Kinnaur, February 18
The use of word kinner for eunuchs in Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie “Traffic signal” has allegedly affected marriage prospects of youths of Kinnaur district of Himachal popularly referred as “kinners”.

After the release of the movie in which kinner has been used for eunuchs, people from other districts and outside states are hesitant to enter into matrimonial ties with our boys and girls, president of Himachal Pradesh Schedule Tribe Workers Federation B.S. Negi told PTI today.

Echoing similar views, former member of the Tribal Advisory Committee S.C. Negi said community people are complaining that outsiders have been reluctant to enter into matrimonial alliance with boys and girls of Kinnaur. In the face of social stigma attached with the word kinner wrongly used for eunuchs in the movie.

If the misconception was not clear sooner, the kinner Tribal Community which has rich history faced “social ostracism”, the two said.

Members of the community have become a “Butt of Jokes” in their work places, state general secretary of a NGO ‘India-Tibet Cooperation Committee’ Bhagat Singh Negi Said.

People make fun of us in offices and other public places over the word kinner used for eunuchs, he said.

Tribal people of Kinnaur recognised by the Constitution were being insulted the world over due to this movie, state BJP executive committee member Tejwant Singh Negi said.

The movie has meted gross injustice as people of Kinnaur by giving them a bad name, he added. All of them sought immediate government action to stop wrong usage of ‘kinner’ for eunuchs.

Tribal people of Kinnaur have reference in historical texts and mythical stories...referring them as eunuchs is totally wrong and derogatory, B.S. Negi added.

Lending support to the people of Kinnaur who are up in arms against the movie, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had opposed the wrong use of the word in the film.

His government through an exectuive order on February 7 had banned showing of traffic signal in the theatres of the state for two months asking the filmmaker to drop the word kinner for eunuchs.

Prominent citizens of Kinnaur are also contemplating of filing a PIL in the state high court seeking ban on use of the word kinner for eunuchs anywhere. — PTI

Hamirpur, February 18
The Hamirpur chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) honoured Dr D.S. Rana, chairman of the Nephrology Department of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, with the Son of the Soil Award at a function here last evening.

Transport and Tourism Minister G.S. Bali was the chief guest on the occasion.

Dr Vinod Thakur, district president of the IMA, said Dr Rana, belonging to Dasmal village of Hamirpur, had inspired many local youth to make it big in medicine.

Mr Bali told mediapersons that work on the flooring of Hamirpur bus stand would be completed soon.

The Tourism Department had been toying with the idea of introducing trekking service in the Toni Devi area, for which a report was being prepared to evaluate viability.

He added that the state government was planning to introduce a chopper service for different routes in Himachal Pradesh.

Dr Rana said he cherished his childhood spent in the small village.

“Even when I was studying at the PGI, my room used to be known as ‘Himachal Bhavan’ as I would willingly share it with students from my area”, he said.

Mandi, February 18
The week-long Shivaratri mela, which has been declared as an international festival by the Himachal Government, could not attract tourists as local hoteliers and the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation (DTCA) and the government-run Shivaratri Mela Committee (SMC) have failed to market its "tourism potential" over the years.

Even as a few hoteliers have floated an association in the town, it has remained more or less non-existent, reveal local hoteliers.

A tour of the town revealed that most of the hoteliers and shopkeepers have not even bothered to spruce up their places by putting up lightening system to give a festive ambience to welcome the visitors or devtas in the town.

On the other hand, the hoteliers blamed the SMC and the DTCA for not inviting them to seek their suggestions how to attract tourists during festivals.

Moreover, a few tourists staying here for the night said that the SMC had no system of issuing passes to them, leave alone keeping a separate "tourist enclosure" at the cultural show.

Most of the hotels have been occupied by traders who have put up their stalls, and artistes who have come from outside the state for the festival to give their cultural performances at the Seri Manch.

But the president of the SMC and Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, Mr Subhasish Panda, said the initiative had to come from the hoteliers who had provided proper facilities for tourists in the town. "The committee provides passes for tourists and entry in the open enclosure is free for audience".

Dharamsala, February 18
The security forces have been withdrawn due to heavy snowfall from the high-altitude posts of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh bordering the Doda region that is considered as the most sensitive belt of Jammu and Kashmir facing militancy for the past many decades.

However, on the other side of the border in J&K, the security forces have been put on alert in order to check any movement of the militants. So far there has been less snowfall in the J&K region as compared to the upper areas of Himachal Pradesh.

While confirming this, Mr P.L. Thakur, Deputy Inspector-General of the Himachal Pradesh police, who is also the in charge of this border belt, said three companies of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and nine companies of the state police were presently deployed on the vulnerable areas of a 216-km stretch of the Chamba-Doda border.

He said the high-altitude areas had received heavy snowfall during the past one week, making it almost impossible for the security forces to survive in the harsh weather conditions. The forces had been called down from the high-altitude posts by about 7 km.

Nurpur, February 18
An scene of begging succour by a poor rural woman to solemnise the marriage of her daughter from the local MLA and Revenue Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan, a few months ago motivated a non-resident Indian (NRI) from Nairobi,Mr Prem Lal Mahajan and relative of the minister, to extend financial assistance to solemnise mass marriages of girls from poor families in the Nurpur Assembly constituency. He agreed to pay for all the wedding arrangements and marriage gifts like untencils, beddings, furniture, jewellery, clothes, coloured TV sets and other household goods.

The mass marriage ceremony, solemnised in a traditional way, was held in Hotel Maufort at Raja Ka Bagh, near here, today. Thirteen “barats” were received by the relatives of brides on the hotel premises amidst beating of drums. They were served breakfast and lunch and their wedding knots were tied in 13 separate “mandaps” set up by the 
organisers.

The newly wed couples were blessed by the NRI couple and the Revenue Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan. They also gave the brides “shagun” of Rs 11,000 each in the shape of bank FDRs. The organisers even arranged vehicles to drop the couples along with their marriage gifts at the grooms' houses.

Dharamsala, February 18
Transport and Tourism Minister G.S. Bali has said the outcome of the Punjab Assembly elections is not likely to cast a shadow on poll prospects in Himachal Pradesh, where elections are due in February next year.

Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, he said the days of people of the hill state following what was happening in the neighbouring state were over.

Over the years, voters of the hill state had become more conscious and aware of their rights and duties, he added.

He did not rule out a partial affect of the outcome of the Punjab elections in border areas of the state, which was due to the cultural closeness of the people on both sides.

Referring to the BJP’s public rally in his constituency on February 19, he challenged the state president of the party Jai Ram Thakur and former Chief Ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal to contest against him from Nagrota Baguan.

Mr Bali said the BJP had been trying to create panic among the people of the state by raising irrelevant issues and trying to sidetrack the real issues of development.

Claiming that the BJP was a party of criminals he said the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat had fallen vacant as MP Suresh Chandel was removed on charges of corruption.

One could judge the nature of the BJP from the fact that former MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, convicted by the apex court in a murder case, had been fielded again.

He claimed that the Congress would win the byelection to the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, which would be held before April-end.