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Hurriyat, JKLF leaders issued
Activists of the Islamic Student League hold a protest in Srinagar on Friday.
— Photo by Amin War
Cong giving raw deal to Jammu region: BJP
Governor, govt lock horns on yatra date
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Top Hizbul militant killed
Govt going slow on reopening Poonch-Rawalakot road
CM to open second phase of ropeway
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Hurriyat, JKLF leaders issued travel forms
Srinagar, May 27 The forms were issued to the separatist leaders by the Regional Passport Office here this afternoon. Regional Passport Officer S.L. Sreeramulu said the forms had been issued to the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders. “Once they submit the forms, the verification process will start,” he added. Mr Sreeramulu also made it clear that the applications of the separatist leaders would be processed as per the established procedures. “Our position is that the government, as per the existing practice, will consider applications by individuals to travel by bus from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad. This would be the basis on which the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders would apply for travel on the bus,” he added. Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal had also said in New Delhi yesterday that the Centre was not averse to the Hurriyat leaders visiting PoK, but asserted that they would have to go through the necessary verification procedures for travelling on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus. Mr Sreeramulu said the Centre had given the clearance to issue forms to the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders. “There is no problem in that regard now,” he added. The Regional Passport Officer said one form had been given to each applicant as per the set procedure. Asked if the Hurriyat and other separatist leaders would be allowed to travel beyond PoK, Mr Sreeramulu said as per the agreed procedure between India and Pakistan, no person aboard the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus could travel beyond PoK.
— UNI |
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Protest against ‘sacrilege’ of Koran
Srinagar, May 27 All shops and business establishments here and in major towns of the valley remained closed. There was skeletal transport plying here and passenger transport was off roads. Educational institutions and banks were closed while thin attendance was registered in government offices. The strike call was given by the Hurriyat Conference-led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and supported by some other organisations, including the High Court Bar Association. The chairman, moderate APHC, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in his address at the Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid, condemned the incident. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman, APHC, was kept under house arrest at his Peerbagh residence as the police suspected him to take out a demonstration. Later, a spokesman for the Hurriyat Conference said Geelani was not allowed to leave his residence. He was indisposed for the past several days, the spokesman said. Several demonstrations were held in the central Lal Chowk area and in some major towns in Baramula district. At least six activists of the Salvation Movement were held here. |
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Cong giving raw deal to Jammu region: BJP
Jammu, May 27 The BJP vice-president, Dr Hari Om, said here today: “If the Congress has been able to share power with the PDP it was because of the support of the Jammu region voters.” He said that the Congress had cheated the voters by sidelining two important promises. He said despite the fact that the PDP-Congress had been in power for the past over two and a half years, the Congress had “done nothing to get the Wazir Commission recommendations implemented. The BJP leader said: “Even in the common minimum programme formulated by the coalition government it had been mentioned that we will accord due consideration to the recommendations of the Wazir Commission.” Prof Hari Om said that after a lapse of over two years the government had stated that the recommendations of the commission could not be implemented on or the other pretext. He said in the common minimum programme and in the Congress poll manifesto a promise was held for establishing a delimitation commission. Dr Hari Om said: “The job of the delimitation commission was not only to increase the Assembly
seats. It could redraw the boundaries of the Assembly segments.” He said the Jammu region had been given a raw deal in the past because its number of seats in the Assembly was less than those of the Kashmir valley when it deserved at least four more seats on the basis of population and area. |
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Governor, govt lock horns on yatra date
Jammu, May 27 At least five lakh pilgrims from various parts of the country are expected to perform the pilgrimage, but allegations of creating hurdles have started coming against the state government. The conflicting statements of the Governor, Lieut-Gen S.K.Sinha (retd), and Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed on starting of the pilgrimage and creating of infrastructure for a comfortable stay of the pilgrims have created confusion among the people. This is not for the first time that Raj Bhavan and the state government are at loggerheads on the issue of the pilgrimage. A lot of venom spitting was done on the issue by both sides during the pilgrimage last year. The Governor is the Chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board
