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Sunday,
August 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Six infiltrators, four Army
men killed Geelani’s
exit boosts chances of dialogue with separatists Give up
violence, BJP tells Hurriyat
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Farmers
get compensation for inferior seeds Plea to
reduce duration of Amarnath yatra Gurdwara
poll postponed
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Six infiltrators, four Army
men killed Srinagar, August 23 Six Pakistani infiltrators were killed in a gunbattle in Poonch district in which four personnel, including three Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), also lost their lives. The encounter broke out when the troops intercepted the ultras at Nar Balnoi in the Mendhar sector last night. Three security personnel were injured in the incident. Six AK rifles and some ammunition were recovered from the slain militants. In another encounter, a militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Mohammad Ashraf Tantray, was killed by the troops of Rashtriya Rifles during search operations at Sallar village of Pahalgam in Anantnag district today. The militants kidnapped and killed a forester, Moulvi Mohammad Yaqoob Khatana, by slitting his throat at Panar in the Bandipora area of Baramula district today. Special police officer Inder Singh, injured in a militant attack in Udhampur district about six days ago, died in hospital today. A civilian, injured in a grenade blast at Sangam Chowk in Anantnag district yesterday, succumbed to his injuries today. The body of Abdul Ahad Naikoo was found hanging from a tree at Mughalpora-Gushi in Kupwara district. A security jawan was injured when the militants opened fire on a search party at Markote in Poonch district last night. The militants fired at a police post in Shajroo of the Reasi area of Udhampur district last night, triggering a gunbattle. No one was hurt in the incident. The ultras kidnapped Abdul Hameed Mir from his house at Chakoora in the Pattan area of Baramula district. The security forces apprehended a militant along with an AK rifle, four magazines, 120 rounds, three grenades and a wireless set from the Mankote-Thandikasi area of Rajouri district. Another militant was nabbed from the Khanpora area of Baramula district. A Hizb-ul Momineen militant, Nazir Ahmad Bhat, surrendered before the Army at Asham-Sonawari in Baramula district today and handed over a revolver, 35 rounds and two grenades to the authorities. He said the security forces raided a hideout in Rajouri and seized 65 AK rounds, 60 detonators, five anti-personnel mines, an IED timer switch and a wireless set. The security forces also seized three rockets, which were concealed in a gunny bag by the militants, from an orchard at Wagu in Baramula. |
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Geelani’s exit boosts chances of dialogue with separatists Jammu, August 23 Inside reports said the separatists were trying to utilise different channels to be in the limelight. In this connection the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Mr Mohammad Yasin Malik, has been encouraged by a group of intellectuals here to open a channel of communication with the Kashmiri Pandit migrants. According to these reports, Mr Malik has agreed to hold secret parleys with senior migrants living in camps here. He is not prepared to hold talks with leaders of various Pandit organisations, especially Panun Kashmir and the All-State Kashmiri Pandit Conference, headed by Mr A.N. Vaishnavi. The reports said a small group of migrant leaders living in camps had been approached with the suggestion that they should accept an invitation from Mr Malik. These leaders had been assured of a safe passage to the tourist resort of Gulmarg where the proposed meeting was to be held. One leader said, “I expected the bus or air tickets to be delivered to me today but until this afternoon I have not received anything.” He indicated that the main agenda of the proposed meeting would be the return of the migrants to the Valley and in this connection Mr Malik wanted to achieve what the successive state governments had failed to achieve — luring the migrants back to Kashmir. Already leaders of all Pandit organisations had turned down the suggestion of the Hizbul Mujahideen supremo, Syed Salahuddin, that they should return to Kashmir and participate in the ongoing struggle which would ensure them safety. The reports said after Mr Geelani sought retirement from the Jamait-e-Islami, which meant his exit from the executive committee of the APHC, the main road block between New Delhi and the APHC seems to have been removed. It was because of the inclusion of Mr Geelani that New Delhi did not permit a five-member team of the APHC to visit Pakistan for which a request had been made several times during the past two years. The APHC leadership had not been opposed to talks with New Delhi but it wanted the dialogue to be held on a political level with some ruling politician of the stature of the Prime Minister, his deputy or a team of Central ministers. That was the reason why the APHC refused to meet the two Central Government interlocutors, Mr K.C. Pant and now Mr N.N. Vohra. A former Chairman of the APHC, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, said, “We are not ready to talk to bureaucrats. We are willing to discuss all issues, including the Kashmir problem, with politicians because the dispute was political.” |
