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Thursday,
August 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Give peace
a chance, Mufti asks militants BJP
cautions Centre on DIG’s suspension |
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| Protest
over arrest of two youths Srinagar, August 6 People in the Ikhrajpora and Radio colony localities in uptown Srinagar today took to the streets and observed a complete shut-down in protest against the arrest of two youths, including a former militant, belonging to the area. PoK
refugees move panel over relief Shelling
hits Kargil traffic
Forces
abandon recce to retrieve soldiers’ bodies Teachers’
writ petition dismissed 12
revenue officials suspended J&K
told to pay relief 
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Militants behead man, son Srinagar, August 6 Two members of a family — Abdul Ahad Khan and his son Ishtiaq Ahmad — were beheaded by militants at Sangrama-Rafiabad in Baramula district of north Kashmir last night, the sources said. Khan and his son were dragged out by the gunmen from their house and beheaded with sharp-edged weapons. Another civilian, Imtiyaz Ahmad, was shot dead by militants at Aloochibagh in the Pampore area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir last night. A BSF spokesman said two local Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including a self-styled group commander, were killed in a gunfight with the troops of the force at Laragam in Pulwama district last night. The encounter took place when the troops raided a house in the village. The deceased were identified as group commander Ghulam Mohammad Hajam and Fayaz Ahmad Thakkar. An AK rifle, three magazines, 34 rounds, a rifle grenade and a wireless set were seized from the killed militants. In another encounter, troops of the Rashtriya Rifles killed a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, Abu Sayeed of Pakistan, during search operations at Warnov in Kupwara district. Troops of Rashtriya Rifles arrested two Hizbul Mujahideen militants from Lalpora and seized eight RPG boosters and a grenade from Gagal and Sogam in Kupwara. A Tehreek-e-Jehad militant, Qadir Sheikh, was nabbed from Fatehgard in Baramula district. Meanwhile, three suspected militants were arrested by the police during raids on two hospitals in the city today, official sources said. Mohammad Maqbool Wani, a resident of Sumbler, was arrested when he visited SMHS Hospital for the treatment of splinter injuries he had reportedly received in an encounter with the security forces in the Bandipora area some time back. Wani’s accomplice was also arrested and both of them have been taken for questioning. Another suspected militant, Altaf Hussain Ganai, was picked up by the police from the Bone and Joints Hospital at Barzulla. Ganai was admitted in the hospital yesterday for the treatment of a bullet injury, they added.
— PTI |
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Give peace a chance, Mufti asks militants Srinagar, August 6 “If people of India and Pakistan can meet each other and improve their ties, what crime have the people of Jammu and Kashmir committed to be deprived of it. if a bus can go from Delhi to Lahore why it can’t go from Srinagar and Jammu,” the Mufti said addressing public meetings at various places in Pulwama district of south Kashmir yesterday. He said the exchange of visits of the families on both sides of the border would remove the myth created among the people of Pakistan who have been fed to believe that there was no Islam in Jammu and Kashmir. Confirming PDP Rajya Sabha member Trilock Singh Bajwa would attend a four-day conference being sponsored by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Islamabad, he said the “PDP would send its Member Parliament in the forthcoming parliamentary delegation to Pakistan to promote people to people contact.” Pressing militants to shun the path of violence, he said “even the people of Pakistan are now keen to have peace with India just like the people of our country.” On the issue of rights violations in the state, the Mufti said the security forces and the police had been clearly told that the government would not tolerate even a single human rights violation. On the unemployment issue, the Mufti said, “though the government cannot make recruitment in view of the MoU signed with the Centre, yet we are recruiting about 28,000 teachers and 7000 personnel for the territorial army.”
— PTI |
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BJP cautions Centre on DIG’s suspension Jammu, August 6 The State Cabinet, which met in Srinagar on July 23, decided to place under suspension Mr Farooq Khan on a charge of laxity in preventing the killing of five innocent people in the Army firing on a mob in Pathirbal in Anantnag district on March 25, 2000. He has also been blamed for fudging the DNA of the firing victims. Many leaders of the BJP in Jammu have put their weight behind Mr Khan and have warned the Union Home Ministry that if it upheld the suspension order, it might prove counter-productive because the action taken against Mr Khan had already “demoralised the police force in the state.” The Pathirbal incident is an interesting saga of political vendetta. Soon after the incident, Mr Farooq Khan, who was the SSP of Anantnag, was transferred. The government ordered a judicial probe and Mr Justice Pandyan ordered that the five bodies be exhumed and their blood samples be sent for a DNA test. In his final report to the government, the judge exonerated Mr Khan, who was reinstated in October 2000. After about two years, there was an uproar over the reports of fudging of the blood samples. While the government ordered a CBI probe, Justice G.A. Kuchai was asked to hold a fresh probe. The Kuchai report was not made public. Supporters of Mr Khan said that when the blood samples from the exhumed bodies were collected and sealed for sending to two laboratories, one in Kolkata and the other in Hyderabad, Mr Khan had not supervised the operation at any stage. The collection of the blood samples and their sealing was done under the supervision of a different SSP and DSP. The BJP leaders have conveyed to the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, that winner of two President’s Police Medal, Mr Farooq Khan had performed an “excellent job in containing the activities of militants as head of the Special Operation Group of the police.” Mr Advani has been told that if a police officer of the nerve of Mr Khan was punished, it could demoralise other ranks of the police engaged in fighting militants in the state. Informed sources said that Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed had been pressurised by some his Cabinet colleagues to place Mr Khan under suspension because they believed that the reinstatement of Mr Khan had raised people’s anger against the former National Conference Government. |
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Protest
over arrest of two youths Srinagar, August 6 Demanding the release of the arrested men — Abdul Latief and Abdul Waheed — the residents said they were running a shop in Radio colony and were not involved in militancy. While Latief, a former militant, was picked up by the BSF, Waheed was whisked away by the police task force, stationed at the cargo complex in the city yesterday, the residents said, adding that the policemen also snatched identity cards of several shopkeepers and salesmen in the area. Raising slogans against the state government for its “false promise” of disbanding the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police, the residents alleged that SOG personnel from the Cargo complex raided the locality several times during the past few days and harassed the youth. The dharna was, however, lifted when a police team led by the Station House Officer of the Rajbagh police station, assured the people that the matter would be taken up with the higher authorities and the youths, if found innocent, released soon.
