Jammu, April 26
A number of refugee organisations are up in arms against the Jammu and Kashmir government on the issue of restoration of properties to those who migrated to Pakistan during Partition of the country and have demanded that the Resettlement Act should be immediately scrapped.

At least 12 refugee organisations today formed a joint action committee to spearhead an agitation against the government in case their demands were not met within a month.

These organisations demanded not only the scrapping of the Resettlement Act that provides for restoration of the ancestral properties in case the migrants returned to the state, but also demanded that the evacuee property department should be wound up and these properties should be transferred in the names of allottees.

Prominent among the leaders of the joint action committee are, Mr Rajive Chunni, Mr Surjeet Singh and Mr Ishar Singh.

Panic triggered among thousands of evacuee property allottees in the state following a Pakistani woman, who came to Srinagar in the bus from Muzaffarabad, staked claim over three properties in the valley.

The joint action committee described these legislations as “communal and biased against the Jammu region”.

They demanded that the 1947 refugees and the PoK refugees should be treated on a par with the Kashmiri migrants who were being provided all sorts of concessions and facilities.

Mr Sripratap Jaiswal, Union Minister of State for Home, has stirred a hornet’s nest by reportedly commenting that a Pakistani woman staking claim on a property here was a welcome sign of beginning of the democratic process and he did not see anything wrong in this.

This indicated that the ruling Congress had adopted different postures on the sensitive issue in the state and at the Centre.

Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, Deputy Chief Minister, had recently said that he would urge the Governor to scrap the Resettlement Act that had created uncertainty among allottees of the evacuee properties.

The then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, had addressed a series of public meetings in the state in 1983 in which she had strongly criticised the Act that was framed by the National Conference government.

Reacting to Mr Jaiswal’s comments the state BJP leader, Mr Hari Om, described it as “outrageous”.

Mr Hari Om today urged Mr Mangat Ram Sharma to clarify the stand of the Congress on the contentious issue of resettling Pakistanis in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the issue involved the future of over 3 lakh refugees who had been allotted evacuee properties that were left behind by those who migrated to Pakistan.

He said that the BJP would launch an agitation to highlight the issue.

He accused the Congress of backing the pro-Pakistan and pro-separatist policies of the Mufti government.

Jammu, April 26
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has decided to introduce a helicopter service for carrying tourists to various destinations in the state during the coming summers.

The decision was taken today at a high-level meeting that was presided by the Chief Minister, Mufti Sayeed, to review the arrangements made by the Tourism Department for improvement of the infrastructure.

A bed capacity of 14,000 is presently available in Srinagar. Besides, 600 house boats with 1,400-bed capacity were also available. Tent accommodation would be provided around the Dal Lake.

Srinagar, April 26
At least six militants were killed in the continuing operation in Chowkibal area near the LoC in Kupwara district since yesterday, while two others, including a militant, were killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. A large quantity of arms and ammunition, and an amount of Rs 3.64 lakh were recovered during searches by the security forces near Handwara in Kupwara district.

Six unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Drangyari village in the Chowkibal area of Kupwara district today, a defence spokesman said here. Five AK rifles, 13 magazines, 356 AK rounds, 10 Chinese grenades and a radio set have been recovered from the site of the encounter. The operation was still in progress, according to the defence spokesman.

This is the third such incident near the LoC in north Kashmir since the Manmohan-Musharraf summit in Delhi on the sidelines of the last one-day cricket international between India and Pakistan on April 17. At least 11 militants were killed in two separate incidents in Baramula and Kupwara districts of north Kashmir last week.

A militant of the Hizb-e-Islami was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Poonch district of the Jammu region today. One AK rifle, four magazines, 30 rounds and two hand grenades were recovered from the site of the encounter, police here said. Unidentified militants hanged to death Riyaz Ahmad Sheikh in the Kunzer area of Baramula district last night. His body was recovered by the police.

Jammu, April 26
In a bid to connect the frontier region of Ladakh with the northern grid, a 230-km-long transmission line between Srinagar and Leh will be laid by the Power Grid Corporation of India at a cost of Rs 634 crore. Work on the laying of the 220 kv project will begin in June.

This is being done under the reconstruction package of power development schemes for the state that was announced by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his visit here.

Mr P.N. Parihar, Manager (Public Relations) of the Power Grid, said here today that it would be a highly challenging job for engineers as the transmission line would pass through a very hostile terrain consisting of avalanches and cold desert areas.

He said heavy machinery would be airlifted.

He said at present Ladakh was not connected with the northern grid as a result of which the people there had to face harsh winters without electricity.

The route alignment for the transmission system has been undertaken using satellite imageries provided by the National Remote Sensing Agency. The diesel generation in the area costs around Rs 12 per unit. Placement of towers in avalanche-prone areas will be decided in consultation with the snow and Avalanche Study Establishment.

Besides, four sub-stations of 220/33 kv would also be constructed en route.