homage to Sikh war heroes 9 activists of APHC constituent detained Raids on development authority office Decision to withdraw CRPF ‘unfortunate’ Jammu spared by heat wave Amarnath Yatra from July 12
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Plebiscite
only solution: Geelani Srinagar, May 29 Mr Geelani who was talking to this correspondent here, said: “We will wholeheartedly honour the verdict which the people give during the plebiscite. India cannot continue to occupy Kashmir with a force. This tendency of the Central Government has led to the gun culture in the state”. “We have a soft corner for Pakistan because it has always treated Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory and supported our basic right of self-determination at all levels, including politically, diplomatically and morally. Whereas India has been denying this basic right and has let loose a reign of terror in the Kashmir valley”, he alleged. He said there was no change in his view point and the right of self-determination was a conviction with him. Mr Geelani, who was released on parole for a major surgery, said his parole had expired and he had decided not to seek further extension of the parole. “I am mentally prepared for the police to come anytime and again arrest me”, he said. Reacting to the statement of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and other Central leaders that the recent Assembly elections were a referendum in which the people had voted for India, he said the elections cannot be treated as a substitute for the plebiscite. India should implement the UN resolutions which were aimed at settling the Kashmir issue. He said he contested the Assembly elections for 15 years in the hope that the country will adopt a democratic process for solving the Kashmir tangle, but unfortunately that had not happened. What was important was that India should realise that Jammu and Kashmir was a disputed territory and not its integral part, he stressed. Mr Geelani refused to comment on his recall from the 23-party amalgam by the Jamaat-i-Islami which has created a controversy and said the issue would be discussed at the meeting of the “Shoora” of the party on May 31. He was hopeful that the dispute would be settled and said he had faced such “conspiracies” many times before but these would not deviate him from his path. He targeted the Centre for not allowing the people of Kashmir to launch a peaceful struggle for their right of self-determination and trying to “crush’ the voice of the people at gunpoint. He said the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was functioning on the dictates of the Home Ministry and innocent people arrested under the Public Safety Act and POTA were not being released although during the elections he had announced that this would be uppermost in his agenda after coming to power. |
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BJP flays govt’s rehabilitation policy Jammu, May 29 Following an order, issued recently by the government, the Rehabilitation Council was broad-based with the setting up of a 21-member governing body. The members of the council were drawn from different walks of life, ethnic groups and regions. The government also established a corpus fund of about Rs 18 crore, the bank interest on which was to be utilised for the rehabilitation of victims of militancy. However, a BJP spokesman, Dr Hari Om, said it was unfortunate that the government had decided to rehabilitate family members of those militants who were killed in operations launched by the security forces. “It is unimaginable that family members of those militants, who had killed innocent people and security personnel before they fell to the bullets of the police, were also being made eligible for rehabilitation. But we will oppose this policy tooth and nail, he added. Sources in the ruling coalition said the basic idea was to provide a healing touch to all victims of militancy. They said the purpose was to remove peoples’ alienation and Kashmiri youths, who had become militants, were also citizens of the state and their family members deserved rehabilitations. They said even previous governments had launched rehabilitation programmes for militants who had surrendered. “We are not rehabilitating militants who do not lay down their weapons. We are simply giving a healing touch to the family members of those rebels who were killed,” they added. They said the council had existed prior to the formation of the PDP-Congress government, but was ineffective in rehabilitating those affected by militancy. The result was an increase in peoples’ alienation. “This we are committed to remove, they added. |
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Partners
look up to Sonia rally Srinagar, May 29 Significance is being attached to the public meeting in view of the claims of Dr Farooq Abdullah and his son, Omar Abdullah, that the coalition government would fall shortly. Ms Gandhi is coming here on Friday to preside over the conclave of chief ministers of Congress-ruled states. Ms Mehbooba Mufti, President of the PDP and daughter of Mufti Sayeed, told this correspondent that the public meeting was being organised by the state government. It is for the first time in the past seven months after the coalition government came into being in Jammu and Kashmir that all the partners are coming on one stage. Earlier, the public meeting was expected to be only a Congress show, but Ms Gandhi is understood to have desired the rally to be a coalition affair. The Mufti had recently called on Ms Gandhi in Delhi and discussed various issues with her. Observers feel that one of the reasons for the joint show was to remove the impression that has gone around that the Congress and the PDP were not pulling on well. Both the parties have been keeping away from each other’s functions. No Congress minister or MLA participated in the public meeting which was addressed by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, here last month. |
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Amarinder
