J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Mufti wants to silence critics, decides to contest poll
Jammu, September 21
What prompted the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to field himself as the PDP candidate from the Pahalgam Assembly constituency? This question has evoked interest among senior politicians in the state.

Four file nomination papers
Srinagar, September 21
A day after the Congress party’s declaration that it would not field any candidate for the byelections to two Assembly constituencies in the Kashmir valley, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Tariq Hameed Qarra filed his nomination papers for the Batamaloo constituency here today.

PDP candidate Tariq Hameed Qarra with PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and party supporters after filing his nomination papers in Srinagar on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Amin war

Cong faces flak on Wazir panel issue
Jammu, September 21
The ruling Congress party has come under severe criticism here for “backing out” on the issue of implementation of the report of the Wazir Commission that had recommended creation of two new districts in Jammu.

Mufti wants to silence critics, decides to contest poll
M.L. Kak

Jammu, September 21
What prompted the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to field himself as the PDP candidate from the Pahalgam Assembly constituency? This question has evoked interest among senior politicians in the state. In fact, the Mufti had no constitutional compulsion to contest the byelection when under the state constitution he could have remained the head of the government by being a member of the Legislative Council.

Under the Constitution, any member of the Council of Ministers had to be a member of either of the Houses of the state legislature.

At least for four years, the Mufti did not have to seek election to either of the Houses.

Two factors have weighed in his favour to contest the bypoll from the Pahalgam constituency which had been vacated by his daughter, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, after they got elected to the Lok Sabha. She had won the Pahalgam seat in the 2002 Assembly elections.

Critics of the Chief Minister had been ridiculing him for not have won a single Assembly election from the valley since 1977.

He had lost thrice to the National Conference lightweight, Mr Abdul Gani Veeri. It was decades ago that the Mufti had entered the state Assembly after winning the R.S. Pora seat.

The Chief Minister probably wanted to remove this stigma by contesting the bypoll from Pahalgam.

Secondly, the Pahalgam seat is considered to be the safest seat for the PDP among the 46 constituencies in the valley.

During the past two years, the PDP-led coalition government has implemented major development schemes in the Pahalgam constituency.

In the initial stages, the PDP had considered two options. One was to field the wife of Mufti, and the other was to give the ticket to Mr M.Y. Khan, Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, who is on the verge of retirement and is popular among the people.

However, the idea was dropped because the PDP did not want to lose Pahalgam at any cost and hence fielded the Mufti.

Another factor that may help the Chief Minister is the understanding the PDP has with the Congress, under which the latter left both Pahalgam and Batamaloo seats for the former to contest.

Since the Mufti has assured the Congress of his support to the party in Basholi and Akhnoor, the Congress, which has pockets of influence in Batamaloo and Pahalgam has decided to help the PDP candidates there.

Four file nomination papers
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 21
A day after the Congress party’s declaration that it would not field any candidate for the byelections to two Assembly constituencies in the Kashmir valley, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Tariq Hameed Qarra filed his nomination papers for the Batamaloo constituency here today.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is to contest the Pahalgam seat in Anantnag District, is scheduled to file his nomination papers at Anantnag tomorrow.

Another candidate, Abdul Hamid Rather filed his papers as an Independent candidate from this constituency. The constituency had fallen vacant due to the death of senior National Conference leader Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah. The NC is fielding Shah’s son, Irfan Ahmad Shah, as its candidate from his home constituency.

A large number of the PDP supporters, including party president Mehbooba Mufti, accompanied the candidate as he filed the nomination papers.

Cong faces flak on Wazir panel issue
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 21
The ruling Congress party has come under severe criticism here for “backing out” on the issue of implementation of the report of the Wazir Commission that had recommended creation of two new districts in Jammu.

The newly appointed PCC chief, Mr Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, has generated the controversy by rejecting the report of the Commission at Srinagar yesterday.

The Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, during her election campaign here had promised to implement the report that has been lying in the cold store. However, the statement of the PCC chief was contrary to her commitment.

