Jammu, July 18
Lieut-Gen Hari Prasad, GOC-in-C of the Northern Command, expressed regret over the fact that his desire of wiping out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir during his tenure would remain unfulfilled.

General Hari Prasad, who is due to retire shortly, told this correspondent here today that taking into account the current scenario it seemed that the complete elimination of terrorism would take a long time.

However, he expressed satisfaction over the fact that due to the efforts of the Army and security forces the situation in the hinterland had “ improved drastically”.

He said no one could set a deadline for completely wiping out terrorism that was being sponsored by forces from across the borders. Moreover, hardliners will always be there to create trouble, he added.

General Prasad said one could only hope that the menace of terrorism would end and development would take place in the state rapidly. He said the Operation Sadbhavana launched by the Army had tremendously helped in building a direct rapport with residents of the border and far-flung areas in the state. ‘‘People have started coming out to provide information to the troops about the activities of terrorists and this has resulted in the elimination of a number of ultras’’, he told The Tribune.

The Army commander said 700 micro hydroelectric projects would shortly be taken in hand by the Army to provide electricity in the border and inaccessible villages and hamlets in the state. At present about 300 such projects were being constructed under Operation Sadbhavana, he added.

He said sporadic incidents of terrorist violence were taking place and the terrorists had lost sympathy of the people. Most of the terrorist groups trying to infiltrate had been eliminated.

General Prasad said a large number of tourists had reached the Kashmir valley and this indicated that normalcy had returned to the state to a great extent. More than 15,000 tourists had visited the famous tourist destination of Gulmarg in the valley yesterday on Sunday. Pahalgam was also humming with tourists, he added.

General Prasad, who was talking to mediapersons after laying the foundation of a housing complex for troops at Sunjawan near here, said the operation to track down the terrorists who had entered Gurez in Kashmir, was continuing. Maj-Gen Vinay Sharma, GOC of the Tiger Division, was also present on the occasion.

Troops have been flown to the inhospitable area and efforts were being made to track down the remaining four ultras, he said. A group of 15 terrorists had infiltrated into Gurez from the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

He said there were several traditional infiltration routes along the border and the ultras were making attempts to enter Indian territory with the help of guides. He said the situation was not critical on the terrorism front, but the infiltration attempts this year were more than those in the previous years. A number of attempts had been made during the past few days, but not a single one had succeeded.

General Prasad said the peculiarity this time was that infiltration bids were being made from one end of the command territory to the other. In the past the modus operandi of the terrorists was to infiltrate from certain selected places.

He said the step up in infiltration bids indicated that the launching pads and training camps in the Pakistan territory were still operational and no steps had been taken to dismantle these.

Replying to a question whether these infiltrations were being backed by Pakistani troops, General Prasad said how can any person infiltrate into Indian territory without being detected by Pakistani border posts?

He said the Indian troops were tacitly allowing the terrorists to enter the Indian territory for some distance where they were ambushed and shot. In case these ultras were checked at the Line of Control, they would get an opportunity to retreat to Pakistan.

He said the government was taking care of the soldiers and a large number of houses were being built for their families.

He said a sum of Rs 17,000 crore had been earmarked for building houses for the troops in the country.

Srinagar, July 18
The Governor, Lt-Gen S.K. Sinha, has taken the first step towards mending fences with embittered Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed through the media which has been full of reports of serious differences between the two over a host of issues.

Over a week after Union Home Minister Shiv Raj Patil’s visit during which he convened a meeting of the Unified Headquarters here, Raj Bhawan today came out with a claim that everything was smooth between the head of the state and the government. The July 10 meeting of the Unified Headquarters, apex security decision making body, was held without the presence of its chairman, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The fact, however, is that the two have not spoken to each other for quite sometime. Media reports are their source of reading each other’s mind.

Mufti Sayeed, who was not informed about the July 10 meeting through the proper channel, was quite miffed. He had refused to attend the meeting, and instead took up the issue with the Centre complaining about the breach of protocol, and the Governor’s more than necessary meddling in the affairs of the democratically elected government, the sources said.

That controversy had brought the matters to a boil. Their diametrically opposite views, though reconciled somewhat — are too well known. Raj Bhavan came out with graphic details about the July 10 episode in an apparent bid to placate the Chief Minister. It is learnt that this has been done to set a stage for a meeting between the two in the coming days to further iron out the differences.

Principal Secretary to Governor, Dr Arun Kumar, in his statement said the “Governor and the Chief Minster enjoy very cordial relations and have tremendous regard for each other.” Seeking to steer the governor out of the whirlwind of the media talk on the July 10 episode, he said” Raj Bhavan had nothing to do with it nor had this meeting been convened in Raj Bhavan”.

He said the tour programme of the Union Home Minster had been circulated to, Raj Bhavan and the state government. The meeting was convened and held at Nehru Guest House by the state government to which the Governor was neither invited nor did he attend the same”.

