Srinagar, June 24
Eight militants, including three infiltrators, were killed in separate incidents near the LoC since yesterday, while 10 police personnel were injured in an IED explosion here this morning.

The police here said three militants were killed an encounter with security forces near the LoC at Gowalata in Uri sector of Baramula district. Two of them have been identified as Mohammad Arif Ganie from Balpeer, Muzaffarabad in PoK and Fayaz Ahmad Khan from Gujranwalla Pakistan.

Three AK rifles, nine AK magazines, 184 rounds of AK ammunition and 18 grenades have been recovered from the site of the encounter.

A Defence spokesman said here the militants attempting to breach the LoC fence near Uri were challenged by troops last night. The militants opened fire that was returned resulting in the death of three militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit.

Five unidentified militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Keran sector of Kupwara district today. A security forces jawan was also injured in the encounter.

Acting on specific information about the presence of freshly infiltrated group of militants, the police and Army launched a search operation in the area early this morning during which the hiding militants opened fired upon the security leading to the encounter.

Four militants were killed in the encounter that followed. Another hiding militant was also later killed after fresh searches were launched, the police here said. the identity of those killed is being ascertained.

Ten police personnel were injured when suspected militants detonated an IED on their vehicle at Maloora on the Shalteng-Sumbal road, 10 km from here, early this morning. 

Jammu, June 24
Shiv Sena activists assaulted Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat leader Zaffar Iqbal, chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Salvation Movement (JKSM), preventing him from addressing a press conference, in the presence of reporters at the Press Club here today.

As Iqbal started news briefing, appealing to India and Pakistan to ''speed up the peace process in the interest of the stateof Jammu and Kashmir'', Shiv Sena activists, led by Anand Sharma, entered the hall and started raising slogans 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and hurling abuses at the Hurriyat leader.

They forced the JKSM chairman to raise slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Pakistan murdabad', following which the Hurriyat leader asked them he had come here to address the newspersons ''in the interest of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir''.

But when Sena activists did not succeed in making the Hurriyat leader raise the slogans of their choice, they held him by the throat, slapped him and delivered blows on his chest in the presence of his two helpless police security personnel.

“Jammu mein aane ki teri himmat kaise hui ?” (How dare you come to Jammu), shouted Shiv Sena activists as the Hurriyat leader fell on the ground in the melee.

They also tore the Hurriyat leader's party banners and ransacked the furniture.

The police reached the Press Club only after the Shiv Sena activists left the venue after doing their job.

When asked about the absence of the police at the Press Club, the venue of the Hurriyat leader's press conference, the area SHO said the police was ''unaware'' of the Hurriyat leader's presence at the club and, thus, could not depute the policemen to meet any eventuality.

The police later took the Hurriyat leader to the GMC Hospital where his statement was recorded and an FIR lodged against the Shiv Sena activists, but nobody was arrested till the of filing this report.

Iqbal, who received several blows, did not receive any serious injury, doctors at the hospital said. He was later discharged.

Udhampur, June 24
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has started efforts to woo ‘upper castes' to implement its new social engineering concept.

Besides Jammu, the party has identified Udhampur and Doda as the two districts where the BSP will concentrate more .

Addressing a series of public meetings in Udhampur and Reasi today, party's national secretary and in charge of Jammu and Kashmir Narinder Kashyap claimed that the BSP had decided to expand the network in new areas to emerge as a force in the next Assembly session of Jammu and Kashmir.

He hoped the party would emerge as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP in Jammu province.

Keeping in view the population ratio, the BSP has decided to concentrate on Udhampur and Doda. In Doda, the population of Scheduled Castes is between 8 to 12 per cent in some belts. The party's first target is the Gujjars and Bakkerwals of the two districts.

To woo Gujjars and Bakkerwals, the party has been opposing the grant of Scheduled Tribe status to the Paharis.

The Gujjars and Bakkerwals have been opposing the Paharis' demand for a Scheduled Tribe status to them.

Narinder Kashyap, addressing the meeting, said the doors of the party were open for all sections of the society irrespective of caste, creed, colour or religion.

In a bid to woo the “upper castes,” he repeatedly narrated the example of Uttar Pradesh where a large number of “upper castes” candidates had won election on BSP ticket.

J&K peace: Azad for developing people’s stake
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service

Bhaderwah, June 24
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has devised a new strategy to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

When different groups are pursuing their agendas for political solutions of the Kashmir problem, Azad’s new mantra is to develop people‘s vested interest in peace.

He is of the opinion that lasting peace can be restored only when people find some personal interest in normalcy.

In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Azad said, “The government's mechanism alone can not establish peace. We have to utilise people's power in restoring normalcy”. He said a section, which had vested in violence and blood, had been creating hurdles in the way of peace in the state. “We have to develop common masses’ vested interest in peace to counter those elements”, he said.

He said a majority of people were fed up with two-decade-long violence and destruction. “People want peace, but the need of the hour is to channel their energy. We have to inculcate a feeling among masses without peace their economic betterment is not possible”, he argued.

