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Hizb-ul-Mujahideen keen on joining dialogue on Kashmir Involve all four parties in talks: Mirwaiz |
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Azad asks PM to convene 3rd roundtable conference Police inspector’s dismissal sought Employees seek raise in retirement age
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Talk to Salahuddin, plead parties Jammu, April 7 The latest to jump on to the bandwagon is the National Conference (NC) whose president, Omar Abdullah, said here that Salahuddin could play an important role in the peace process. Salahuddin, supreme commander of the Pakistan-based United Jehad Council (UJC), which is an umbrella organisation of 19 terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, has been spitting venom against India while sitting in Islamabad. He tops the list of the 20 most wanted persons which India sent to Pakistan and the Interpol in 2002. Transport minister Hakeem Yaseen, who was closely associated with Salahuddin when both contested the Assembly elections of 1987 in Srinagar, told this correspondent today that the peace process could not succeed without India talking to Salahuddin and hardliners among the separatists, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani. CPM leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, without naming Salahuddin, has issued two statements in the past few days urging India to invite all shades of opinion for talks. Taking an identical stand as that of the PDP, Salahuddin in a fax message to a Srinagar-based news agency last week, suggested that the peace process could be made meaningful only if the troops were pulled out of Kashmir and the "draconian" laws repealed. It is worth mentioning that while on one hand the demand for initiating dialogue with Salahuddin was being made here, several Kashmiri leaders were camping in New Delhi during the SAARC meeting where they met the Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri. Mirwaiz Farooq and the Democratic Freedom Party chief, Shabir Shah, called on Aziz and are learnt to have discussed the Kashmir issue. |
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Hizb-ul-Mujahideen keen on joining dialogue on Kashmir Jammu, April 7 This is indicated in a recent statement issued by a spokesman of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Pakistan in which the organisation has, first time, reacted favourably to National Conference president, Omar Abdullah, announcement at a rally in Ganderbal (Srinagar) that the peace process was incomplete and meaningless without the participation of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and its chief Syed Salahuddin in the ongoing dialogue. The Hizb statement has endorsed views of Omar
Abdullah. Not only this: it has not set any preconditions for its involvement in the peace process. Earlier the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen had announced willingness to join the dialogue in case its demands were
conceded, which included the withdrawal of troops, repeal of all draconian laws and release of all detainees. The latest statement of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen is also indicative of fears among the top leaders of the organisation that they may get isolated in case they did not create a situation in which their involvement in the dialogue process was encouraged and sought for. Their
fears, according to informed sources, emanate from two developments. One, visit of Omar Abdullah to Pakistan last year where he had met President, General Pervez Musharraf. Usually Pakistani leaders keep mainstream political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir at an arms length and prefer having discussions with Kashmiri separatists. Secondly, the recent meeting of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, PDP patron with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, in Delhi also indicated that those who matter in Pakistan establishment were no longer reluctant to meet political leaders like the Mufti. Syed Salahuddin has been, of late, trying to keep both Delhi and Islamabad in good humour. In this connection he supported Gen Musharraf’s four-point proposal on Kashmir saying that it could result in a peaceful settlement of the issue, and endorsed Omar Abdullah’s suggestion regarding involving Hizb leaders in the peace process. |
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Involve all four parties in talks: Mirwaiz Srinagar, April 7 Addressing a public meeting at Ganderbal near here today, the Mirwaiz said that the current year would be of great importance with regard to the resolution of Kashmir issue. He said that the Hurriyat Conference as representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir had engaged itself in the dialogue process with both the neighbouring countries of India and Pakistan. Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf had assured the leadership that the aspirations of the people in all the regions of Jammu and Kashmir on either side would have to be taken care of for a permanent solution to the issue. Without identifying, Mirwaiz criticised the PDP for its demand on cutting troops from Jammu and Kashmir and added that this was being supported by the ruling coalition party only to "grab power" in the state. "It is only for their own interests and this would not solve any problem", the Mirwaiz said. He said the aim of the withdrawal of troops was to have a gradual withdrawal of all the government forces from the state. |
