J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Jamait-e-Islami rift comes to fore
Jammu, August 6
The Right wing Jamait-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir is plagued by severe internal dissension which surfaced during recent meeting of the party representatives (Aiwani Numandigaan) held in Srinagar.

Morcha resents statements made by PoK delegates
Jammu, August 6
The RSS-led State Morcha has demanded a High level inquiry into “lavish expenditure” made by those organising the visit of intellectuals and academicians from Pakistan and occupied Kashmir.

5 militants among six killed
Baramulla, August 6
Five militants were among six persons killed and Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a girl were injured in North Kashmir, official sources said today. They said militants shot dead Bashir Ahmad Lassi at Sopore in north Kashmir this afternoon. One girl Shabnam Hamid was also injured. She has been hospitalised.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with his ministers lays the foundation stone of the state’s first women’s ITI at Seer Hamdan in Anantnag on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Amin War

Jamait-e-Islami rift comes to fore
M.L. Kak

Jammu, August 6
The Right wing Jamait-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir is plagued by severe internal dissension which surfaced during recent meeting of the party representatives (Aiwani Numandigaan) held in Srinagar.

It was at this meeting that the moderates and the hardliners raised slogans against each other. And as a sequel to the rift the hardliners by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the moderates headed by Jamait-Islami Amir, Mr Nazir Ahmed Keshani, head for a showdown of their strength.

While the Geelani group has decided to hold a meeting at Hyderpora in Srinagar on Saturday Mr Kashani has convened a meeting of the Budgam district unit of the organisation at Beerwa the same day.

A demand was raised by Geelani loyalists that the suspension notice served on Mr Geelani and two other associates be revoked. And when Mr Nazir Ahmed Kashani rejected the demand as chief of the organisation those among the hardliners wanted Mr Kashani to quit as head of teh organisation which he turned down.

The rift between the hardliners and the moderates in the Jamait-e-Islami depended when Mr Geelani and two of his associates, including Mr Mohd. Ashraf Sehrai, were suspended from the organisation over the three months ago on charge of running Tehrik Hurriyat conference as a parallel organisation to the Jamaat.

Even before the split in the APHC Jamait-e-Islami had withdrawn Mr Geelani as Jamaat representative in the separatist conglomerate. However, the hardliners has mounted so much pressure on Mr Kashani that the Jamait-e-Islami did not send any other organisation leader to represent Jammat in place of Mr Geelani. It was after the split in the APHC that the Jamait-e-Islami leadership was compelled to side with the separatist amalgam headed by Mr Geelani.

After a senior Shia leader, Aga Hassan Badgami, quit the Tehrik Hurriyat Conference Mr Geelani has intensified what his supporters call mass contact programme. Fearing that some other constituents of “Tehrik Hurriyat Conference may quit the conglomerate Mr Geelani has initiated moves to strengthen his hold on “Jamait-e-Islami so that the organisation, which has a well laid network in the state, does not join hands with the APHC headed by Molvi Umar Farooq.

It is in this connection that he has started reiterating his support for the implementation of the UN resolution on Kashmir. Till a few weeks ago he used to tell people that a Kashmir issue could be resolved through tripartite talks but of late he has been saying that the issue could be settled only through the implementation of the UN resolution providing for the grant of right of self determination to the people of the state. 

Morcha resents statements made by PoK delegates
Our Correspondent

Jammu, August 6
The RSS-led State Morcha has demanded a High level inquiry into “lavish expenditure” made by those organising the visit of intellectuals and academicians from Pakistan and occupied Kashmir.

In a statement issued here today a spokesman of the State Morcha, Mr Onkat Seth, said It was intriguing that neither the Centre nor the state government had taken any note of the way in which leaders from across the border and the trip organisers in Jammu and Kashmir had made controversial statements about human rights and civil liberties in the state.

Mr Seth said the morcha supported people to people contact on either side of the border but measures should be taken to prevent those from across the LoC from indulging in politics and political intrigues.

The morcha leader also expressed concern over the latitude being given by the centre and state governments to separatists and others for raising anti-national slogans and for indulging in anti-India activities in the state. 

5 militants among six killed

Baramulla, August 6
Five militants were among six persons killed and Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a girl were injured in North Kashmir, official sources said today. They said militants shot dead Bashir Ahmad Lassi at Sopore in north Kashmir this afternoon. One girl Shabnam Hamid was also injured. She has been hospitalised.

An encounter took place during a search operation in the frontier district of Kupwara early this morning.

The sources said three militants were killed in the encounter. However, the body of only one militant was recovered so far. — UNI

3 die en route to Amarnath

Srinagar, August 6
A CRPF jawan and two others died due to cardiac arrest today en route the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the South Kashmir Himalayas, taking the toll in the ongoing annual pilgrimage to 50, official sources said.

Constable Suresh Kumar died at Brarimarg along the Baltal route while 42-year-old Rajinder Sathi of Gaziabad and an elderly sadhu from Nepal died at Sheshnag on the Pahalgam route in the morning due to chest pain, the sources said.

Another pilgrim, whose identity could not be ascertained, died near the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine on Thursday night.

With their death, the number of pilgrims who met natural death since the commencement of the annual pilgrimage has risen to 50, the sources said. — PTI