Jammu, June 6
Activists of the Shiv Sena from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana have decided to come in trucks loaded with foodgrain, ghee and other items required for setting up langars for Amarnath pilgrims, without paying entry tax at the Lakhanpur barrier.

According to Mr V.K. Aggarwal, president of the Shiv Shakti Seva Dal, “We have decided to defy the government order on entry tax for the items being carried by trucks for langars and our activists atop the trucks will not pay any tax at Lakhanpur on June 10.”

The government decision to impose entry tax for trucks carrying items for langars has been criticised by the BJP, the VHP and other organisations. Vice-president of the state unit of the BJP, Prof Hari Om, said here today, “On the one hand air travel has been subsidised for pilgrims of one community and on the other entry tax is being imposed on items meant for langars for Amarnath pilgrims.”

Mr Aggarwal said the government order provided for levying Rs 650 per 4-tonne truck and Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per 9-tonne truck carrying items for langars. He said it was a “big punishment for philanthrophists from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan who spend money on free langars for the pilgrims.”

He said on an average 300 langars were established right from Jammu to the cave and for each langar 10 truckloads of food items were required.

Mr Aggarwal said small langars were being set up at Posh Patri, Pisu Top, Sheshnag and big langars at Chenani on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, Pahalgam, Panchtarni and Baltal. He wanted the Governor and the Chief Minister to intervene and waive entry tax for trucks carrying food material for the langars.

Srinagar, June 6
In an intensified operations against militants, at least 13 militants, including a divisional commander, were killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday. The number of militants killed in an encounter with the security forces in Kupwara district yesterday has gone up to four with the death of another militant.

Five militant of Jash-e-Mohammad, including a divisional commander, were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Kalas Kus in Rajouri district of the Jammu region yesterday, the police here said.

Two of the killed militants were identified as Mahnaz Ahmad, divisional commander and Bilal, both of them residents of Pakistan. Five AK rifles, five magazines, 30 rounds and a wireless set were recovered from the site of encounter.

Three militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces in a forest area near Aragam, Bandipore in Baramula district today. One of them was identified as Irshad Ahmad Khan of Jaish-e-Mohammad from Pakistan, while two other local militants belonged to Hizb-ul Mujahideen, the police here said. They were identified as Naseer Ahmad from Chuntimulla, Bandipore and Javed Ahmad Lone from the Shopian area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir.

Three AK rifles, 14 magazines, 438 rounds, one UBGL and eight hand grenades were seized from the site of encounter.

The security forces shot dead three unidentified militants in an encounter at Nika Manjari in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district today.

A foreign militant identified as Yasin, alias, Abu Masood Gaznavi was killed in an encounter with the BSF at Panara, Basantgarh, in Udhampur district today. Three AK rifles, with magazines and other ammunition were seized from the site of encounter.

The police here said one more militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces in a forest area of Trehgam in Kupwara district yesterday, raising the toll to four. One AK rifle, one magazine, 800 AK rounds, two UBGLs, one 6 mm mortar gun, 10 mortar shells, two grenades and a wireless set, were among recoveries made from the spot, the police said.

Jammu, June 6
After members of the Congress Committee failed to have unanimity over the candidate who could be installed as PCC President, the matter has been referred to the AICC President, Ms Sonia Gandhi.

During a recent meeting of the PCC, the issue whether Peerzada Mohammed Sayed ,who heads the committee at present, be formally elected as the PCC chief or some one else be considered for the post was discussed. As members expressed divergent views it was decided that Ms Sonia Gandhi should be authorised to make a selection.

The need for electing the PCC chief had risen because Peerzada Sayed was installed as head of the committee as a stop gap arrangement after Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, had stated that as a minister he could not devote full time for organisational work in Jammu and Kashmir as PCC President.

A senior party leader, holding the rank of a minister, told this correspondent today: “We want an effective PCC chief as the Congress has decided to have a party leader as the Chief Minister after Mufti Mohammed Sayeed stepped down in pursuance of the agreement under which after three years the PDP will leave the Chief Minister’s seat open for the Congress in the first week of November 2005.”

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has already received the hint about impatience of the state Congress for being in the rider’s seat and consequently he has conveyed to his friends and supporters that he was ready to step down.

However, the Congress leadership is faced with two predicaments in finding a suitable party man who could function as a Chief Minister. Though Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad is considered the most suitable candidate, there were some inherent difficulties.

In case the dice was cast in his favour then Mr Mangat Ram may cease to be the Deputy Chief Minister. It is so because the state cannot have the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief from the Jammu region. In that case either Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Finance Minister or Mr Ghulam Hassan Mir, Tourism Minister, belonging to the PDP, may be elevated to the post of the Deputy Chief Minister.

The transfer of power may not be an easy process because there are a number of Congress contenders for the Chief Minister’s post including Prof Saifuddin Soz, MP, and Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar, MLC.

If the Congress high command opts for either Prof Soz or Mr Kar in that case there would be no need for changing Mr Mangat Ram Sharma as Deputy Chief Minister.

At the same time, Mr Azad has the support of majority of PCC members for the Chief Minister’s post. As Chief Minister, his supporters argue, he would be able to infuse discipline in the council of ministers and the organisation.

Will Mr Azad risk his reputation by accepting Chief Minister’s seat in a state which is plagued by multidimensional problems. At present the PDP has a bigger share in the anti-incumbency factor than the Congress and when the Chief Minister’s seat falls in the lap of the Congress the party may register bigger erosion in case it fails to come up to the expectations of people of the state.

One set of political pundits are of the view that if the Mufti is allowed to complete three more years as Chief Minister, the PDP may be a loser during the next Assembly poll.

Jammu, June 6
At least 12 Forest Protection Force personnel were injured while controlling a fire that broke out today in the forest area in Trikuta mountains where the holy Vaishno Devi shrine is located, prompting the authorities to stop the pilgrimage for a short while, reports from base camp Katra said.

The fire, believed to have been caused by cigarette butts, engulfed the forest area near Adhkumari and the cave shrine around noon.

FPF personnel rushed to the area and were able to control the blaze to a large extent, the reports said, adding at least 12 of them sustained burn injuries.

The authorities had stopped the yatra for some time and later resumed it. However, there was no report of injury to any devotee, the reports said.  — PTI