Jammu, July 8
Slide in the popularity graph of the ruling Congress because of its failure to fulfil election promises in the past four years has made Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad create four new districts in the Jammu division, 24 years after these were recommended by the Wazir Commission.

However, the Kashmir valley stood to gain as Mr Azad announced four districts for the compact area under pressure of his coalition partner—the PDP. These districts were not recommended by the commission.

Mr Azad was under pressure for implementing the points concerning Jammu listed in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the coalition government by creating the new districts in Jammu, appointing a finance commission and increasing the number of assembly seats. Not only the opposition parties had started a campaign of the coalition backing out of its promises, but his Congress men were desperately seeking implementation of these promises.

The successive governments in the state had so far refused to implement the recommendations of the commission that was set up following a massive agitation in the Jammu region in 1980.

The report of the commission that came in 1982 was pushed under the carpet. The commission had recommended creation of Reasi, Kishtwar, Samba and Ramban as new districts.

With creation of the eight new districts, the total number of districts in Jammu and Kashmir now has risen to 22. Jammu and the valley will have 10 districts each, while Kargil and Leh districts fall in the frontier region of Ladakh.

Certain coalition partners had started pressurising Mr Azad to implement the report. Implementation of the report was a major point of clash among Panthers Party and PDP legislators during last session of the Assembly here when the former staged a dharna in the House in support of their demand. The PDP members opposed the demand.

Among the four new districts, Reasi has been restored the district status after a long-drawn agitation of 57 years by residents of the area. Reasi was a district headquarters till 1949 when it was stripped of the status by the then states prime minister Sheikh Abdullah.

Three new districts were created in the Kashmir valley soon after the report of the Wazir Commission was submitted. However, the Jammu region was so far denied its share. The Commission headed by Justice J.N.Wazir was set up by the Sheikh Abdullah-led National Conference government following widespread agitation in the Jammu region.

Mr Azad has gone beyond the recommendations of the Wazir Commission by granting district status to Bandipora, Kulgam, Shopian and Ganderbal in the valley. Anantnag district now stands split into four districts.

Kishtwar, which is the home town of Mr Azad, has all reasons to celebrate as the place had sacrificed many lives in support of the demand for district status. This was perhaps the biggest tehsil in the country so far.

Former Chief Minister and PDP leader Mufti Sayeed, during his regime had denied creation of new districts in Jammu because of financial constraints. But now when Mr Azad finally decided to implement the report of the Wazir Commission, the PDP leadership mounted pressure on him to create an equal number of seats in the valley.

Creation of the eight districts has triggered celebrations both here and in the valley. Different parties have started taking credit for the development.

However whatever others might say, but Mr Azad has silenced his opponents by snatching the opposition’s agenda with one stroke.

Jammu, July 8
As many as 57 KPS officers have, in a letter to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, pleaded for his intervention in resolving their problem of promotion and placement.

The police officers have requested the Chief Minister “to listen to us through the medium of this letter and order our adjustments so that we can come out of doom.”

The promotion of 59 officers of the rank of deputy superintendent was cleared on August 16, 2005. Of them, Sardar Khan and Dr Haseeb Mughal have been posted as District SPs of Awantipora and Handwara, respectively.

The disgruntled officers have conveyed to the Chief Minister, who also has the portfolio of Home, that “the agony gets aggravated when we have to discharge our duties on lower position which is humiliating.”

The officers have explained that “there are plenty of vacancies and, in fact, there are hardly any officers in the armed and IRP battalions. Besides, a number of important positions are lying vacant.”

The letter further states, “promotion is a source of great motivation in any service, more so in the police department in which such service adjustments have a direct bearing on the motivational levels which is directly proportional to the morale of the force especially to fight militancy in the state.”

Srinagar, July 8
Demanding a fair trial, 15 accused in the sex racket case, including two

former Jammu and Kashmir ministers, today began an indefinite fast inside the Central Jail here.

The accused stopped taking any food this morning alleging they were not getting a fair trial from the courts here. They also protested against the inability to get lawyers to defend them in the court of law.

The Kashmir Bar Association has moved a resolution barring its members from representing the sex racket accused in the court as the association is a party to the case by virtue of having filed a public interest litigation in the state high court.

Only former minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and former Additional Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir Anil Sethi have the services of counsels representing them.

While Supreme Court lawyer H R Khan Suhel is the counsel for Mir, Sethi is represented by his brother Sunil.

Fifteen persons have so far been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case.