Srinagar, September 27
The Police fired tear gas shells and used canes to disperse demonstrators here today protesting against the Delhi Court order on hanging Mohammad Afzal Guru on October 20, convicted in the Parliament attack case. At least 60 persons were injured in pitched battles between the police and demonstrators while scores of leaders of several separatist organisations were taken in preventive custody.

A pall of gloom also descended on Sopore town and Doabgah, village of Guru, near the apple rich town, 45 km north of here in Baramula district. Guru belongs to village.

Hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani called general strike in Kashmir on Friday in protest against the Delhi High court order.

Leaders and activists of the JKLF including its chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik were held by the police after they led a procession from Maisuma in central Lal Chowk area to demonstrate against the court order.

They were marching in procession towards the main road in the city centre, while many of his associates including men and women were injured in the police action. The demonstrators indulged in stone throwing forcing the police to use force and tear gas shells. Javed Mir, leader of a faction of the JKLF was also taken in custody along with some of his senior colleagues. More than 20 activists of the APHC (Geelani) were also taken in custody when they led a march in the Lal Chowk area.

Shopkeepers in Lal Chowk, Budshah Chowk and Hari Singh High Street put up the shutters following demonstrations in the area and pitched battles between the police and demonstrators. Traffic was also diverted due to disturbance in the area. The moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also expressed concern over the Delhi Court order describing it as injustice for the POTA under which Guru had been tried was under question. “No justice could be expected thereunder”, a spokesman of the APHC said. The spokesman added that there were political motives behind the allegations against Mohammad Afzal Guru and this would lead to further complications in the Kashmir issue.

Meanwhile, the wife of Mohd Afzal, Tabasum Guru, will appeal to President Abdul Kalam to pardon him and persuade her husband to file a mercy plea.

She said, “We will go to him (President) on behalf of our children and his (Afzal’s) mother and make an appeal for mercy. We are hopeful that he will hear our appeal.” “He (Afzal) has lost faith in the judiciary and is unwilling to file an appeal before the President,” Tabasum, a nurse by profession, told reporters who visited her house at Doabgah village in Sopore.

Srinagar, September 27
The PDP President, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, has said the misconceptions initially spread about the self-rule in some parts of the state were slowly evaporating and the people had started realising that it was the only feasible solution which would give them the real empowerment.

Ms Mufti, who has embarked on a statewide campaign to build public opinion on the party’s self-rule proposal, held wide-ranging consultations with the people from different sections of society in Leh yesterday. “The devolution of political and economic powers, as part of the solution, must trickle down to every region,” she said, adding any solution worked out in isolation could never be sustainable and would brew more serious problems instead of resolving the same.

Ms Mufti lamented that there was a trust deficit, not only between the Centre and the state but also amongst the various regions within the state as well and an important element of any solution should be building bridges of trust between the various regions.

Ms Mufti said the proposal envisioned adequate constitutional guarantees for a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. She suggested to the PDP’s drafting committee to encompass, within the state Constitution, sufficient guarantees for intra-regional devolution of powers to do away with any apprehensions in this regard.

Ms Mufti said unlike other solutions, an important ingredient of the self-rule proposal was that it handled both the political and economic aspects of the problem and suggests remedies for the same. She said as part of the PDP’s economic agenda, the party had been right from the beginning demanding economic integration of various parts of the state with the rest of the world by throwing open all the traditional routes for free movement of people and goods.

The PDP President demanded opening of the Kargil-Skardu, Leh-Tibet and Suchetgarh-Sialakot roads to open up the region for becoming part of regional and global trade.

Srinagar, September 27
Four security personnel, including two policemen, and two ultras were killed and scores wounded in separate militancy-related incidents across Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said today.

The security forces also busted two hideouts and arrested an ultra across the state overnight.

He said militants shot at and critically wounded an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Jammu and Kashmir police, Abdul Ghani, at Hari Singh High Street here today. He later succumbed to his injuries at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, here.

Ghani, who was on special secretariat duty, had received a bullet wound in the head as he was fired at from a close range.

The spokesman said two militants were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Sumlar in the Bandipora area in Baramula district last evening. A security personnel was also killed, besides, two houses and as many shops were damaged in the gunbattle that raged for several hours, he added.

Militants hurled a hand grenade towards a police party at Akhara Building at Badshah Chowk here which exploded causing injuries to 10 police personnel, one CRPF jawan and three civilians. They were hospitalised, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said militants shot at a selection grade constable, Ghulam Mohammad Malik, twice in the head point blank at Bohri Kadal in the downtown area of the city.

Malik, who was working as a Personal Security Officer (PSO) with a sales tax officer, died on the way to hospital.

A caller, who identified himself as a spokesman for the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), said militants of his group killed two security personnel in the city.

Traffic on the busy route leading to the Civil Secretariat and other important offices went off the road and pedestrians and shopkeepers ran for safety. Later, searches were conducted in the area by the security forces. However, the militants escaped.

The spokesman said an IED blast took place at Tippri, Gandoh, in Doda district of Jammu region in which three people, including two SPOs, sustained injuries.

During the subsequent search of the area, two IEDs fitted in pressure cookers having a capacity of 5 kg each were seized, and later defused.

This was the second major attack in the city by militants since the holy month of Ramzan began on September 25. A grenade blast and selective killings on the first day of the holy month left eight people, including a women constable and a numberdar, dead and five others wounded in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said an explosive device, reportedly planted by the security forces around their camp to prevent a fidayeen attack, went off at Khandri Achabal in Anantnag district when a group of women were walking there.

Three women were injured in the blast, they said, adding the injured were admitted to a hospital where the condition of one of them was stated to be critical.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said that with the cooperation of locals, troops unearthed two major hideouts and recovered war-like stores and arrested a militant. — UNI

Srinagar, September 27
While World Tourism Day was celebrated like other parts of the world here today, it was felt that in view of the “adverse publicity” there was still much scope for revival of tourism in the Kashmir valley.

The state government had set a target of over 12 lakh tourists to visit the valley this summer that could not be achieved due to certain incidents of violence. Several attacks were made on tourist buses, beginning with the second roundtable conference convened by the Prime Minister on May 24 and 25. The first attack on tourist vehicles took place on May 25 on the outskirts of Srinagar, thereby putting brakes on the flow of tourists in summer months.

In his message, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “The government had declared tourism as one of the thrust sectors of economy. We are at the threshold of a new era in tourism after a period of suspended animation. A lot has been done, and a lot more needs to be done and offered if we have to realise our real potential in the globe market,” he said.

“The scope of tourism is enough, but there is adverse publicity”, lamented Tourism Minister Mohammad Dilawar Mir. He said the attacks on tourists earlier this year were unfortunate and these had an adverse impact on other wings of trade and industry like the handicrafts. “We will go to different parts of the country and meet those associated with tourist trade to invite tourists to the valley,” Mr Mir said.

The events held in connection with Tourism Day today included a function to award the agencies related to the tourism trade for their distinguished contribution in the field of tourism attraction to Kashmir. Mr Mir gave away the awards at a function here this afternoon. A function to mark the day was also organised at Amar Singh College that was attended by Mr Mir. A shikara ride for children at the Dal lake was organised to mark the occasion.

The Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department is also working on a plan to develop some more tourist destinations in the Kashmir valley, including Bangus and Dodhpatri. Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonmarg and other places of tourist attraction are already being developed under the new scheme by creating development authorities.