Azad suggested tourism could be used as a tool for involving masses in peace-restoring process.

“By promoting tourism in far-flung areas we will serve economic interests of all sections of society. Ours is the only state where almost the entire population is directly or indirectly getting some sort of personal benefit from tourism”, he observed.

He added, “the day people realise their bright future lies in the development of the state, lasting peace will prevail and common masses will themselves deal with militants” .

The Chief Minister admitted that due to the prevailing situation the government was finding it difficult to attract tourists to new destinations.

Giving reasons for identifying tourism as thrust area, Azad said Jammu and Kashmir was the only state in the country where almost entire population was directly or indirectly linked with tourism.

“We have immense potential in this sector and it is only through tourism we can improve economic conditions of people of Jammu and Kashmir'', he argued.

He said 22 tourist development authorities had been established to develop infrastructure and to promote new tourist resorts.

A new tourist circuit had been established to attract more and more tourists through new routes.

“Our stress is on attracting domestic and international tourists of Himachal Pradesh. Through this circuit, it will be easier for tourists of Himachal Pradesh or from elsewhere in the country to reach these new destinations and later enter theKashmir valley or Katra. Our first priority is to create road network and other infrastructure in these areas”, he observed.

Srinagar, June 24
Former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has said an enduring peace in Jammu and Kashmir could be restored only through sustained and bold political initiatives with the active involvement of its people.

"If political will is there, Kashmir is ripe for major initiatives for its resolution", the Mufti said at a party convention at Anantnag in south Kashmir today.

He said Kashmir had to be resolved politically and this "historic reality" was now recognised both by Delhi and Islamabad adding the tragedy was that the run-up to this realisation had been enormously painful for the people of the state.

He said making peace was much harder than making war and like any other problem Kashmir issue could be resolved only when it is addressed with political sagacity.

"By not responding adequately to the positive ground realities we would, unfortunately, end up only in prolonging the problem", he said.

The Mufti said the trouble in Kashmir was in a good measure attributable to the feeling of siege set in among its residents by the sub-continent’s historic political upheavals including the partition. He said paradoxically Kashmir was the only place that continued to bear the brunt of partition and suffer its fallout immensely.

"Its centuries old business connection with the west Punjab cities has been snapped, its only connection to the rest of the world through a non-snowing zone shut and the free spirit of Kashmir that knew no boundaries squeezed into a dead end," he said.

He pointed out the state’s accession with India that had perhaps started as a model for the future federal structure of the country, unfortunately, lost its essence and the model of self- rule envisioned under the Article 370 turned into an instrument of disempowerment.

"It took Kashmir more than 50 years to experience an election in 2002 that was recognised by the world community as free and fair", he said.

He added this deep- seated feeling of isolation and alienation assumed a violent form erupting in 1990 in the shape of a gory tragedy for its people.

The PDP patron emphasised that the time had come to make a new beginning in Jammu and Kashmir and give its people a future free of discord.

He said a package of political and economic initiatives together with a result-oriented dialogue with Pakistan could facilitate the much-needed change that the state so badly craves for.

The Mufti said now was the time to stop "senseless fighting" and resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully to reap the economic gains unfolding in the region.

He said any solution to the Kashmir issue has to be motivated by the vision of bringing peace and prosperity to people of the state through credible political initiatives, with the main drivers of this process being the people themselves.

He said the confidence building process could only help create the necessary environment while its impact largely depends on the political will to implement the measures in spirit and form.

Jammu, June 24
The Internationalist Democratic Party (IDP) has demanded a joint commission of India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir for looking into the problems of refugees and internally-displaced persons who migrated to both parts of Jammu and Kashmir or those who crossed over to the Pakistani side.

This joint mechanism should work under the United Nations Commission for Refugees and the problems of refugees and other displaced persons within the state should be dealt with in fair manner, IDP general secretary Hoshiar Singh said at a seminar on the status and problems of refugees of Jammu-Kashmir on both sides of the Indo-Pak border here yesterday.

Pointing out that the issues of these refugees in the state were mainly the by-products of the Jammu-Kashmir dispute, Hoshiar Singh said the responsibility of a rational solution to their problems primarily lay with the Central and state governments.

He opined that Article 370 was not a hurdle in granting citizenship rights to the West Pakistani refugees as being wrongly projected by a few persons, but the notification of April 20, 1927, which laid down the provisions of state subject in Jammu and Kashmir.

“It is unfortunate that Jammu is surrounded by the border which is known as the refugee settlement area. Most of them settled here during the two wars of 1965 and 1971 or migrated because of the militancy in the state,” he said.

IDP president I.D. Khajuria urged all categories of refugees to unite on a common platform and build a consensus for a possible solution to their woes.

Khajuria reiterated his party's stand that the Jammu-Kashmir dispute could be resolved trilaterally, that is, with the participation of the parties from India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir.

Maestros’ ragas enthral till dawn
Prabhjit Singh
Tribune News Service