J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Ex-minister’s motorcade attacked
Srinagar, January 14
The motorcade of former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and two senior Congress leaders was today pelted with stones by agitated residents of a village in Baramula district.

Invitation to Lone: PM kills two birds with one stone
Jammu, January 14
By inviting the Peoples’ Conference chief, Mr Sajjad Lone, for talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has seemingly hit two birds with one stone. Prior to this invitation an impression had gone round that Delhi had placed all its eggs in the basket of the APHC.

ISO grade for 213 Transit Camp
Jammu, January 14
The 213 Transit Camp of the Army here has achieved the rare distinction of being awarded the prestigious ISO 9001-2000 certificate today. The commandant of the camp, Col R.D. Singh, had initiated the process of getting the camp the ISO certificate about six months ago. This is the largest transit camp of the Indian Army as it handles over 2,500 transients every day, including 50-60 officers and their families.

Snowfall in Kashmir valley
Srinagar, January 14
Fresh snowfall occurred in the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley since last evening even as the cold wave continued unabated in the area. The Dal Lake remained frozen as the minimum temperature was minus 3.5°C, one degree below normal.

Ex-minister’s motorcade attacked

Srinagar, January 14
The motorcade of former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and two senior Congress leaders was today pelted with stones by agitated residents of a village in Baramula district.

Mir and the others, however, escaped unhurt as they were escorted to safety, official sources said here.

Mir, accompanied by JKPCC general secretary Abdul Majid Padder and Baramula district party president G.N. Monga, were on way to Kamalkote in Uri to distribute relief among the earthquake victims when the residents of Shree, 45 km from here, pelted stones on their vehicles this afternoon, official sources said.

They said two vehicles were damaged while another suffered partial damage, but Mir, Padder, Monga and party workers had a narrow escape as local Congressmen escorted them to a nearby house.

Villagers had converged on the roads, blocking traffic on the Srinagar-Uri road in protest against delay in the distribution of relief cheques to them. They alleged that victims of earthquake were provided relief but they were left out.

Despite police attempts to clear the road, the agitators stayed put and attacked the motorcade, when it reached there.

Mir, when contacted by the PTI on the phone, charged the district administration of “mishandling” the situation. “The situation could have been avoided had the district administration taken prompt and appropriate action,” he said.

“Every one has the right to raise their voice against injustice but the administration used lathis (batons) and tear gas to disperse the villagers which aggravated the situation,” Mir said.

Mir said the situation could have been avoided had District Development Commissioner N.K. Verma and Senior Superintendent of Police Ashkoor Wani visited the agitators and persuaded them to disperse peacefully. — PTI

Invitation to Lone: PM kills two birds with one stone
M.L.Kak

Jammu, January 14
By inviting the Peoples’ Conference chief, Mr Sajjad Lone, for talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has seemingly hit two birds with one stone. Prior to this invitation an impression had gone round that Delhi had placed all its eggs in the basket of the APHC. The Prime Minister has corrected this impression and has announced his commitment of inviting other political groups for talks.

The invitation to Mr Lone, who had fallen out with the APHC leadership about two years ago, could be a setback to the APHC leaders who had claimed that they were genuine representatives of the people of Kashmir.

And whenever their claim was questioned their main spokesman, Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, would shoot back saying “we represent the aspirations of people of Kashmir.” Notwithstanding this claim, the Prime Minister has conveyed to the leaders of the separatist conglomerates that they alone did not matter. There were others whose views have to be sought on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Secondly, the Pakistani establishment in general and President, General Parvez Musharraf in particular, had granted recognition to the APHC leaders after they visited Pakistan last year.With their morale up by the red carpet treatment they had received during their two visits to Pakistan in the last six months the Hurriyat leaders wanted resumption of another round of talks with Mr Manmohan Singh after their return from Islamabad.

And Mr Manmohan Singh does not seem to have given any weightage to the recognition President Parvez Musharraf had granted to the APHC leaders.

In fact the Prime Minister was motivated to invite Mr Lone for talks not only by the suggestion given by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad but by the reports his ministry had received indicating that Mr Sajjad Lone had started strenngthening his foothold in Kashmir after having succeeded in organising massive public rallies on “his (Lone’s) steam” in Srinagar and elsewhere. He had also wooed a number of leaders and activists from PDP and National Conference to his Peoples’ Conference.

The APHC leader seems to be amazed over the way invitation for talks to Mr Lone has been sent even before completion of the dialogue with the APHC leaders.

The APHC leadership would have not felt so much upset if any other leader had been invited by the Prime Minister for talks. They are perturbed because Mr Lone had not only quit the separatist conglomerate but had openly questioned the representative character of the Hurriyat leaders.

Mr Azad told a group of mediamen in Jammu on Wednesday evening that he had suggested to the Prime Minister to invite other political leaders for talks and Mr Manmohan Singh had agreed to act on Mr Azad’s advice. But basically the Prime Minister wanted to broaden the ambit of the dialogue process in order to have a clear view on Kashmiris response to self rule and demilitarisation proposals mooted by Pakistan.

ISO grade for 213 Transit Camp
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 14
The 213 Transit Camp of the Army here has achieved the rare distinction of being awarded the prestigious ISO 9001-2000 certificate today. The commandant of the camp, Col R.D. Singh, had initiated the process of getting the camp the ISO certificate about six months ago. This is the largest transit camp of the Indian Army as it handles over 2,500 transients every day, including 50-60 officers and their families.

It is a gateway camp of the Northern Command and is the key result area of the command. The camp was raised in Pathankot in 1947, but was moved here in 1973. With the aim to render quality service to the transients, the camp, under the guidance of HQ 71 Sub-Area, embarked on the ambitious mission to acquire the ISO accreditation.

Colonel Singh said the external audit team went into great details of the working of the camp before granting ISO certification.

Snowfall in Kashmir valley

Srinagar, January 14
Fresh snowfall occurred in the upper reaches of the Kashmir valley since last evening even as the cold wave continued unabated in the area. The Dal Lake remained frozen as the minimum temperature was minus 3.5°C, one degree below normal.

The maximum temperature was 1.6°C, which was three degrees below normal.

Official sources said between six inches and two feet of fresh snowfall was recorded at Chandanwari, Mahaguns, Pissutop, Sheshnag and Amarnath.

Fresh snowfall was also recorded in the upper reaches in Shopian, the sources said.

A report from Baramula said fresh snowfall took place at Keran and Karnah in north Kashmir.

The tourist resort of Yusmarg on the Srinagar-Leh national highway, which was closed to traffic officially on November 14 last, experienced about one foot of snowfall. Between four and five feet of snow had accumulated at Zojila and Gomri.