J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

NC members stall House proceeding over Handwara killings
Jammu, February 28
Noisy scenes were witnessed in both Houses of the Legislature today as opposition National Conference (NC) members stalled proceedings on the killing of four boys at Handwara in an encounter between the Army and militants. They demanded an inquiry by a high court judge into the incident.

Jammu and Kashmir policemen detain a protester in central Srinagar on Tuesday. — Tribune photo by Amin War

2 top HM commanders among 4 killed
Srinagar, February 28
Two top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commanders and another militant of the outfit were among four persons killed and two security jawans injured, while the security forces averted a major tragedy in the Kashmir valley overnight.

NC members stall House proceeding
over Handwara killings
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 28
Noisy scenes were witnessed in both Houses of the Legislature today as opposition National Conference (NC) members stalled proceedings on the killing of four boys at Handwara in an encounter between the Army and militants. They demanded an inquiry by a high court judge into the incident.

Speaker Tara Chand adjourned the Assembly for 10 minutes as the NC members blocked the question hour and raised slogans against the government.

The NC members were annoyed at the rejection of the adjournment motion on the issue moved by Mr Abdul Rahim Rather Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker initially rejected the motion on the plea that a magisterial inquiry into the incident was in progress. However, when the NC members insisted that the rules did not ban a discussion of the issue, the Speaker adjourned the House and held a meeting with leaders of various parties in his chamber and later ruled that the issue would be discussed in the House.

Earlier, there was din in the House and most of the question hour was consumed in the protest of the NC members.

Dr Mehboob Beg (NC) said the inquiries ordered by the government into such incidents of human rights violation yielded no results. The report of the incident of alleged use of civilians as human shields by the troops in October last has not yet come.

The NC members said “shame-shame” when Mr Rather pointed out that the state government that had made a commitment to reduce the human rights violations to zero level had now turned down the demand even to discuss the issue in the House.

It was only after the suggestion of Mr M. Y. Tarigami (CPM) that the state government should come out with a detailed statement on the Handwara incident that the Speaker adjourned the House and held a meeting with leaders of various parties to sort out the matter.

The issue was raised in the Legislative Council by Ms Sakina Ittoo (NC) who criticised the government for the Handwara killings and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.

This led to pandemonium in the House for some time as the Congress and NC members traded charges.

There were noisy scenes again in the Assembly during the zero hour when Mr Shariefuddin Sharik (NC) referred to the round table conference of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said that certain people, who indulged in terrorism, were invited to the meeting.

Mr Usman Majid (PDF) took strong exception to the remarks of Mr Sharik and demanded that he should name the persons he made a mention of. Mr Yogesh Sawhney (Cong) also joined Mr Majid and said that Mr Sharik was trying to undermine the credibility of Mr Manmohan Singh.

Mr Muzaffar Hussain Beig, Deputy Chief Minister and PDP member, intervened and pacified the members by suggesting that the House should pass a resolution appreciating the initiative of Mr Manmohan Singh to solve the Kashmir problem through a dialogue.

Dr Mehboob Beg (NC) described the recent publication of the caricatures of the Prophet by a Danish newspaper as a “conspiracy” of the West. Such caricatures have been published in 22 newspapers across Europe.

He demanded that the House should resolve to criticise such attempts to hurt the sentiments of Muslims.

2 top HM commanders among 4 killed

Srinagar, February 28
Two top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commanders and another militant of the outfit were among four persons killed and two security jawans injured, while the security forces averted a major tragedy in the Kashmir valley overnight.

A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman said troops of 55 battalion today killed self-styled district commander of HM Ashiq Iqbal Peer, alias Nasir, alias Sajjad, in an encounter at Hadipora in Baramula district.

He said the encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants. A pistol with a magazine and a mobile phone were recovered from the slain militant.

However, the local residents alleged that Peer was arrested by the security forces and later killed in custody.

The spokesman said a security force patrol party was attacked by militants at Drobgam in Pulwama last evening.

Reinforcements were rushed from the nearby camps and the area was sealed.

The operation continued till late last night during which two militants — Ghulam Mohammad Malla alias Aiyaz, and district commander Javid Ali — of the HM were killed.

Four BSF personnel were injured in the encounter, he said and added an AK rifle, one pistol and arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

An official spokesman said militants shot dead nursing orderly Ghulam Nabi Sheikh near a hospital at Sopore in Baramula district this afternoon.

Militants today threw a hand grenade towards the security forces near the bus stand at Tral in Pulwama district.

However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside without causing any damage.

However, the police averted a major tragedy when they detected and later defused five grenades at Rainawari chowk. — UNI 

Protest in Srinagar, police seizes India Today’s copies

Srinagar, February 28
The police used teargas shells and made repeated lathi charge to disperse demonstrators protesting against the publication of pictures of Muslim holy place of Mecca on a pack of cards.

Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police K. Rajinder Kumar told UNI that all copies of India Today had been seized by police.

A meeting of senior citizens and Muslim scholars is being called to discuss the issue and take a decision on the latest issue of the magazine in which pictures were published, Mr Kumar said.

As the news spread that the picture of the holy places had appeared on playing cards, youths forced closure of shops and stoned vehicles at Lal Chowk, Budshah Chowk, Maisuma and Court Road.

The demonstrators were raising slogans against the USA, alleging a conspiracy to hurt the sentiments of the Muslims.

The police used lathis as they tried to stop traffic on main roads. The police also used a few teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators. — UNI