J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Militant killed in bid to storm Secretariat
Srinagar, September 7
Militants today tried to storm the heavily-guarded Civil Secretariat — the seat of power — here, but the attack was foiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police as it killed a militant and injured another, official sources said.




Securitymen comb the area around Neelam Cinema in Srinagar on Wednesday after militants tried to storm the Civil Secretariat. — Tribune photo by Amin War

NC-PDP’s slanging-match over graft in state
Jammu, September 7
The National Conference and the ruling PDP have started crossing swords over the issue of corruption. While NC president, Omar Abdullah, has accused the ruling coalition led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of “having institutionalised corruption”, the chief of the PDP, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, has claimed that the level of corruption under the Farooq Abdullah regime was higher than “during our time”.

Govt to revamp Khadi Gram Udyog Act
Jammu, September 7
The Union Minister for Small Scale and Rural Industries, Mr Mahabir Prasad, has said that a bill seeking to give a boost to the Small-Scale industry would be presented in Parliament during the winter session.

Militant killed in bid to storm Secretariat

Srinagar, September 7
Militants today tried to storm the heavily-guarded Civil Secretariat — the seat of power — here, but the attack was foiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police as it killed a militant and injured another, official sources said.

Sources said the militants, numbering two, made an attempt to storm the Civil Secretariat at around 3.20 pm.

However, the bid was foiled by police personnel posted there, they added.

One militant was killed while the other militant and a Head Constable, Mohammad Ramzan, were injured in the attack, the sources said.

They said the injured militant later entered the Neelam cinema, which is the only functional theatre in Srinagar city, and started firing from there.

However, after some time the gunshots stopped coming from inside the cinema hall.

The sources said the entire audience was rescued by the security personnel from the Neelam cinema, screening the Aamir Khan starrer “Mangal Pandey - The Rising”.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was not in his office at the time of the attack.

Three militant outfits — the Al Mansoorian, the Harkat-ul-Hansar and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen — jointly claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman for the outfits, Mullah Omar, called up the local media and said it was a joint operation by the three militant organisations.

However, Deputy Inspector-General of Police H K Lohia said there was no apparent target.

‘’It is just that the militants wanted to show their presence and make news by launching an attack near some important places and installations,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, a foreign militant and two civilians were killed while the security forces seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including deadly RDX, in the Kashmir valley during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today. — UNI

NC-PDP’s slanging-match over graft in state
Our Correspondent

Jammu, September 7
The National Conference and the ruling PDP have started crossing swords over the issue of corruption. While NC president, Omar Abdullah, has accused the ruling coalition led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of “having institutionalised corruption”, the chief of the PDP, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, has claimed that the level of corruption under the Farooq Abdullah regime was higher than “during our time”.

And the two main political rivals in the state turned the border district of Rajauri into a wrestling ring during the last several days. While Mr Omar Abdullah, spent seven days from September 3,in Rajauri where he addressed series of public rallies, his rival Ms Mehbooba started her two-day tour of the area from today.

The idea behind Ms Mufti’s sudden mass contact programme in Rajauri was to undo whatever Mr Omar Abdullah had gained by fulminating against the government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during his recent tour.

The PDP chairperson refuted allegations of the NC president that under the coalition government peoples' miseries had increased. She told people in the district that it was under the coalition government that the pace of development works had accelerated and people had supported the peace process.

But she did not refer to Mr Omar’s allegations that the coalition government had reversed the NC government’s policy on utilising the services of educated youth in the border areas as teachers under the Rehbr-i-Taleem scheme. Mr Abdullah stated that the Rehbr-i-Taleem scheme had been launched by the NC government to provide job opportunities to educated youth in the villages who were prepared to serve in remote areas.

He said that the coalition government had employed highly educated youth as teachers under Rehbr-i-Taleem scheme after throwing out most of those who had been appointed on ad hoc basis by the NC government.

Ms Mehbooba also did not comment on Mr Omar Abdullah’s assertion that the state was in for a midterm Assembly poll and the stage for it would be set in November when the transfer of power agreement was to be implemented.

The PDP chief, instead, dwelt on human right violations being committed by foreign mercenaries. She wanted Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, to get it stopped and allow the peace process to reach its logical conclusion. She said that the coalition government had succeeded in reducing the level of human rights violations by the security forces.

In fact the PDP leadership has been concentrating on the districts of Doda, Poonch and Rajauri which are considered to be stronghold of the National Conference. It is in this context that the Chief Minister and his daughter have been visiting these districts frequently in a bid to cause erosion in the NC base which could help it in winning some Assembly seats during the next poll.

The PDP leadership also ridiculed the allegations of NC president that the ruling coalition failed to implement most of its promises made during the 2002 Assembly elections. The ruling coalition leaders stated that except for the delay in the setting up of the accountability commission, most other important promises had been fulfilled. They refuted the allegations of Mr Omar Abdullah that the offices were not being established for the accountability commission saying that the commission has moved to new offices in Srinagar and Jammu.

Knowledgeable circles said that the NC leadership was trying to create an impression that the midterm poll was round the corner. This was being done to prevent the PDP and the Congress from winning some NC leaders to their fold. And the political war between the PDP and the NC continues and in the weeks to come it may assume bigger dimensions.

Govt to revamp Khadi Gram Udyog Act
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 7
The Union Minister for Small Scale and Rural Industries, Mr Mahabir Prasad, has said that a bill seeking to give a boost to the Small-Scale industry would be presented in Parliament during the winter session.

Mr Mahabir Prasad, who was presiding over a meeting of officers of various central and state government officers connected with industrial promotion here today, said that the Khadi Gram Udyog Act of 1956 would be revamped with a view to generating employment avenues to the rural youth within their villages to prevent their migration to cities and towns.

He said these bills had been approved by the Cabinet and also by the Standing Committee of the ministry. It has now been sent to the group of ministers for their recommendation after which a bill would be presented in Parliament.

Mr Mahabir Prasad said that the UPA government was keen for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir and special emphasis was being laid on the small-scale industry.

He said that J&K was being given special attention and the Centre was liberal in providing funds to put the economy of the state back on the rails that was badly affected due to terrorism.