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Give up violence, BJP tells Hurriyat Jammu, August 23 In a statement here yesterday, Prof. Hari Om, a spokesman of the state BJP, the 13-year-old cult of violence had already consumed several hundred innocent lives and displaced a large number of people. He expressed anguish over the miserable plight of the people of the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and northern territories and said that residents of these areas did not enjoy civil liberties and democratic rights. He said the Hurriyat Conference should compare the Indian territory of Kashmir with the problems being faced by the people of the PoK who had been deprived of their fundamental rights and there was no rule of law. Successive regimes in Pakistan have blatantly colonised these areas, he alleged. Prof Hari Om said these areas were being governed by the Minister for Kashmir Affairs who was not answerable to the hapless people of these areas, but to the National Assembly of Pakistan. |
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Scheme for jobless engineers
Srinagar, August 23 Construction consortiums, comprising six to 10 unemployed engineers, are being formed in each district for allotment of construction work by different departments. The scheme is being launched in a big way soon. The modalities of the scheme and involvement of a large number of unemployed engineers were finalised at a meeting of different departments, chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed here yesterday. Stressing the need for evolving a new institutionalised culture to tackle unemployment in the state, Mufti Sayeed asked the authorities to associate the consortiums of engineers in construction of school buildings, panchayat ghars, training of rivers and nullahs for flood protection works and other such schemes at the outset. He said mechanism needed to be evolved for providing them contracts in the Power Development Department by utilising their skills for maintenance of equipment in grid stations to sustain the scheme on a long-term basis.
— UNI |
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Farmers
get compensation for inferior seeds Srinagar, August 23 Acting on a complaint by 10 farmers against M/S RTF Traders, registered dealer and permanent supplier of seeds to the state government, Justice M.Y. Kawoosa said as per observations of a technical team the land of the complainants was found suitable for pea cultivation. In its report, the technical team said the fields were not waterlogged and the complainants had adopted improvised agricultural practices and the plantation was done under technical guidance and supervision of an agriculture officer. However, the germination was registered below 1 per cent as against 70 percent of the locally managed seeds in the area. While counsel for the defendants contested that the seeds were tested and were up to the mark, no evidence was placed on record to strengthen the claims.
— UNI |
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Plea to reduce duration of Amarnath yatra Jammu, August 23 In a communication to the Governor, Mr S.K. Sinha, he said, “It is only during the fortnight when the moon starts waxing that the pilgrims can have a view of the tall ice ‘lingam’ in the holy cave.” He said pilgrims would treat the pilgrimage incomplete if they failed to have a view of the ice ‘lingam’. He said not more than 3,500 pilgrims were allowed to proceed from Pahalgam to the cave per day and hence the period of the ‘yatra’ had been extended to one month. In the communication, he suggested to the Governor to order the improvement of the track between Chandanwari and the cave, besides setting up rain-proof and snow-proof shelters at several focal points. He called for further simplification of the process of registration of pilgrims and elaborate lodging facilities in Jammu. |
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Gurdwara
poll postponed Jammu, August 23 “The state government has decided to defer the elections to prevent any confusion on the issue,” Revenue Commissioner
H.L. Kadalbujau, the official designated to conduct the GPCB poll, said in a notification. The Jammu High Court stayed the process on account of the fact that final voter list was not completed before July 21, 2003 by the District Election Officer, Jammu.
— PTI |
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