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Monday,
September 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Tahir's village vows agitation
Rights violations more after Nadimarg killings, says
panel Gun no solution, says
minister Fearing attack, Army chief's family
shifted |
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Probe into 7-day encounter sought Traditional cave route to shrine to be re-opened
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Tahir's village vows agitation Tujjar Sharif (Sopore), September 21 The youth, Tahir Hussan Maqdoomi, was allegedly picked after his marriage ceremony here on September 11 by the Army and then declared dead in a mine blast incident. A Major had allegedly taken away the youth at 4 am, a couple of hours after he had brought home his 20-year-old bride Afroza. He was dressed in the traditional wedding suit and was performing rituals at his house. Four days later, on September 15 at 11:30 pm, the Army showed the lower half of the mutilated left leg of the man, claiming that he had died in a mine blast. As per Kashmiri tradition, his wife will now remain in her in-laws’ house for four months and 10 days. Only after that can she take a decision about her future. An eerie silence prevailed in the village when a Tribune team visited the place yesterday. Tired after the demonstrations, stone-throwing and the long strike during which they suffered injuries in a lathi-charge by the police, residents of the village vowed to launch an agitation if the guilty were not brought to book. Shops opened today. The Army officers concerned could not be contacted. Sources, however, disclosed that the Army had denied the torture allegation. It had claimed that the youth was its informant and had died in a mine blast. This was also reported in the local media. Ghulam Hussan Maqdoomi, father of the youth, refuses to believe. He showed a letter in which an Army officer had given permission to him to organise the marriage ceremony. In the valley, permission is required for organising a gathering. “Why did they give the permission for marriage if they had plans to pick up my son”, asks. The death has shook the state. Apart from senior Army officers, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti also visited the family. The Chief Minister has ordered a judicial probe to be completed within a month. He has assured that the guilty would be brought to book. “We don't want roads, communication facilities or jobs. We want the guilty to be punished as early as possible”, said the grief-stricken father. The youth was a student of BA I. His wife is also studying in the same class as a private student. |
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Rights violations more after Nadimarg killings, says panel Srinagar, September 21 There were no signs of improvement in the human rights situation under the ruling People’s Democratic Party-led coalition, a joint fact finding committee of Association for Democratic Rights, Punjab, Human Rights Forum, Andhra Pradesh and Organistion for Protection of Democratic Rights, said in a booklet entitled ‘Kashmir — an enquiry into the healing touch’. The rights situation was largely so because there was no regeneration of the institutions which would keep the police and the armed forces in check and accountable to law, the committee, which toured Jammu and Kashmir in May last, said. The task of the committee was to find out whether there was an improvement in the human rights situation under the PDP-Congress government and whether the problems of the border migrants and the views of the people of the state had been taken into consideration regarding proposed talks for resolution of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. The report said that during initial months of the present government, there was a slight let-up in the number of custodial killings and cross-fire death of civilians, but it witnessed a reversal after Nadimarg massacre of 24 Kashmiri Pandits, the report added. The horrible killing was soon made an occasion by the Army as well as the ruling NDA at the Centre to fault the Mufti government of being soft on militancy. It was generally believed that thereafter the Army started giving up whatever inhibitions it had in deference to the new government’s policy, the report said. Referring to the merger of the Special Operations Group (SOG) into the police, the report said, it would have a negative impact on the mode of functioning of the regular force. Instead, the notorious among the SOG men should have been tried, punished and removed from the force, it added. —
PTI |
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Gun no solution, says minister Srinagar, September 21 The coalition partners in the state were of the firm belief that the gun was no solution to the Kashmir problem and hoped that leaders of the two neighbouring countries would resolve their differences through dialogue, Mr Yaseen told a large gathering in Budgam district. He asked leaders of political parties to extend cooperation to the government in taking forward the peace process so that normalcy could return to the state. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of a 360-feet-log major concrete bridge over Nallah Shali Ganga at Dreygam village, 30 km from here, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 4 crore and connect districts of Pulwama and Budgam. Calling upon the district administration to personally supervise and monitor work on various schemes launched in the district, he said: "There should be no compromise on the quality of work". Mr Yaseen said work on 64 road connectivity projects and bridges was under progress in Budgam district involving a cost of Rs 70 crore. So far, Rs 35 crore had been utilised on these schemes. —
PTI |
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Fearing attack, Army chief's family shifted Jammu, September 21 They said the family had been shifted from the house in the Kachi Chavni area of the city to the cantonment for security reasons. Sajad, alias Abu Haneef, who was arrested recently from the Mendhar area of Poonch district, told his interrogators that the Army chief's house was in the hit list of the LeT, which had assigned him and his accomplice, who was killed in an encounter later, to carry out a suicide attack on General Vij's ancestral house in the old city, the sources said. Since the police would not be in a position to counter any such suicide attack by militants, in a densely populated area of the city, senior police officers, in consultation with the Army, decided to shift the family of the Army chief, that included his parents and brother's family, they said. In view of the high threat perception to the family members of General Vij, the authorities preferred to keep them in the most protected zone in the Army cantonment in Jammu, the sources said. Prior to the shifting of the family, the police had strengthened the security in his ancestral house, they said, adding that guards would continue to remain deployed at the house. —
PTI |
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Probe into 7-day encounter sought Jammu, September 21 He described the escape of the terrorists as yet another lacuna in the security set-up after the Kargil and Hillkaka incidents. He said that the Ghatti route was known to be frequented by terrorists to reach the upper areas of Kathua district and the authorities had failed to take steps in this regard. He demanded that the next of kin of PSO, Rajnees Jasrotia, who laid down his life while fighting the terrorists, and the boy who misled the ultras be suitably rewarded and provided jobs. |
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Traditional cave route to shrine to be re-opened Jammu, September 21 This was announced here today by the Minister of State for Public Health Engineering, Mr Jugal Kishore Sharma, while talking to mediapersons here today. The cave route was closed after construction of an easy access to the shrine. However, both routes will remain open during the Navratras, which begin on September 26. He said a special programme to celebrate the Navratras would be inaugurated by the Governor, Lieut-Gen (retd) S.K. Sinha. The function was being jointly organised by the Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board and the Tourism Department. |
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