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In full bloom, tulips await Bollywood, tourists Srinagar, April 7 More expectations are being attached to the return of Bollywood next spring, if not during this season, which had been going a long way to Holland for shooting in the picturesque landscapes in the backdrop of colourful tulip gardens. "We hope that Bollywood returns to the valley and they may not have to go to Holland for shooting purposes henceforth", said director, Tourism Department of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Shah, here today. The department, in collaboration with the Floriculture Department, is in the process of extending the tulip cultivation at the tourist spots of Gulmarg and Pahalgam in future. Already, the department has imported over 3.50 lakh tulip bulbs from Holland and plans are afoot to import 10 lakh bulbs by the next season for expansion purposes, director of Floriculture Department K.B Sharma told mediapersons during a visit to the sprawling garden today. With the tulips first to bloom in spring, other varieties of flowers are being introduced across the valley to attract more and more tourists, said Sharma. The Asia’s largest tulip garden, to remain in full bloom for the next two to three weeks, is spread over 570 kanals, with tulips grown in bulk for the first time this year spread over 35 kanals. More than 5,000
visitors, both domestic and locals, have so far visited the garden with the blooming of colourful tulips. For the first time the department has introduced entry fee system to the garden to for its maintenance and upkeep. Other varieties of flowers are being developed in the remaining portion, while the tulips would be grown mostly over the garden in the coming years. The Floriculture Department also plans to develop private growers for tulip culture so as to make more and more areas under its cultivation and preservation of the bulbs, which otherwise have to be imported from Holland. "After tulips we will go for cut-flower section", said K B Sharma. These things will have an added attraction for tourists to the state, which has registered a record of seven million pilgrim tourists only to the Vaishnodevi shrine near Jammu last year. Referring to the tourist attractions that Kashmir offers, director, Tourism, Farooq Ahmad Shah, said it tops the winter sports and golfing sections. He added that the Gondola cable car between Gulmarg and Affarvat takes the skiers to the highest skiing point in the world, that is available to the tourists at the most affordable prices in the world. With many distinctions in the tourism sector, Farooq said the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar, was among the top 10 golf courses in the world. The focus this summer will be on golf and water sports while some new trekking routes are also being opened for the adventure tourists, the director said. The department also eyes the far-east, Middle-East, Arab, China and Japan and taking several measures to attract tourists from these areas as well, while adverse advisories for tourists had been equivalent to zero, the official claimed. |
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Azad asks PM to convene 3rd roundtable conference Jammu, April 7 Azad, who was speaking in a meeting of Congress workers here today, said he had recommended to the Prime Minister to convene the third roundtable conference. He said for the first time in the history a sincere effort had been made to address all issues pertaining to Kashmir in the representative forum of roundtable conference involving opinion leaders, political parties, ethnic groups and others from all three regions of the state. He said the holding of two roundtable conferences, setting up of five working groups and deliberations and recommendations of these groups had paved the way to move forward settle every issue pertaining to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He said prior to convening of roundtable conferences by the Congress led UPA government, no such step was taken by any other party since 1947. He said steps of far-reaching significance in the pursuit of lasting peace and development had been initiated at the internal and external levels.
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Police inspector’s dismissal sought Jammu, April 7 The doctor, Anil Dutt, was handcuffed and paraded through the streets of the town while being taken to the police lockup. The doctor was arrested by the inspector on May 11, 2005, on the plea that being a registered medical practitioner in homeopathic system he was running the ultra-sound clinic without a valid licence and also impersonating as a sinologist by using the letterhead of Dr R.K.Gupta to "cheat" innocent people. The doctor's father, Brij Mohan Dutta, filed a complaint against the police inspector before the SAC that he demanded Rs 70,000 as bribe to release the doctor.However, he managed to pay Rs 57,000. The SAC observed that although two ultra-sound clinics were functioning at Sunderbani without licence, no action was taken against the other doctor Neelam Raina. The SAC also observed that although Jamrodh Singh was given ample opportunity to defend himself,he could not produce any documents to prove that Dutt was impersonating as Dr Gupta. Neither was any patient produced to establish that Dutt conducted sex determination or sonographic test. The complainant proved that he had paid Rs 57,000 bribe to Jamrodh Singh who was SHO of the Sunderbani police station. The SAC observed that the SHO tried to implicate Dutt in non-bailable offence without a formal complaint from Dr Gupta without recording his statement and producing any supporting evidence of the alleged forgery.
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Employees seek raise in retirement age Jammu, April 7 Its other demands included early release of 6 per cent dearness allowance instalment, disbursement of salary before fifth of every month, enhancement of festival advance from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 and revival of medical claim policy. The minister assured the delegation that its genuine demands would be looked into. He said the government had already kept a provision in the budget for the disbursement of different installments of DA.
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