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APHC leaders soften stance on meeting PM
Geelani alleges plot to eliminate him
PoK youth marries Kashmiri girl
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Soldier, militant killed
Srinagar, May 1 A soldier and a militant were killed, while four persons, including two brothers and a soldier, were injured in Jammu and Kashmir overnight. 
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APHC leaders soften stance on meeting PM
Jammu, May 1 The very decision to convene a meeting on finalising a date indicates at APHC leaders having undergone a major change in their attitude as far as the resumption of talks is concerned. When the UPA assumed power at the Centre, APHC leaders had insisted that they would visit Delhi to meet the Prime Minister only if they received a formal invitation. Also, they had wished to meet the Prime Minister prior to their visit to Pakistan. Explaining the reason for the change in their stance, a former APHC chairman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, while talking to The Tribune, today said: “We had sought an appointment with Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf, which was granted when he visited Delhi recently.” He said similarly “we are seeking an audience with Manmohan Singh after the Prime Minister announced, on a number of occasions, that he was ready to talk to the APHC leaders and others”. Prof Bhat said: “Members of the executive committee will decide on the week or the month in which we can meet the Prime Minister. It will be conveyed to Delhi and a meeting will be fixed as per the convenience of both sides.” He added: “Since Manmohan Singh is a very busy leader, we leave it to him to fix the date.” He said: “We will visit Delhi for the meeting, whenever the dates are finalised, without any preconditions.” Prof Bhat said: “We will meet Manmohan Singh with an open mind. We will not talk about weather but about the political scenario, human rights violations, return of Kashmiri pandits and many other issues.” He said: “Since both sides were prepared to hold a dialogue, only some formalities had to be completed, which I hope will be done shortly.” Inside reports said the change in the attitude of the APHC leaders vis-a-vis resumption of talks with the Centre is the outcome of their eagerness to visit Pakistan and the PoK. Since they have declared that their visit to Pakistan will succeed their meeting with Manmohan Singh, they have shown keenness on visiting Delhi. By meeting the Prime Minister, the APHC leaders wish to demonstrate that they are moderates in favour of settlement of all bilateral problems through peaceful negotiations and are not scared of threats by militants, who have warned them against meeting the government and visiting Pakistan. |
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Geelani alleges plot to eliminate him
Srinagar, May 1 “I have reliable information that plans have been made to eliminate me physically,” Geelani said while addressing a function organised in connection with the opening of the Srinagar district office of his Tehreek-e-Hurriyat here. However, he said he would die at the time fixed by Allah. Geelani said the plan to eliminate him had been formulated so that he stopped demanding implementation of the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir which provided for allowing people of Kashmir to decide their future. The firebrand leader named his three successors, Mohammad Ashraf Sarahi, secretary general of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Masrat Alam, chairman of Muslim League and general secretary of Hurriyat Conference, who played a key role in the formation of breakaway Hurriyat in 2003, and Ghulam Nabi Sumji, chairman of breakaway Muslim Conference, saying they would take charge of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat in the event of his death. Later Geelani told reporters that he had survived 14 attempts on his life since 1996. Asked to identify the reliable source which had informed him about the plan to kill him, he said one of those who hatched the conspiracy informed him about it.
— PTI |
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PoK youth marries Kashmiri girl
Srinagar, May 1 Nearly after a decade, Ajmal Basaharat, returned to his parents and was “lucky to be among those who boarded the first bus from Muzaffarabad”, according to his father, Basharat Ahmad, a retired employee of the J&K State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC). Ajmal was born and brought up in Wonagama village of Bandipore in Baramula district. He had settled in Pakistan in 1994. His grandfather, Amanullah had been a frequent visitor to Pakistan after Partition where his father had remarried and settled. “These old connections helped Ajmal” to get educated and settled across the border, said Abdul Samad, a close relative. “It was a good omen to travel by the first bus from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar”, which marked a historic event after over 57 years, said Basharat Ahmad. He referred to the warm welcome and felicitations on the occasion of the arrival of the first bus. The passengers were given a reception at Salamabad, near Uri, after they crossed over to this side of the LoC. There was again a civic reception at the SKICC in Srinagar where the visitors spent their first night. That was like the occasion of a marriage. Now, when Ajmal got dressed as a bridegroom, he had not to drive to the bride’s house, but only to walk down in the neighbourhood, as the “ceremonial drive” had been banned as a historic event on April 7. “The bus has truly helped the divided families”, said a bride’s relative. This marriage has been truly so as both bride and bridegroom have their families divided over the past more than six decades. Ajmal had been accompanying his grandfather to Pakistan for his own relations, and it has been the same in the case of Samie, who is yet to get graduation from Degree College, Sopore, about 30 km away. Her father, Abdul Haye, a retired teacher, had his maternal and paternal relations across while his father had settled here much before Partition. The new relation to develop with the marriage of Ajaml and Samie has been as a sequel to the past relations, after the bride’s parents visited their relations in Pakistan last year. Earlier, it was expected that the newly married husband and wife would be travelling via Wagah, but the historic bus aimed at “reuniting divided families”, has brought much relief. “It has not only reunited the divided families but strengthened and made further ties”, said a resident here. The couple is expectedly to be accompanied by some of their close ones on their return journey. “They are waiting for the response”, said Abdul Samad, a common relative of both families. “May be Samie’s parents join them on return”, he added. Both the households of the bride and bridegroom, like many others in the area, have passed through difficult times due to the division of their families. Some of them staying here and many others settling across after Partition. Many such families had decided against continuing such relationship to avoid “further trauma of separation”, but the improving relations between India and Pakistan and the bus named as “Caravan-e-Aman” have brought fresh hopes to the divided families and many others craving for peace.
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Soldier, militant killed
Srinagar, May 1 The security forces arrested a militant along with one pistol, one magazine and 14 cartridges at Doda. Official sources said troops killed a militant in an encounter at Muqam Bandipora in north Kashmir early this morning. The encounter ensued after an ambush party was attacked by the militants. One AK rifle and other arms and ammunition were seized from the slain militant. Militants shot at and wounded Mashrouf Mehraj, a Class X student at Jamia Baramula last night. He had been hospitalised. Sources said militants entered the house of Wali Paswal at Khasdi Batnoor village in Pulwama district and shot at and wounded his two sons, Mohammad Yousuf and Ghulam Mohammad. The injured have been hospitalised. A soldier was injured when militants attacked a patrol party at Gursal in Poonch district of Jammu region last night. Militants later escaped. The injured soldier was admitted to hospital where he died.
— UNI |
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