Dr Arun Kumar clarified that there was no question of ignoring the Chief Minister by Raj Bhavan at the lunch hosted to the visiting Home Minister. The fact, however, is that the Home Minster and his entourage had a casual, and quick working lunch at Raj Bhavan and there were no outside invitees, he said.

Srinagar, July 18
A woman Municipal Councillor was shot at and wounded by militants in South Kashmir while elsewhere in the valley two militants were among the six people killed during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

Congress Municipal Councillor Fatima Mir was shot at and wounded outside her Sehpora Dooru house in Anantnag district this morning. She was rushed to a hospital, the spokesman said.

Militants kidnapped and later killed Zahoor Ahmad Khan, a state forest employee, at Kultura-Handwara village in Kupwara district last night.

Mohammad Khaleel Magray and his son Abdul Latief Magray were wounded critically when a grenade went off at the main road in Badgam district.

Both the injured were shifted to hospital where Mohammad Khaleel Magray succumbed to his wounds, the spokesman added.

Militants shot dead one Tanveer Ahmad Zarger at Narbal Chowk in the same district today.

Militants fired upon a shopkeeper, Javid Ahmad Makroo, when he was unloading merchandise from a truck at Bijbehara in Anantnag district, killing him on the spot. Truck driver Reyaz Ahmad was also injured in the firing and was shifted to a hospital, he said.

Militants kidnapped Nazir Ahmad Khan, a released Hizbul Mujahideen activist, from his Kiloora Shopian house and later shot him dead at a nearby village.

The spokesman said militant Mohammad Azam Khan, a resident of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), was killed in an encounter at Kamalkote in the Uri sector in Baramula district this morning. One AK rifle and some ammunition were seized from the slain militant.

One militant of the Al-Jehad outfit surrendered before the security forces in Baramula district today, he said.

Militants kidnapped two persons, Abdul Majid Chechee and Mukhtar Ahmad Trag, respectively from Gund-e-Kangan in Srinagar and Tral in Pulwama district today. — UNI

Srinagar, July 18
The first drive-in tourist reception centre, named as “Gateway of Kashmir”, is being constructed at a cost of Rs 3.65 crore at Lavdora, Qazigund, 74 km from here on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

The central government will provide Rs 1.65 crore under the approved tourism circuit for the project, which is likely to be completed within one year. The decision to set up this centre was taken to provide modern tourist complex with all facilities at the entry and exit point of the valley. This elaborate wayside tourist infrastructure will comprise tourist information centre, restaurant and shopping centre, parking and public conveniences, amphitheatre, water bodies and landscaped area.

Chief minister Mufti Sayeed who laid the foundation stone of the project yesterday, speaking on the occasion said it would be an all-inclusive tourist facility and the show window of Kashmir tourism.

He said tourists could drive in and have information they require, relax, drink tea or coffee or have food and proceed to the next destination. He said the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was the most frequently used road by tourists to enter and leave Kashmir.

He disclosed that out of 7.75 lakh tourists and pilgrims visiting the valley last year, 7 lakh travelled through this road only. He said it was a long-felt need that a wayside modern tourist facility at Qazigund should be constructed. He said the government had taken various steps to revive tourist activity in the valley and raising of infrastructure facilities was one of the most important measures.

He said tourist places had been given a facelift with added facilities. He cited the instance of Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Patnitop and Sonamarg and said these spots looked more beautiful today than before. He said side by side, private individuals had also started investing in tourism infrastructure.

The concept of tourist villages is catching up with the public in view of the insufficient tourist accommodation available in the valley, he said adding that last year many tourists had fanned into adjacent villages in Pahalgam and Gulmarg to seek accommodation. He said the tourist villages would generate economic activity.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Tourism, Ghulam Hassan Mir said the tourism sector has the potential of addressing the unemployment problem in the state. He said the tourism industry in the state has been revived after a long pause and hoped that next year the tourist arrivals would touch the million mark.

Minister of State for Tourism, Jugal Kishore said the government has accorded top priority to the development of basic infrastructure at tourist spots.

Jammu, July 18
In the first such exercise in 16 years of militancy in Kashmir, the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference has organised a meeting with several organisations of Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar tomorrow.

The conference is billed as an exercise to initiate confidence building measures to ensure the return of Pandits to Kashmir, said Syed Salim Gilani, in-charge of public contact programme of the All-Party Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.

During all these years, there has hardly been any contact at the collective level between Hurriyat and the Kashmiri Pandits in exile, he said adding that the meeting was aimed at creating goodwill between members of the two communities.

Describing as “unfortunate” the exodus of Pandits in the wake of militancy, Gilani said it is a “sincere beginning of dialogue process for the return of uprooted people from their native places.”

Gilani said he had held several meetings with various Kashmiri Pandit organisations and prominent people of its community in Jammu and Delhi over the past few months and based on a postive response from them, it had organised the conference tomorrow.

A larger interaction with the Pandits was scheduled to be organised in Jammu next month, he said admitting that all Kashmiri Pandit organisations would not be represented at the conference tomorrow. — PTI