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Jail term ends, militant feelings remain
PDP intensifies poll campaign Update voters’ list, demand Cong leaders |
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| 3 injured in explosions in J&K Srinagar, January 13 Three persons, including a Border Security Force personnel, were injured in explosions in Pulwama and Anantnag districts of Jammu and Kashmir, whereas the police scuttled another attempt of ultras to trigger an IED blast on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway today. Migratory birds find Gharana
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Jail term ends, militant feelings remain Srinagar, January 13 The founder commander of a front ranking militant outfit, Hizbullah, Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat, alias Mushtaq-ul-Islam, alias Guga Saeb, is also the founder chairman of the separatist political party Muslim League, and patron of the Muslim Students’ Federation. He was released two weeks ago. In order to achieve his goal of ‘complete freedom or accession to Pakistan’, which he has been supporting right since his youthful days, Mushtaq seeks unity among all separatist organisations. During the past two weeks since his release by a lower court here on December 30, he has been approached by leaders of all separatist organisations. They reportedly urged him to join hands with them. Declining to comment on the views of various separatist leaders like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani, the released militant leader held there was need to unite. He said people were the fountainhead of the ongoing separatist movement and that it would be taken to its logical end. Without commenting on the approach of various other separatist organisations, he favours shifting of all party offices from Rajbagh to his area, Batamaloo, here, or to those areas where these parties have a mass support. A resident of Batamaloo locality here, Mushtaq-ul-Islam was apprehended from the same area in June, 1991. He remained in various jails during the past over 14 years, before his release by a court here. Talking to The Tribune at his residence, he said during his long years of detention, he never felt ‘tired’ and reiterated he would continue his struggle to ‘achieve the goal of freedom’. Asking all separatist parties to shift from Rajbagh, he said this would help in intensifying the ‘freedom struggle for which thousands of people offered their sacrifices’. He pointed out that the Batamaloo area was no exception to this where a large number of people ‘sacrificed their lives to achieve the goal of freedom’. Reiterating his stand on the ‘freedom struggle’, he asked India to fulfil its promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and added that the people would continue their ‘struggle till the last’. Ideologies could be different, but the goal was the same, he said. He added that any decision of the people either to accede to Pakistan or ‘complete freedom’ would be acceptable to him. The 40-year old separatist militant leader was first held in 1983 during an international cricket match between India and West Indies. “It was then that I asked India to fulfil its promises made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the UN resolutions,” Mushtaq said. He was detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for two years. On his release in 1985, he constituted the Muslim Students’ Federation. He also remained associated with the Islamic Students’ ’ League. Later, he constituted the Muslim League in 1988. With the eruption of militancy in late 1980s, he constituted the militant outfit, Hizbullah, and remained the head of all three organisations, the Muslim Students’ Federation, the Muslim League and the Hizbullah. He was, however, arrested during a search operation by the security forces on June 18, 1991, from the Batamaloo area. Henceforth he would be the patron of two separatist political organisations, the Muslim League and the Muslim Students’ Federation. |
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PDP intensifies poll campaign Srinagar, January 13 National Conference president and MP, Omar Abdullah here today alleged that the coalition government would rig the civic polls on the pattern of Assembly byelections to Pahalgam and Batamaloo constituencies. He held that the people had lost faith in the Election Commission machinery and there was need to check the recurrence of the past incidents. Mr Omar was addressing a meeting of party leaders of Srinagar district here today. He held that the government was indulging in “anti-people” policies and expressed serious concern over “neglect” of Srinagar city by the ruling coalition government. He pointed out that this had been made clear by the Finance Minister, Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beigh during his recent visit to some areas here apart from the District Board meeting. The NC president pointed out that the government had indulged in the “demolition spree” thereby rendering a number of people jobless, soon after it came to power. He added that a number of other daily wage workers getting a meagre sum of Rs 1000 or Rs 1500 were also rendered jobless. The PDP president and MP, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, who formally launched the civic body election campaign on Tuesday, has been addressing a series of public meetings and party activists in different parts of uptown Srinagar. In her address to party activists here today Ms Mufti said the forthcoming civic bodies’ elections were not meant for forming a government but for peoples empowerment by carrying out developmental programmes at the grassroot level. She said by electing their representatives, people could help in proper utilization of funds. Ms Mufti held that Peoples Democratic Party and the government led by Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, were committed to the empowerment of people. She added that making the holding of local bodies elections a possibility in the state after a span of 27 years was proof enough of this fact. Saying that the PDP was committed to carrying out developmental activities in every nook and corner of the state, Ms Mehbooba stressed that the civic bodies polls would make the administration accountable as the initiative would henceforth rest in the hands of the common masses. The PDP president held that the development in the state was being carried forward at a rapid speed leading to an overall improvement in the standard of life. She added that the government was carrying forward projects at the larger scale and there was a need also to carry developmental activities at the smaller level. “It is for the first time in the past 27 years that the people have been given an opportunity to come forward and take a leading role in carrying forward developmental programmes in their own areas”, she pointed out. She added these elections would help in decentralising power by making common people responsive with a better know-how of the problems of their areas. Ms Mufti said the PDP was firm in its stand of fulfilling all the demands of people and added that holding of these elections was a step in the right direction. |
