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Hurriyat’s call for strike today
Militants lob grenade at Srinagar |
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Large cache of arms seized in North Kashmir
Waiting for return of jailed sons
National Anthem back in J&K
schools Ved Rahi, 10 others
to get state awards
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Hurriyat’s call for strike today Srinagar, January 25 The Minister for Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, will be the chief guest here while the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Lieut-Gen S K Sinha (retd), and the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, would attend the main function to be held at the M A stadium, Jammu, winter capital of the state. The separatist Hurriyat Conference and several other separatist political and militant organisations have already called for a general strike tomorrow and asked the people to observe it as “black day”. As part of the intensified search operations ahead of Republic Day celebrations, the security forces continued cordon and search operations in various localities around Bakshi Stadium and the Lal Chowk area here. This led to thin pedestrian and vehicular traffic in most of the areas around. A full dress rehearsal was held at Bakshi Stadium yesterday. Bakshi Stadium, venue of main celebrations, has already been cordoned off where the police and the CRPF have been deployed to thwart any deigns of militants to create trouble on the occasion troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) have intensified cordon and search operations in the adjoining areas for the smooth conduct of the celebrations. “We expect good public participation in the celebrations in view of the changed atmosphere”, said Mr K Rajendra Kumar, Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir Range. He told The Tribune here that the atmosphere was relaxed and the people welcomed the Hurriyat-Centre talks ahead of Republic Day. As compared to last year, there were expectations of more public participation on the occasion, he claimed. Over 10,000 persons had attended Independence Day celebrations last year despite separatists’ call to boycott the occasion. The IG said no deployment of additional troops was made in view of the stepped-up security arrangements. However, strict vigil was being maintained at the venues of the main celebrations and other vital installations in and around Srinagar. He added similar arrangements were made at all district headquarters in the Kashmir Valley. A number of suspects have already been taken into custody in view of the security arrangements ahead of the celebrations tomorrow. The process, according to the reports here, has been going on quite for some time, as cordon and search operations continue in most parts of the city. “Wherever we apprehend breach of peace, some precautionary measures are taken”, the IG said. |
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No tacit understanding with Centre, says Bilal Lone Srinagar, January 25 ‘It is just a beginning. After all it is going to be a long process of negotiations”, said Bilal Lone, APHC executive member, one of the five members who participated in the January 22 round of talks with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in Delhi. He said Hurriyat Conference members put forth its viewpoint before the Union Government. Lone held that a “serious talking” on the issue would be held in the next round of talks scheduled to be held in March. “That is to be watched carefully”, he added. Referring to Advani’s assertion that the Centre would not like to break the process, Lone held that a beginning had been made which needed to be taken ahead for resolving the issue. When asked about skepticism of a section here over the dialogue process, Lone held it was the outcome that should be taken into consideration. He added the outcome of the initiation of dialogue process would be felt only when the process goes ahead. This may take some time, as those at the helm of affairs would be engaged in the process of General Election ahead. Lone asserted that there was no sellout”, as the cause of Kashmiris hanging fire over the past five decades had been pleaded in the right perspective. There was no tacit understanding between the Centre and the Hurriyat Conference, he said. He added there was nothing wrong in initiating the process as otherwise nothing could help the Kashmiris’ cause. The APHC executive member said the initiation of dialogue process was well timed as both neighbouring countries were coming closer and there was flexibility in their approach. He allayed the fears created by a section of the hardliners who stayed away and expressed their reservations against entering into the dialogue process with the Indian Government. Meanwhile, APHC chairman
Moulvi Abbas Ansari arrived here today from Delhi, after meeting L.K. Advani and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Other members of the delegation, Abdul Ghani Bhat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Bilal Lone and Fazi-ul-Haq Qureshi would be returning here during the next few days. |
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Daily office attacked for cartoon on Hurriyat chief Srinagar, January 25 About five activists allegedly belonging to Ansari’s party stormed the office of Srinagar Times, and ransacked the office furniture and damaged computers and other office equipment, sources said. They said the attackers were complaining about a cartoon published in today’s edition of the daily which showed Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani wearing Ansari’s religious headgear. The snippet in the cartoon read Mohammad Abbas (Advani). However, a spokesman of the Ittehadul Muslimeen denied the involvement of party workers in the incident saying the charges were fabricated. Bashir Ahmad
Bashir, the cartoonist, said he received a phone call from the some activists of the Ansari group who had raised objections to the cartoon in a “decent manner.” Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir government has blacklisted a leading English daily, Greater Kashmir, for carrying an advertisement of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference
