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Congress denies PDP claim on seat sharing Daughters’ Bill, potent poll plank for Oppn 56,000 securitymen needed for J&K poll |
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Militants kill two in Kashmir Step up violence, militants told Activists of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-i-Toiba have received fresh instructions from across the border to step up violence in a bid to “sabotage the poll process.” Wakf Board to modernise school education Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has announced that a comprehensive plan is being formulated to introduce modern and scientific education in the institutions run by the state Wakf Board. Dar planning legal action against leaders The chairman of the Legislative Council, Mr Abdul Rashid Dar, is planning legal action against the leaders and mediapersons who have tried to tarnish his image bylevelling allegations following the adjournment of the House by him on March 11, when the daughter’s Bill was discussed. 
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Congress denies PDP claim on seat sharing Srinagar, March 17 Addressing a press conference at the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters here this afternoon, the senior vice president, Mr Abdul Ghani Vakil, said the party would not concede the claims of its ruling ally, the PDP. Earlier, the PDP had claimed that it had reached an agreement on seat sharing with the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to six constituencies in the state. By dint of the agreement, three seats of Srinagar, Baramula and Anantnag in the Kashmir valley would be contested only by the PDP while it would surrender the other seats of Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh in favour of the Congress. Replying to questions Mr Vakil said a proposal had been sent to the party high command for fielding its own candidates from the three constituencies in the valley as well, as it had “sacrificed” many constituencies in favour of the PDP in the last Assembly elections. He added that no such compromise had been worked out for the forthcoming elections. He said the PDP claim regarding seat sharing had come only through the newspaper reports. He hoped that the PDP would not remain adamant on this claim and held that the Congress would also field its candidates at least from the Baramula seat in the valley. The Congress leader supported his claim figuratively saying that the Congress had got 80,000 votes in the twin districts of Baramula and Kupwara comprising Baramula constituency in the last Assembly elections against 45,000 votes polled by the PDP. He said it would surrender two seats of Srinagar and Anantnag only if the PDP surrendered Baramula constituency. The Congress leader also released a list of candidates likely to contest from the three constituencies of the valley. For the Srinagar constituency, the party is considering the names of Mohammad Shafi Bhat, Ahamareen Badar, Ms Khem Lata Wakhloo and Nazir Ahmad Bhat. It has come out with a list of four nominees for Baramula
constituency. These include, Ghulam Rasool Kar, Haji Abdul Rashid, Mohammad Muzaffar Parray and Abdul Ghani Vakil. Similarly for the Anantnag constituency the probable candidates are G.A Mir, Abdul Majeed Paddar, Mohammad Anwar Bhat and Shabir Ahmad Magray. The ruling PDP got a shot in the arm with Nizamuuddin, a well known political figure from north Kashmir, formally joining the party here today. He has been a close associate of senior PDP leader and Law Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and was in the field of journalism for over a decade. Talking to TNS Mr Nizamuddin said he had decided to join the PDP for its agenda of peace and normalcy, which its leaders were adhering to sincerely. He said the party was working for ending the stalemate so that the crisis was over and the people in Jammu and Kashmir in particular and India and Pakistan in general, lived in harmony. He expressed the hope that his decision would strengthen the forces for which the party was working sincerely. Mr Nizamuddin, who represented various national and international media organisations has already resigned from the news agency that he represented at present. Following his decision to join the PDP, the party is likely to field him from Baramula constituency. The National Conference, main opposition party with 28 members in the State Assembly is expected to field former minister, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan from Baramula. The prospective candidates of the PDP for Anantnag constituency of south Kashmir comprising Anantnag and Pulwama districts include its president, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, Agriculture Minister, Abdul Aziz Zargar and Sonaullah Dar. For the key constituency of
Srinagar the PDP is considering its senior leader, Tariq Hameed Qarra (MLC), Nazir Ahmad Bakshi, G.M Bawan and Ghulam Nabi. |
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Daughters’ Bill, potent poll plank for Oppn in J&K Jammu, March 17 By introducing the Bill on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has provided perhaps the most dominant poll issue to the Opposition. Even the three ruling coalition partners — the PDP, the Congress and the Panthers Party — are exploiting the issue in their own way. There was perhaps no poll issue in the hands of the Opposition before the introduction of the Bill and it was being felt that the election would be fought only on the agenda of the functioning of the government. Many allegations levelled by the National Conference (NC) and other parties against the Mufti government did not stick, but the Bill has become a potential issue that might tilt the balance in favour of the Opposition While the PDP chief, Ms Mehbooba Mufti and her party colleagues were trying to take the credit for the Bill in the Kashmir valley, the coalition partner, Congress, was on the defensive in the Jammu region where its leaders were claiming that they had got the Bill shelved for the time being. On the other hand, Mr Bhim Singh, whose Panthers Party has two ministers in the coalition, was ruthlessly whipping the PDP and the Congress on the issue. He has been accusing the PDP and the Congress of playing with the sentiments of the people. During the past few months, the NC had tried, though