The statement has come as a bolt from the blue for the people here and the BJP and the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) have criticised the Congress for “betraying” the people of Jammu.

In a statement here today, the state BJP chief, Dr Nirmal Singh, said by adopting such a negative attitude to the long-pending demand of the people of Kishtwar, Reasi and Samba, Mr Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed had only proved that he was no different from his predecessor, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, who in a similar fashion had rejected the idea of regional council for Jammu as irrelevant immediately after the formation of the Mufti Government.

Dr Singh said non-implementation of the Wazir Commission Report and dropping the idea of a regional council for Jammu was nothing but a great “fraud” committed on the people of Jammu region, who returned 15 Congress legislators to the assembly in 2002.

He said the Congress had not only rejected both these commitments which it itself made in its election manifesto and during the election campaign, but also adopted an equally negative attitude to the idea of a ‘delimitation commission’.

Dr Singh has asked senior Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma and other Jammu-based Congress leaders, who say day in and day out that Wazir Commission Report would be implemented and delimitation commission appointed, to clear their stand on what their party chief has said. He asked them to dissociate themselves from their party president and give a definite time frame within which the commitments made with people of Jammu would be fulfilled.

The JSM has also taken strong exception to the statement of Mr Peerzada Sayeed taking a U-turn on the issue of implementation of the recommendations of the Wazir Commission and described it as yet another deception of the Congress with the people of Jammu and asserted that this had further strengthened the demand of the morcha that Jammu could not get justice at the hands of the Kashmir centric leadership of the Congress and its coalition partners.

The Morcha leader asked the Union Minister and former PCC president, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, to clear their position as till recently they had been promising to implement recommendations of the Wazir Commission and even in the recent Lok Sabha polls these Congress leaders had redeemed their pledge for creation of district of Kishtwar, Reasi and Samba in the Jammu region.

Couple, three militants killed in J&K

Srinagar, September 21
A couple and three militants were killed and nine others, including a police officer, were injured in Jammu and Kashmir overnight, an official spokesman said today. Militants entered the house of Mohammad Akram at Mahore in Udhampur district of Jammu region late last night and shot him and his wife Jana Begum dead.

Security forces killed a foreign militant in an encounter in the Banola area of Mendhar last night.

A Sub-Inspector and four special police officers (SPOs) were injured in a militant attack on a patrol party at Bhati Dhar last evening.

The injured were hospitalised, he said, adding that the militants later managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

Security forces also gunned down two militants at Kathipora forest in Kupwara district last night.

Two AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were found from their bodies.

Militants shot at Ghulam Nabi Shah, a school teacher, at Midoora in Pulwama last evening. He was hospitalised.

Two persons were injured in a grenade attack at Surankote, while one person was wounded when a grenade blew up the house of Phool Chand.

Security forces seized one AK rifle, two magazines, 70 rounds, three UBGLs, four IEDs, a mine and a wireless set from a hideout at Babgeer in Baramula last evening. —UNI

Army undertakes reconstructive surgery of Mariam
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 21
The Army Commander, Northern Command, Lt-Gen Hari Prasad, and Mrs Lakshmi Prasad, president of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), visited the Command Hospital at Udhampur to meet Mariam Begum, a terrorist victim from Doda whose nose and ears were cut off.

The 22-year-old girl has been adopted by the Army for reconstructive surgery.

Mariam Begum was abducted by terrorists in June as she was the sister of Abdul Latif, a terrorist who had surrendered before the security forces since he could not bear the oppression unleashed by foreign mercenaries on his own kin.

In retaliation, they abducted his sister and tortured her for 25 days and cut off her ears and nose before leaning her to die in the jungle.

It was by sheer providence that a patrol that was on the lookout for the terrorists and for Mariam, heard her screams.

She was admitted to Government Medical Hospital, Jammu. The J&K police took on the responsibility of her initial treatment. The Army too joined in to help.