(Gelani faction) asking people to observe the Republic Day as a black day. The newspaper has been deprived of official advertisements as a “punishment” for carrying “objectionable advertisement,” the daily said in a front page article today. The decision regarding the blacklisting of the newspaper was conveyed to the editor of the daily by the Director Information, it said. The newspaper said it is for the “umpteenth” time that it has been blacklisted for the release of government advertisements. “This is beyond other acts of coercion and subtle manoeuvres that are used to stifle this voice of people,” it added. —
PTI |
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Militants lob grenade at Srinagar police station Srinagar, January 25 The ultras lobbed the grenade at Kralakhud police station in the Habbakadal area of the city at 6.50 p.m. followed by indiscriminate firing, the sources said. The grenade missed the target and exploded on the roadside, they said, adding that no loss of life was so far reported in the incident. Security forces, in continued operations on the eve of Republic Day, busted two militant hideouts and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition including RDX, rockets and grenades during the past 24 hours. Official sources said that a joint operation was launched by the state police and security forces at Duban Nar Kachahama village in north Kashmir late last night during which troops busted a militant hideout and recovered one 107 MM launcher with five rounds, one RPG with 40 rounds and as many boosters, four AK rifles, 10 remote control devices, five under barrel grenade launchers, 50 UBGL rounds, 40 hand grenades, one remote control and 1800 AK rounds. In another operation at Check Boniyar Uri, near the Line of Control in Baramulla district yesterday, security forces busted another militant hideout and recovered 59 UBGL grenades, three hand grenades, eight improvised explosive devices (IED), two IED battery cases, nine detonators, two pistols with magazines, 12 RPG rounds, 35 RPG boosters, eight electric fuses and over 1400 rounds, sources said. Security forces apprehanded a militant identifed as Zahoor Ahmad Dar at Ranzipora Tral in south Kashmir last evening and recovered one hand grenade from him. Deputy Inspector-General, Counter Insurgency operations (CRPF), T.S. Dhillon said a CRPF patrol noticed a person moving in suspicious circumstances at Soura in the early hours today. When challenged, he fled leaving behind two bags, Mr Dhillon, who is in-charge of the insurgency operations, North of River Jhelum, said. During the search, troops found 20 kg of RDX, he said, adding the explosive was enough to make more than five powerful improvised explosive devices (IED), which could have caused much damage to life and property. Meanwhile, a BSF spokesman said troops belonging to 55th Battalion conducted a search operation in a village at Baramulla in north Kashmir early today and during the operation busted a militant hideout. Meanwhile, a tight security blanket has been thrown around Bakshi Stadium with house to house searches being carried out in the areas close to it and district headquarters to ensure a smooth, trouble-free and peaceful Republic Day celebrations in the Kashmir valley tomorrow. Frisking of pedestrians and vehicles coming into the summer capital from other district headquarters was also being carried out to prevent militants and their runners from bringing in arms and ammunition to the city, the sources added. —
UNI |
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Large cache of arms seized in North Kashmir Srinagar, January 25 Official sources said that a joint operation was launched by the state police and security forces at Duban Nar Kachahama village in north Kashmir late last night during which troops busted a militant hideout and recovered one 107 MM launcher with five rounds, one RPG with 40 rounds and as many boosters, four AK rifles, 10 remote control devices, five under barrel grenade launchers, 50 UBGL rounds, 40 hand grenades, one remote control and 1800 AK rounds. In another operation at Check Boniyar Uri, near the Line of Control in Baramulla district yesterday, security forces busted another militant hideout and recovered 59 UBGL grenades, three hand grenades, eight improvised explosive devices (IED), two IED battery cases, nine detonators, two pistols with magazines, 12 RPG rounds, 35 RPG boosters, eight electric fuses and over 1400 rounds, sources said. Security forces apprehanded a militant identifed as Zahoor Ahmad Dar at Ranzipora Tral in south Kashmir last evening and recovered one hand grenade from him. Deputy Inspector-General, Counter Insurgency operations (CRPF), T.S. Dhillon said a CRPF patrol noticed a person moving in suspicious circumstances at Soura in the early hours today. When challenged, he fled leaving behind two bags, Mr Dhillon, who is in-charge of the insurgency operations, North of River Jhelum, said. During the search, troops found 20 kg of RDX, he said, adding the explosive was enough to make more than five powerful improvised explosive devices (IED), which could have caused much damage to life and property. Meanwhile, a BSF spokesman said troops belonging to 55th Battalion conducted a search operation in a village at Baramulla in north Kashmir early today and during the operation busted a militant hideout and recovered one kg of explosive in a tin, four hand grenades, 10 electric detonators, nine grenade fuses, one improvised explosive device receiver, one wireless set, four magazines and about 600 rounds. Meanwhile, a tight security blanket has been thrown around Bakshi Stadium with house to house searches being carried out in the areas close to it and district headquarters to ensure a smooth, trouble-free and peaceful Republic Day celebrations in the Kashmir valley tomorrow. Security forces have been ordered to maintain vigilance in the run up to the celebrations as militants might try to stage sensational attacks, official sources said. Frisking of pedestrians and vehicles coming into the summer capital from other district headquarters was also being carried out to prevent militants and their runners from bringing in arms and ammunition to the city, the sources added. Police
and other paramilitary forces are maintaining a strict vigil on
persons from outside the city or the locality around Bakshi Stadium.