in vain, to put the Mufti on the mat by raising issues like a disappearance of many youths in the valley and efforts to dilute the Article 370 providing a special status to J&K. But it was the daughters’ Bill that gave it the much-needed poll issue. The BJP has already made it a poll issue against the Congress elsewhere in the country also. The reaction of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to the Bill during his current rath yatra was hard hitting. The Minister of State for Defence, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, and the state BJP chief, Dr Nirman Singh, who are contesting the election on two seats in Jammu, have also started campaigning against the Congress and the Panthers Party on the issue. While the BJP was the first to declare its candidates for all six Lok Sabha seats in J&K, Mr Bhim Singh has announced only his own candidature for the Udhampur seat and has decided to field candidates on the three seats in the valley. The Congress, PDP and NC are yet to finalise their respective candidates. |
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Srinagar, March 17 Official sources said a group of leaders belonging to five General Council constituents of the HC (Abbas) were marching towards the United Nations Military Observers (UNMO) office at Sonawar when police took them into custody just ahead of the Chief Minister’s official residence on Maulana Azad road this afternoon. Led by Mohammad Yousuf Naqash, they were protesting the alleged human rights violations by security forces in Kashmir. ‘’We were going to lodge our protest with the UNMO officials against the rights violation by security forces,’’ they said before their arrest. Mr Advani is going to hold the second round of talks with the Hurriyat leaders in Delhi on March 27. However, Hurriyat Chairman Moulana Abbas Ansari said they were yet to receive a formal invitation from the Centre for talks. Mr Ansari had earlier threatened to pull out from the process if rights violations were not stopped in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the second round of talks. Meanwhile, a group of people from Goripora Bemina today protested at Partap Park, near here, against the arrest of two persons by the police. They alleged that a former militant, working with the police at present, had abducted two innocent youths and detained them in police station Parimpora. They further said he was demanding money for their release. The Jamaat-e-Islami has protested against the arrest of its worker Abdul Hameed Mir by security forces at Putshahi Lolab in Kupwara.
— UNI |
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56,000 securitymen needed for J&K poll Jammu, March 17 “We require nearly 450 companies comprising over 56,000 paramilitary police forces for the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir and have already sent a request in this regard to the Centre,” sources said. It is up to the Centre to decide on the demand for 450 security companies, they said, adding that “we hope the government will definitely provide us such a force strength.” Giving details, they said a security plan for the elections had been prepared and all range DIGs had been asked to further formulate their own plans as per topography and sensitivity of the places. They had been asked to identify potential targets of terrorist attacks and provide security to candidates and leaders during
campaigning. — PTI |
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Srinagar, March 17 Official sources said militants entered the house of Abdul Gaffar Bhat at Nandwanpora in the central Kashmir district of Badgam early this morning and fired on the inmates with automatic weapons. The house owner and his son, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, were injured. The injured were admitted to the hospital in a critical condition where Ghulam Mohammad Bhat succumbed to his injuries. Militants also shot dead Abdul Rashid, a contractor, at Bawan Laldora in south Kashmir district of Anantnag last night. — UNI JAMMU: The security forces on Wednesday averted a major tragedy when they seized an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing 6 kg in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said. Suspected militants had planted the IED on a track frequently used by the security forces in Bharti village of Gandoh tehsil, the sources said. The IED, was later defused.
— PTI |
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Step up violence, militants told Jammu, March 17 A senior BSF officer posted in the valley said today that interception of wireless messages revealed that while the rebels belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen had received instructions to resort to subversive activities on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, the Lashkar-i-Toiba had been told to intensify strikes against the security forces and pro-government elements. The officer confirmed reports that a majority of militants faced acute shortage of funds, ammunition and weapons. Sources in the BSF said in several areas militants had resorted to extortion in order to purchase weapons. Official sources said the level of violence had declined during the past three months. |
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Wakf Board to modernise school education
Srinagar, March 17 He said the Jammu and Kashmir Wakf Board was fast changing its image from a charitable institution to a “change-agent” with emphasis on introduction of modern and scientific knowledge in its educational institutions along with Islamic studies. Mr Sayeed, who is also the Chairman of the Wakf Board, was speaking at its first meeting of directors here last evening. The meeting took several decisions for better management of the Wakf properties. However, the education sector came in for a thorough and an extensive review. A committee of three persons with specialised knowledge in education was constituted to prepare a comprehensive plan. In the first phase, five out of 12 schools of the board would be developed as model schools.
— UNI |
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Dar planning legal action against leaders Jammu, March 17 In a statement here today, the Deputy Secretary of the council, said the Chairman expressed anguish over the allegations.
— TNS |
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