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Update voters’ list, demand Cong leaders Jammu, January 13 Almost all ministers belonging to the Congress in the coalition government participated in the meeting and demanded that names of the migrants should be included in the rolls of their respective constituencies. The Congress leaders expressed their displeasure over the decision of the PDP-led government to delete the names of the migrants from the voters list without taking the party into confidence. They said the Congress favoured the holding of early civic poll, but depriving a community of their basic right would be highly improper. The voters list should be rectified before holding the elections. They pointed out that the government’s action was bound to send wrong signals besides denying the right to franchise to the community that has been forced to flee from their homes in the Kashmir valley. The PCC chief and rural development minister, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, also held a meeting of Congress leaders at Srinagar and demanded rectification of the voters list. He said that deletion of names of displaced persons was against the policy of the Centre and the state government. |
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3 injured in explosions in J&K
Srinagar, January 13 The BSF jawan, Pawan Kumar of 79 battalion, was slightly injured when militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) at Shikargah in the Tral area of Pulwama district around 11.15 a.m., official sources said. Pawan Kumar was part of a patrol party which had moved to the village following an explosion around 9.30 a.m. in which there was no casualty, the sources said, adding a search operation had been launched to nab militants responsible for the two explosions. In another incident, they said militants lobbed a grenade into a readymade garments shop at the Kulgam bus stand in Anantnag district around 1210 p.m., causing splinter injuries to two persons, one of whom was identified as Ashiq Hussain Bhat. Shop-owner Asgar Ahmad Wani, however, escaped unhurt, they said, adding Wani was the target of militants who accused him of dealing in liquor. The condition of Bhat, a driver by profession, was stated to be serious, the sources said. The police averted a major tragedy when it detected a powerful IED near Chursoo-Awantipora, 30 km from here, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway this morning, they said. The IED was later defused by the experts, they said, adding traffic on the highway was suspended for nearly half an hour. JAMMU: The security forces recovered more than 12 kg of RDX in Rajouri, while a militant and his wife surrendered before the authorities in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir since last night, official sources said today. Rashtriya Rifles (RR) troops recovered 12.3 Kg of RDX along with some medicines from a dry nullah in the Tangawali forest in Rajouri district, the sources said. The consignment was left in a bag by some militants who had crossed over to this side with the objective of causing explosions in Rajouri and its adjoining areas, they said. In another incident, a 22-year-old militant of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen outfit, identified as Yakub, and his 18-year-old wife, Fatima surrendered before a joint team of police and RR troops at Chakalsalta in Udhampur district.
— PTI |
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Migratory birds find Gharana Jammu, January 13 The bar-headed geese are among 26 species that have flown from the Artic regions of Siberia, Central Asia and Ladakh to spend the winter months in the Gharana wetland reserve, situated close to the border with Pakistan in R.S. Pora sector. Besides the bar-headed geese, black stork, red watled lapwing, rock pigeon, oriental turtle, rose ringed parakeet, Asian koel, white-throated kingfisher and little grebe have given a panoramic look to the otherwise desolate rural belt when they flutter their wings while searching for feed over the wetland reserve. According to the Commissioner, Forests and Wildlife, Mrs Sonali Kumar, there are over 20,000 bar-headed birds in the world and of these about 4,000 have made to the Gharana reserve during the current winter months. She said .75 sq km area had been notified as the wetland conservation reserve and the Gharana reserve had been included in the Central Government Scheme on the development of wetland reserves. At present between 15,000 and 20,000 migratory birds have been spotted enjoying, the sunshine in the Gharana wetland reserve, while last year, not more than 1,500 birds were spotted. Mrs Kumar said whenever there was an exchange of gun and mortar fire between Indian and Pakistani soldiers, these migratory birds would fly to distant reserves out of fear. During the 2001 military buildup on the border, the number of birds in the Gharana wetland reserve could be counted on the fingertips, said a government official. He said with guns having fallen silent on the border and completion of demining in border villages, migratory birds had found the atmosphere conducive for their sojourn. Mr C.M. Seth, Chief Wildlife Warden, said common reed, water hyacinth and other organic matter grown in the sprawling marshy belt provided sufficient feed for the birds. Mrs Kumar said a spacious guest house was being built near the reserve so that visitors could spend their time watching Siberian birds play in the sky. She said students from different institutions, universities and pilgrims to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine would be encouraged to visit the Gharana wetland reserve, which would be developed as a tourist resort. However, villagers in the area are unhappy. They say since crop fields surrounded the wetland reserve, the migratory birds invariably destroyed standing crops. Funga Ram of Gharana wanted compensation from the government for the “loss to our standing crops caused by migratory birds”. |
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