— PTI |
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PoK refugees move panel over relief Jammu, August 6 PoK Refugees Organisation chairman Rajiv Chuni told a press conference that the community was being discriminated against. “Over Rs 37 billion has been spent on Kashmiri migrants, but not a single penny has been given to 200,000 PoK refugee families.’’ The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ruled that there should be no discrimination against PoK refugees while paying them compensation. “PoK refugees were left with no option except to move the NHRC,’’ Mr Chuni said.
— UNI |
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Shelling
hits Kargil traffic Srinagar, August 6 Official sources said the Pakistani troops opened unprovoked mortar and artillery shelling in the Kargil sector in the morning, targeting civilian areas and security force installations. About a dozen shells fell on the outskirts of Kargil. However, there was no report of any loss of life or damage to property. The troops also targeted the national highway. Some shells fell in the Kaksar and Kharboo areas, forcing the authorities to suspend the traffic.
— UNI |
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Forces abandon recce to retrieve soldiers’ bodies Jammu, August 6 A team of Air Force officers from the Sarsawa base made three attempts to reach the crash site, but could not do so because of poor visibility and bad weather. They are expected to resume the operation tomorrow in case weather improves. The operation of retrieving the bodies is likely to be conducted by the Air Force in coordination with the Northern and the Western Commands of the Army. Officers of the Manali-based mountaineering institute will also be associated with the operations. It was a chance discovery of the crash site last week by a group of trekkers participating in an advanced course while scaling the Chandra Bhaga-13 (CB-13) peak who came across a partial skeleton of sepoy Beli Ram who belongs to the Akhnoor area of Jammu. His mother, Tendo Devi, and wife, Giano Devi, have met many senior officers of the Army to get the body of Beli Ram. The Army authorities were organising separate teams for the ground operations as it might take a lot of time to extricate the bodies and the wreckage of the AN-12 aircraft, which is believed to have scattered over a big area. The Director of the mountaineering institute, Col H.S. Chauhan, said it would not be an easy task to land the helicopter at such a height for a long period as it would be necessary to take off within a couple of minutes. The rotors of the helicopter would have to be kept running and the rescuers would have to perform the task within a few minutes. He said it appeared from the statements of the trekkers that some bones and private clothing of the soldiers was also scattered in the snow. Colonel Chauhan said it would take at least two days for the ground parties to reach the crash site as the road extended only up to Battal and thereafter, the jawans would have to climb the glacier. The aircraft on its flight to Leh from Chandigarh with 102 persons on board, including six members of the crew, four officers and 92 jawans of various regiments, went missing on February 7, 1968. The defence authorities continued the search for six months and then abandoned it as no signs of the wreckage were detected. |
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Teachers’ writ petition dismissed Srinagar, August 6 The teachers, whose attachments for varied reasons were cancelled by the government in June, approached the court seeking directions to stay the government orders. Disposing of the writ petitions, a Division Bench of the court comprising Acting Chief Justice
V.K. Jhanji and Mr Justice S.K. Gupta observed that the petitioners could not complain of any discrimination. Consequently, no direction could be issued to treat any of the petitioners as migrant. Announcing the judgments simultaneously yesterday, the Judges at Jammu and Srinagar, respectively, observed that there might be cases where some of the petitioners had genuine apprehensions. It had time and again been held by the supreme court that whatever be the nature of hardships, the employees concerned should, instead of approaching the courts, go to the competent authority, the court said. The threat perception, to an extent, is more a state of mind and characteristic way of perceiving things, depending upon various factors, the court observed. It said if any of the petitioners fear going back to his or her place of posting on that score, he or she would be at liberty to have a golden handshake with the government on the terms provided for in the judgment.
— PTI |
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12 revenue officials suspended Srinagar, August 6 An official spokesman said today that the Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Hakeem Mohammad Yasin ordered the suspension of the Naib Tehsildar, Nagam for deliberately delaying the issuance of a backward certificate in favour of a local person for the past four months. Another clerk of tehsil office, Chadoora was also placed under suspension for delaying the issuance of permanent resident certificates. He also ordered suspension of 10 employees of the tehsil offices, in Budgam and Chadoora for being absent from duty. The minister issued these orders during a surprise visit to these offices yesterday.
— UNI |
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J&K told to pay
relief Srinagar, August 6 Rejecting the contention of the Additional Advocate General that Sheikh Mohammad Yasir and Mohammad Yasir Bhat were killed when they were caught in a cross-fire during an encounter between militants and the security forces on January 1, 1995, Justice Muzaffar Jan said yesterday that there was nothing on record to show that the duo was involved in any previous act of militancy.
— PTI |
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Open school launched Srinagar, August 6 Mr Harshdev Singh said the launch of the open school was a firm step of the government towards achieving cent per cent literacy in the state. |
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Kishtwar
night curfew continues Jammu, August 6 |
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