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Families flee as militancy rises Governor to take up ‘yatra’ issue with Mufti Preserve culture, says Governor |
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Families flee as militancy rises Jammu, May 28 While timely police intervention stopped further migration of civilians from militancy-infested areas in Budhal, Prankot, Tatapani, Tryth, 20 families have reached Kalakot, where they are camping in a school building. Scare and tension gripped several villages around Dharoti following the killing of four civilians and four security personnel by militants in recent days. Militants had also kidnapped a boy, and tortured him to death. His body was found in a forest belt. A couple of days ago, people staged, demonstration near Kalakot, demanding the setting up of a police post near Dharoti. Militants opened fire on the police post yesterday, official sources said. The police retaliated, forcing the militants to take to their heels. Eyewitness accounts said migrants had demanded adequate security cover for the civilians at their villages where groups of militants had been moving around freely after some companies of troops were shifted from the Kalakot belt under the troop-reduction policy. What has intrigued the police authorities is the way several Hindu youths have joined militant outfits. A police official said preliminary inquiries based on eyewitness accounts revealed that several Hindu boys, belonging to poor families,had been lured by militants after paying handsome sums of money. And these very Hindu boys, equipped with assault rifles, had been operating in the Kalakot belt for the past several months. The police has collected the names of these Hindu militants and the search for them has begun. |
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Governor to take up ‘yatra’ issue with Mufti Jammu, May 28 The Governor made it clear that June 21, the date fixed by him for the beginning of the pilgrimage, was not sacrosanct and the date could be changed in case the state government had some genuine problems. He said he had announced that the yatra would begin from June 21 as it was an auspicious day. He said there was no conflict between him and the Chief Minister and added that “we are having a cordial relationship. All issues pertaining to the pilgrimage will be sorted out when both of us meet in Srinagar shortly.” The Governor was annoyed over the use of the word “Hindu mythology” by the state government in the objections that it had included in the affidavit on the proposals of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) regarding the pilgrimage. He said whoever had drafted the affidavit had shown ignorance about the Hindu religion. “Use of the word mythology was highly condemnable. But there is no dispute on this issue,” he said. Mr Sinha said as the Chairman of the SASB he was functioning in accordance with the directions of the high court. The high court had left it for the Chairman to decide about the duration of the pilgrimage. When asked about Mufti’s press conference in Delhi yesterday in which he had said the pilgrimage would be restricted to one month because of security reasons, the Governor said he would consider the Chief Minister’s statement. He, however, said there should be no dispute over the beginning of the pilgrimage as the Security Adviser to the state government had stated that the security system for the pilgrimage would be put in place by June 15. But the Chief Minister’s concern about security can be very legitimate, he added. Regarding apprehensions expressed by the state government about the pilgrimage route being under snow, the Governor said he had got the area surveyed by the Army right up to the holy cave shrine and the feedback was that three glaciers and snow had been removed from the Baltal route. However, weather conditions can be taken into consideration before finally starting the pilgrimage, he said. He said last year also he had asked for the pilgrimage to continue for 60 days, but later a decision had been taken to continue it for 45 days only. The Governor said the pilgrimage had remained incident free during the past two years and this time he said “I can guarantee that no stone will be left unturned to provide complete security to the pilgrims.” In a related development, a Division Bench of the high court today stayed the withdrawal of permission by the state government to the SASB to use the land adjoining the trek route to the Amarnath shrine for providing facilities to the pilgrims. A Bench consisting of Mr Justice V.K. Jhanji and Mr Justice Y.P. Nargotra, granted the stay. While arguing the petition on behalf of the SASB, a senior advocate, Mr U.K. Jalali, said the sudden withdrawal of permission by the state government was “arbitrary”. Meanwhile, the state BJP has asked the Congress and the Panthers Party, both ruling coalition partners, to clarify their stand on the “rabidly communal” stand taken by the PDP-led coalition government. In a statement, the vice-president of the BJP, Mr Hari Om, said the BJP was convinced that the Mufti-led government had no place in its scheme of things for the minorities. He said the arguments advanced by the Mufti that he could not allow the pilgrimage to continue for two months because of security related problems were ill founded and designed only to mislead the devotees. |
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Preserve culture, says Governor Jammu, May 28 The Governor, who was speaking at the annual day function of the Chenab College of Education here today, said “ours is the only surving ancient civilisation in the world.” He said we should not live only in the past, but keep our doors and windows open to the present and future developments in the world to keep pace with the developing countries. The Governor laid significance on empowerment by women rather than empowerment of women. The Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University, Prof Amitabh Mattoo, also spoke on the occasion. The Chairman of the college, Mr R.S. Chib, while listing the achievements of the college, said a number of students from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana were doing B.Ed course in the institution. |
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