Security forces have sealed off all roads leading to Bakshi Stadium
and clock tower in Lal Chowk area, where BSF hoist the national
tricolour on Republic Day.
— UNI |
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Waiting for return of jailed sons SRINAGAR: At the fag end of his life Abdul Ahad Rah of an interior locality in Srinagar city moves from pillar to post to know the whereabouts of his two sons in their mid twenties. When they could lend him support at the twilight of his life, Rah has been wandering over the past three years to know about his sons, reportedly arrested by the police in Kathmandu in September, 2000. The two brothers, Mohammad Shafi and Mushtaq Ahmad who had been running leather goods business in Nepal were, according to a Kathmandu-based newspaper, arrested among 27 Kashmiri youth suspected to have links with militancy in Kashmir. Later, it was conveyed to the family that the two brothers were lodged in Jodhpur jail, but his parents were not allowed to meet them. Dismayed, the aged parents returned home, hoping that better sense prevails upon those concerned to facilitate the return of their two sons safely. There is hardly any ray of hope seen in his eyes. Abdul Ahad Rah suffers from a deep sense of despair and dismay and is hardly consoled by the tales of hundreds of similar cases around where parents and kin had to face even worse. He moves on carrying a file of documents, about a hundred sheets, both original and photostat, newspaper cuttings, graphic pictures of his two missing sons, forwarding these as “proof of the innocence” of his sons. Tears roll down his cheeks, over the untidy bearded face as he narrates the sad tale of “forced missing” of his two youthful sons. “Why are all the doors closed to us?” he questions, adding that “punish them if they deserve it”. All that he wishes is to have a glimpse of his sons wherever they could be. Narrating the woeful tale, Rah admits that his elder son, Mohammad Shafi, had links with a militant outfit early in 1990. Having disassociated himself from the group, Shafi who had hardly been educated in a primary school, wanted to lead a normal life. Having some knowledge of the leather goods business, Shafi was sent to Kathmandu where he remained associated with a small unit to earn and support his family since 1992-93. His younger brother, Mushtaq, having failed in matriculation examination also joined him after over five years in 1998. For a couple of years all went well. It was in July, 2000, that the police raided the house of Abdul Ahad Rah and put him behind bars for about a week. He was later released after making enquiries from him about him about his two sons working in Nepal. That was not all. A group of militants ransacked their house for Shafi’s links with “rival” militant organisation. “Everything was lost,” Rah claimed. But a couple of months later, tragedy struck the family, with the report of the arrest of their sons in Nepal in September, 2000. All communication between the family and the youth on the address of one Ratni Lal, a shopkeeper at Thamial, Kathmandu, was snapped. After making serious efforts to know about their whereabouts, they were informed that the two were lodged in Jodhpur jail. We managed to reach Jodhpur, but were not allowed to meet them,” said Rah, adding that he had proper court directives. The jail authorities, he added, confirmed that the youth were lodged there. After more than three years since they returned from Jodhpur, Abdul Ahad Rah and his wife, move from pillar to post to know the whereabouts of their beloved ones. There is hardly any stone unturned. Be it the police, the Home Department or the judiciary, yet there is no response from any quarter. |
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National Anthem back in J&K schools Jammu, January 25 A senior official of the Education Ministry said the practice, which had been suspended due to militancy, was being revived in a phased manner in districts where there was less militancy. It was also being introduced in some places in the Kashmir valley. The official said the government had also decided to establish four additional university campuses and 22 degree colleges in the state to provide more facilities of higher education to the youth. Two campuses each of Kashmir and Jammu universities would be in place soon as the work on north campus of Kashmir University in Baramula district had already been taken up while the land for south campus was being identified in Anantnag district, he said. Sites for Jammu university were also being finalised, he said, adding the proposal for opening 22 more degree colleges in the state had been sent to the Centre for seeking one-time non-recurring grant. The degree colleges at Ganderbal and Reasi had already become functional and post-graduation classes had also been started in many of the colleges in the state. Computer education was also being introduced to appropriately utilise new technological advancements, the official said. Over 5,000 new primary schools and education guarantee centres had already been opened out of the 10,000 such institutions planned. |
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Ved Rahi, 10 others
to get state awards Jammu, January 25 They include Mustafa Muazam (bravery), Fazil Kashmiri and Ved Rahi (literature), Kavi Rattan (performing arts), Gyaltson executive engineer, power development department, Farooq Ahmed Shah, chief executive officer, Gulmarg Development Authority and Ijaz Kakroo, Deputy Commissioner, sales tax (meritorious public services), Master Karam Chand (education), Ms Sonia Sharma (sports) and Ahmed Ali Fayaz (media). |
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