Udhampur, July 15
Residents of the newly carved district of Kishtwar are up in arms against the alleged discriminatory policies towards their district, most of which is backward and neglected. As resentment brews among the inhabitants of Kishtwar, they have decided to launch an agitation to get adequate funds for the uplift of this district.

Although activists of the ruling Congress and the PDP are hesitating to come out openly against the government, Opposition parties have decided to launch a mass movement in this regard. The BJP, which had lodged a protest during the meeting of the district development board, has decided to make it an issue in the coming days.

The National Conference has also resented the allocation of a meager amount of Rs 22 crore for Kishtwar district. Party MLA Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo said the meager amount itself spoke volumes about the callous and stepmotherly treatment the district, which is one of the largest in the state and having a substantial population, was getting.

He said the funds allocated to the district were quite insufficient to meet the requirements of development. The developmental works in Kishtwar would come to a halt in absence of adequate funds, he added.

BJP leader Anil Parihar, who had led a demonstration in front of the office of the deputy commissioner during a board meeting, said it was a glaring example of discrimination. He pointed out that Kishtwar, having an area of 7,500 sq km, was five times bigger than the newly carved Shopian district, but Rs 53 crore had been allotted to Shopian.

Nagrota (Jammu), July 15
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Union Government was all for the return of the Kashmiri migrants who had been uprooted from the valley 18 years ago due to insurgency.

Dr Manmohan Singh said this while laying the foundation stone of the “township for Kashmiri migrants” in the Shivalik foothills of Nagrota, near Jammu, with a plan outlay of 4,218 flats for the displaced families.

“Our desire is for peace in Kashmir so that people could return to their homes with dignity, but till that time this township would make their lives better,” he said.

He said the Centre was already reviewing the recommendations made by some of the five working groups, which were formed after the second Round Table Conference as part of the efforts for peace in J and K. Some of these recommendations were related to the issue of Kashmiri migrants as well, he said.

The Prime Minister said this project, proposed to be completed in 24 months, would provide a dignified life with civic amenities and facilities like education and health care to these Kashmiri migrants who were at present residing in different camps in Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua districts.

The Prime Minister, during his visit to the Muthi camp in Jammu in November 2004, had assured these families that they would be accommodated in two-room flats. “Today I have come to fulfil my little promise, and also assure you that the bigger promise of bringing peace in J and K would also be fulfilled.”

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who accompanied the Prime Minister, said the township was “a temporary arrangement” as the migrants would be returning to Kashmir in the eventuality of a peaceful atmosphere there.

“The return of our Kashmiri Hindu brothers to the valley is our basic demand and their return is necessary for the sake of secularism amongst the Kashmiris,” Azad said.

J and K Governor S. K. Sinha was also present on the occasion.

The township for Kashmiri migrants will be constructed over 715 kanals near Jagti village of Nagrota foothills at an estimated cost of Rs 221.45 crore under the Prime Minister’s package.

The township, which has been designed for a population of 25,000 inhabitants, will also have three schools, three community halls, one health centre, 40 parks and play fields.

Jammu, July 15
Welcoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that Jammu & Kashmir could become a symbol of Indo-Pak cooperation by changing the Line of Control (LoC) into line of peace, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Sayeed today said the impact of confidence-building measures would largely depend on the political will to implement them, in both spirit and form.

Hailing Prime Minister’s assertion that the peace process with Pakistan will continue, despite difficulties, Sayeed said only through a sustainable dialogue process could both the countries build the necessary goodwill to tackle the most complex and contentious issues between them in the interest of the region’s peace and prosperity. He said while both the countries had realised that the normalisation process was irreversible, many challenges, including an amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue, still lay ahead. He said concrete steps needed to be taken to galvanise the J&K-specific confidence-building measures on either side of the LoC, to speed up the peace process and reap its benefits.

