Jammu, February 27
Heavy rain since last night today triggered more landslides at Panthal on the Jammu-Srinagar highway that has been closed for the past six days.

The nearly a 300-metre stretch of the highway, that was partially reopened yesterday, was again covered under boulders and debris.

Col Rajiv of the BRO, who is supervising the road-clearance operation, told The Tribune over the telephone that the work remained stalled today because of rain.

He said it was uncertain when the highway would be reopened for vehicular traffic.

He said shooting stones and fresh landslides had prevented the work force from clearing the road. The road-clearance operation was started in the afternoon, but it had to be abandoned due to the threat of being hit by shooting stones.

About 600 stranded vehicles were allowed to cross the place yesterday as the debris were removed for one-way traffic. However, the entire road was covered with fresh landslides.

Hundreds of men and vehicles continue to be stranded on the highway.

This is for the second time in the past three months that the highway was blocked at this very point. The road remained blocked for about 10 days in December due to snow and landslides.

It is worth mentioning that the Ramban-Banihal stretch of the highway has become a headache for the BRO. The nearly 25-km stretch has more than 13 landslide-prone points that abruptly block the highway.

During winters the highway gets blocked due to heavy snow and landslides get triggered due to rains during rest of the year.

Jammu, February 27
Just three days ago Famida Begum, who got an artificial leg fitted at an Indian Army camp in Poonch, had said breathlessly: “I’m feeling on top of the world. Let’s go home fast.”

But fate willed otherwise as Famida, who was returning to Udhampur, fell victim to a road accident on Monday that killed her, her husband and their seven-month-old son as well as eight soldiers.

Only on February 24, the Army, with the help of an NGO, had set up a free artificial limb fitment camp at Hamirpur in Jammu. An artificial limb was fixed to replace the right leg Famida had lost in a militant attack over two years ago.

Famida (30) and Ali Mohammad (34), who have two children, belong to Laar, a remote village in Udhampur district. Before Famida lost her leg, Ali used to work in his farm, barely managing to earn a living from their less-than-an-acre land while she looked after the house and also helped him in the fields.

“Four militants were hiding in an abandoned house in our neighbourhood when the security forces came to know about them and laid out a cordon,” Ali, narrating the 2004 tragedy that struck the family, had said last week. “Two of the militants escaped while the remaining two were killed in a gun battle.” Ali and his old mother were left to take care of the family and they had to sell half the land for Famida’s treatment.

Their hopes had risen at the news of the camp. After the artificial leg was fitted, Famida had smilingly hobbled about on her crutches at the camp premises in the mountainous district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir. It was a day full of hope for her. From now on, she was sure, life itself would limp back to normalcy.

There are hundreds of cases where people have lost their lower limbs in the insurgent violence and in mine blasts in Jammu and Kashmir. NGOs were helping them in getting artificial limbs (Jaipur foot) but for that the disabled needed to either go to Delhi or Jaipur.

“We thought of bringing the artificial limbs at the doorsteps of these differently abled people,” said Brigadier I.S. Singha, Commander of 120 Brigade. “Over 350 people would benefit from this five-day camp,” he added.

This is the first time the army, with the assistance of NGOs, had set up a camp for providing free artificial limbs in the state.

People, including the hapless Famida, were ferried by the Army from militancy-infested districts like Poonch, Rajauri, Udhampur, Doda and even Anantnag in Kashmir valley. Arrangements for their boarding and lodging were also made at the camp.

“You will get your leg (artificial limb) in 45 minutes,” Raju Sharma, who heads the team and has made “hundreds of thousands Jaipur feet for the disabled”, had told Famida when she arrived at the camp.

She was then given a 20-minute training on how to use it.

Barely able to fight back her tears, Famida had told IANS last week: “I am finally standing my own legs again. It’s a great feeling.”

She then asked her husband to take out the other shoe from the bag, wore it and in a voice choked with excitement said to Ali: “I am feeling on top of the world. Let’s go home fast. I want to go to the fields, cut grass and cook myself now.”

But she had to wait a couple of days, for the ferry that would take her back to a point from where it would be a two-day vehicle journey to Gool Gulabgarh. Then the five-hour trek home.

“Will I be able to climb mountains like before,” Fadima had asked Raju.

His reply — “You can climb Mount Everest” — did not take into account the treacherous roads and the ironical twists of fate. — IANS

Srinagar, February 27
Describing Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf’s four-point formula on self-rule as a "first step towards resolving the Kashmir" issue, United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salahuddin has said that it was, however, not a solution in itself. He held that an ultimate and lasting solution was possible only through the right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, adding that separatists were in favour of meaningful tripartite talks.

This is being regarded as a significant move from the known stand of hardliners and was hailed by the Awami Action Committee (AAC) of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the main constituent of the separatist Hurriyat Conference here today. AAC general secretary G.M. Bhat said here that President Musharraf’s proposals "based on facts" were a "first step towards the resolution of Kashmir issue". Umar Farooq returned here yesterday from New Delhi after meeting Pakistan foreign minister Khursheed Mahmood Kasoori and some other ambassadors there.

Bhat hailed the recent statements of Pakistan-based chief of the UJC and supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Syed Salahuddin and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed. Hafiz had on Saturday expressed his willingness to begin dialogue process with India on certain conditions, while he had been participating in a news programme of Geo TV from Karachi. During the interaction, Hafiz had a word with Lieut-Gen V.G. Patankar (retd), who has earlier served in Kashmir.

Bhat expressed the hope that now was the time for a united Kashmir leadership (separatists) to pave the way for a peaceful and meaningful dialogue with the Government of India to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir problem. In a statement from Muzaffarabad, UJC spokesman Syed Sadaqat Hussain, quoting Salahuddin on Monday, said the "freedom struggle of Kashmiris" was faced with threat from "outside forces". It was also faced with the differences between various groups within, Hizbul Mujahideen supreme commander added. He held that India’s rigid and unrealistic approach did not lead to the resolution of the Kashmir issue.