pays homage to Sikh war heroes Baramula, May 29 Talking to a group of mediapersons in this border town, 55 km north of Srinagar, after paying homage to war heroes of 1st battalion of Sikh regiment, Captain Amarinder Singh hoped that the Congress would be victorious in these elections, not held for the past 10 years. He also referred to the elections in cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, where the elections to corporation were won by Congress candidates. He added recruitments of school teachers and doctors would be done with the consent of panchayats so that educational institutions and hospitals had sufficient staff. Mr Amarinder Singh, who arrived here a day ahead of the two-day conclave of Congress Chief Ministers, visited the Sikh war memorial here to pay homage to heroes of Sikh regiment who fought first battle here in 1947-48. He recalled his association with the regiment during war. In the 1965 war with Pakistan, Captain Amarinder Singh, then commissioned in 2nd Battalion was ADC to then GOC-in-C, Western Command, 1 Sikh was the first battalion of the Indian Army to reach Srinagar airport in 1947, as the Battalion HQ along with two companies landed at Srinagar airport on October 27, 1947. The Chief Minister said that during his stay here he would interact with the Jammu and Kashmir government on security issues for the common borders between the two neighbouring states. Denying that any Kashmiri student was killed in Punjab, Mr Amarinder Singh admitted that two persons were in custody in Punjab. He also denied that there were indications of the revival of terrorism in Punjab. The Chief Minister added that situation in his state was normal and there were no such problems. “We are concentrating on development”, Mr Amarinder Singh maintained. Referring to the Chief Ministers conclave which begins at the high-security SKICC here tomorrow, the Punjab Chief Minister said, apart from reviewing the performance in their states, the meeting is to discuss common issues facing them. He added that the party president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, on the basis of the performance and problems being faced by every state, would give out guidelines to resolve the issues. The aim of such meetings is the discussion and interaction on common issues in the national interest. Mr Amarinder Singh stressed the need for regional cooperation, and added that he had already proposed a meeting of the Chief Ministers of northern states,in Punjab to address common issues. He said that the regional cooperation was necessary in hydro-electric projects, fiscal reforms and Panchayat Raj in the northern states to address main problems for overall development of these states. |
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9 activists of APHC constituent detained Srinagar, May 29 The activists were also raising slogans demanding the release of their president Zamrooda Habib, arrested by the Delhi Police earlier this year allegedly for receiving funds from the Pakistan High Commission.
PTI |
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Raids on development authority office
Jammu, May 29 However, senior IAS officer and Vice-Chairman, JDA, Aslam Qureshi, and Secretary JDA, T.K. Sharma, against whom cases have been registered, have gone underground and not reported for duty since Tuesday, the sources told PTI. A team of seven officials, led by SP, (Vigilance), swooped on the JDA office and held closed door inquiries with the establishment wing of the JDA, they said. They seized records of all alleged illegal appointments, including that of Public Relations Officer, Raghunath Zahoor, besides salary slips, attendance registers and land, commercial building and shop allotments, the sources said adding that they took the records with them. The JDA top officials allegedly made several illegal appointments and nearly 350 allotments of residential plots, commercial buildings and shops during the last two years in Jammu. “Both officials, who still continue on their posts would be placed under suspension by the government,” the sources said observing that their continuance in office would hamper the probe. PTI |
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Decision
to withdraw CRPF ‘unfortunate’ Jammu, May 29 Mr Kotwal told mediapersons here today that the decision to withdraw the CRPF from militancy-infested areas was “unfortunate and uncalled for. “He said during the recent weeks militancy-related incidents had increased. The leader demanded that besides sending additional companies of the security forces, there was an urgent need for strengthening the village defence committees (VDCs) by equipping each member of the committee with modern weapons. A senior police functionary posted in Doda said no doubt deployment of the CRPF had not totally curbed militancy in the district, it had at least restricted the movement of the militants. He said: “We had been assured that whatever number of the CRPF companies were to be withdrawn they would be replaced either by the BSF or the Rashtriya Rifles.” He said so far there had been no replacement. Mr Gian Chand, a VDC member, said: “We expected some monetary help from the government but even the promised Rs 200 per member per month has not been honoured.” |
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Jammu spared by heat wave JAMMU: The winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, spared by a heat wave, is hot. Srinagar, the summer capital, is yet to turn pleasant. The spring in the valley was washed out by a long spell of rain. This was followed by intermittent rain. Residents there have yet to abandon kangris (earthen fire pots). They still line up before charcoal dealers to replenish their charcoal stock, which is over by March. The room heaters are still on. Many officers still got to bed with hot water bottles. Whenever the sun peeps out, they come out in the open. In Jammu the demand for desert coolers, fans and airconditioners has gone up. In the city alone, having a population of about 12 lakh, more than 20,000 desert coolers and, fans were sold during the past three months. The Power Development authorities confirmed that at least 100 applications for power supply to airconditioners were cleared during the past 45 days. With increase in power cuts the demand for invertors and generators has also gone up. Jammuites in bush shirts and shorts look for ice-cream, ice candies, aerated drinks as the day temperature here ranges between 38°C and 41°C. Piping hot "kahwa" (tea) cups do rounds in Kashmir, where the day temperature ranges between 14°C and 18°C. Residents there wear tweed "Phirans" at home and suits in offices. Several VIPs, including ministers, legislators and bureaucrats, have been seen changing attires before touching down at Jammu or Srinagar. Changeover from a three-piece suit in Srinagar to a shirt and pant in Jammu in few hours is usual for
shuttlers. |
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Amarnath
Yatra from July 12 Srinagar, May 29
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Srinagar, May 29