Exuding confidence in the Prime Minister’s “genuine” efforts of building peace and creating conditions for historic reconciliation in the region, Sayeed said the two countries must, with determination, jointly counter the threats that had the potential of derailing the normalisation process. He said J&K-specific CBMs, including free flow of ideas, goods, services and the people across the LoC, as had been enumerated by Dr Manmohan Singh, would not only win India and Pakistan the goodwill of Kashmiris in the areas under their control, but would also throw up new opportunities for the region’s economic development.

Sayeed said as had been emphasised by the Prime Minister, it had been the PDP’s consistent opinion that the real political power in a democracy came from the ballot box and not the barrel of the gun. “The people of Jammu & Kashmir have not only rejected the culture of violence, but have reiterated their full faith in the political institutions of the state and the country through their overwhelming participation in the democratic processes,” he said and added the people here had always responded positively to the initiatives aimed at improving the security situation and bringing stability to the state.

The PDP, Sayeed said, had right from its inception advocated an end to violence and opted for the process of dialogue and engagement for the peaceful resolution of the problems of Jammu & Kashmir. He said a defining moment had arrived for the resolution of the problem in a more meaningful way by adding substance to the dialogue process and addressing the specifics. Speedy implementation of the recommendations of the four Working Groups and finalising the report of the Fifth Working Group on the Center-State relations could be the most appropriate measure towards the resolution of the problem, he added.

Jammu, July 15
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today had the taste of unreliable electric supply here when the General Zorawar Singh auditorium plunged into darkness due to power failure while he was in the middle of his address to the special convocation of the University of Jammu.

The Prime Minister had to stop his speech as the public address system did not function for sometime till the generator was put on. The electric supply was restored within a few minutes. Manmohan Singh looked towards chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as the security personnel put on the emergency light.

Ministers, political leaders and top Army and police brass had to walk to the venue of the convocation as their vehicles were stopped at a distance because of tight security. The university had deployed vehicles to ferry the guests to the auditorium from the parking place.

Poonch, July 15
Militancy may have taken a heavy toll of human lives in Jammu and Kashmir, but it has proved to be a boon for wild animals in border districts of Poonch and Rajouri.

In fact, after militancy erupted, wildlife experts inform there has been an increase in the population of endangered wild animals, including the Himalayan black bear, musk deer, leopard and markhore (wild goat). However, they say, the exact increase cannot be ascertained since no census on any of the animals has been done by the Wildlife Department.

Regional wildlife warden, Jammu province, Naseer Ahmed Kitchloo says there are two factors, which have prompted them to predict an increase in the population of endangered wild animals. "There has been an increase in the number of man-animal conflict cases. The frequency of the sighting of endangered wild animals has also increased", informs Kitchloo.

He says there are many reasons for the increase in the population of the endangered wild animals. "The presence of security forces in the forests is acting as a deterrent to poachers to go on with their activities. Besides, the Forest Department has also been able to check hunting", he informs.

Divisional forest officer (DFO), Poonch, Brij Mohan Sharma says the man-animal conflict cases have registered an increase in the border districts. "There has been an increase in the number of man-animal conflict cases, especially in Loran Mandi and Bufliaz areas here. In the Loran Mandi area, last year there were 25 cases of the Himalayan black bear attacking people, whereas in Bufliaz two such cases were reported. There are also reports that in Nowshehra tehsil of Rajouri district, there has been an increase in the number of leopard attacks", Sharma informs.

The DFO, Poonch, informs that the field staff and Army personnel deployed in forests too have also reported an increase in the frequency of the sighting of endangered wild animals.

Srinagar, July 15
A 16-member mountaineering team of the state police will try to scale the Nun peak(7,410 m), in the Zanskar valley in Leh. ADGP, Armed Police, P. S. Gill said the peak was rated the most technical and strategically significant, and the team was scheduled to accomplish this mission in September this year.

Gill announced two mountaineers from J&K Police, Sajad Hyder and Ram Singh, were selected for attending a selection camp at Gangtok for scaling Everest. He said the same expedition taken up last year had to be called off due to inclement weather. The expedition is being organised in collaboration with the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering Pahalgam. — TNS