(SASB) with several Hindu religious and intellectuals as its members. However, an impression has gone around that the Mufti was trying to create hurdles in the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage eversince he became Chief Minister. Dr Farooq Abdullah, a former Chief Minister and National Conference leader, has warned that the Mufti should desist from
interfering in the religious affairs of Hindus as this would create an impression across the country that the minority was being harassed in J&K. The local unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has also accused the Mufti of trying to create obstacles in the pilgrimage in the name of militancy. If it was so then why was the Chief Minister inviting tourists to visit the Kashmir valley, a leader of the VHP questioned. While the Governor has announced that the pilgrimage would begin on June 21, the Tourism Minister, Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, told this correspondent today that it might not be possible to open the two routes leading to the mountain shrine because the area was under snow. He said that a team of experts would visit the area to see as to how the snow clearing operation could be expedited. The Hindu bodies have not relished the statement of the Mufti that the pilgrimage would be curtailed to one month because of security reasons. However, Raj Bhavan sources said that the Governor was not rigid on starting of the pilgrimage on June 21.There was complete flexibility and the timing could be reconsidered in case there were genuine reasons. After the court orders on May 17, the SASB held a meeting on May 21 in which the DGP, Mr Gopal Sharma, was also present, sources said. The security concerns were discussed threadbare to fix the beginning of the pilgrimage on June 21. Sources in the SASB said that the meeting had to be convened hurriedly as the court had directed that it should be held within 10 days. The SASB sources said that in case the Pahalgam route was not cleared of snow, the pilgrimage could be started from the other route at
Baltal. Eyebrows are being raised on the action of the state government in which it has withdrawn the permission to the SASB for using the government land at Pahalgam and other places en route for pitching tents for pilgrims and creating other facilities. |
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Top Hizbul militant killed
Srinagar, May 27 Sheikh, divisional commander-cum-operational chief of the outfit and wanted in connection with the attack on Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed last year and over 75 other killings in the state, was active since 1990 and was operating in Badgam, Srinagar and Sumbal and Tangmarg areas of Baramulla, the spokesman said. Acting on a specific information, a police party confronted a group of ultras during an operation at Yarigund near Check-e-Ruksun, 25 km from here, late last night and in the ensuing encounter, shot dead Sheikh even as his associates managed to escape, he said. Sheikh, a resident of Rathsun village of Beerwah and carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was operating under the false names of Sajad, Doctor and Osama and his killing was considered as a major blow to the outfit in general and militancy in the state in particular. Besides carrying out militant activities against security forces, the spokesman said he had killed
more than 75 innocent civilians and was known for his ruthlessness and brutality.
— PTI |
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Govt going slow on reopening Poonch-Rawalakot road
Jammu, May 27 This is evident from the way the state agencies concerned and the Army have not taken in hand the project of the up gradation of the Poonch-Rawlakot road via
Betar Nallah. A government survey had revealed that the route between Poonch and Rawalakot via Betar Nallah was convenient for passengers and being a shorter route than the one via Salotri, the up gradation of the road could be completed within a week or 10 days as 3 to 4 km of the road strip between Betar Nallah and Rangarh Nallah had to be rebuilt. The survey had revealed that the route via Salotri was 45 km long against 32 km via Betar Nallah. The former needed a major up gradation programme as two major bridges, one at Mandla (in India) and the other at Madarpur (in
Pakistan), had to be rebuilt which may take several months. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed announced here recently that till India and Pakistan agreed on the reopening of Poonch-Rawalakot road he would press for setting up border meeting points for the benefit of the families divided during the Partition. The Mufti said he would meet Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, with the request that the Centre explore the possibility of setting up border meeting points with Pakistan. He said that such meeting points could be established at Tangdhar, Tithwal, Uri, Poonch, Rajouri and Suchetgarh. A senior police officer told this correspondent that managing border meeting points was easier than providing infrastructure, including the security cover to the bus passengers. |
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CM to open second phase of ropeway
Srinagar, May 27 It has a length of 2.65 km. The first phase that has been functional since 1998, connects Gulmarg with Kongdori over a distance of 2.5 km. |
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