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20 injured in police lathicharge
Cong-BJP join hands to oppose bandh
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Clearing operations will be completed on time: Azad
Minorities threaten to migrate
5 Army jawans die as vehicle falls into nullah
2 Hizb commanders surrender
Farooq denies Mufti element in his political return
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Bandh evokes partial response
Jammu, August 29 Schools, colleges and institutions like banks, post offices and private offices remained open, while public transport remained off the roads inside the city. JKNPP activists held protest rallies at different places against the “dictatorial attitude and tyranny” of the Ghulam Nabi Azad governmment. No untoward incident was reported during the bandh which was also supported by the Shiv Sena factions. Bazars and markets in the Gandhi Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Nanak Nagar and Trikuta Nagar localities were completely shut down, while hotels, restaurants and other food outlets remained partially open at many places in and around the Inter-State Bus Terminus and the city outskirts. The inter-state buses were not allowed to enter the city to avoid any untoward incident, and the passengers were dropped at Satwari Chowk. JKNPP chief Bhim Singh had given the bandh call specifically to protest against the violent police action on the Talwara migrants and his party activists at Katra, and for the suspension of the party’s legislative leader Harsh Dev from the state Assembly during the recent session. Claiming a “complete bandh in all districts of the Jammu province”, Bhim Singh, in a statement issued here, expressed gratitude to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly Jammu province, for their “active and effective cooperation and solidarity with the Panthers Party” by observing the bandh. |
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20 injured in police lathicharge
Udhampur, August 29 The group led by the BJP leaders comprising shopkeepers, traders and party activists were joined by Congress workers, who were also opposing the bandh asking the business community to open their establishments. The situation took a violent turn when bandh supporters clashed with activists of the Beopar Mandal. A heavy contingent of the police, which was deployed in Udhampur, resorted to lathicharge to disperse the warring factions. As both factions resorted to stone pelting, the police fired tear gas shells to restore order in the town. About 20 persons, including some traders and Panthers Party activists, were injured in the lathicharge. Although the district administration had imposed Section 144,IPC, in the town, rallies were held by both parties. Reports from Ramnagar, the home town of Harsh Dev Singh, said the bandh evoked a mixed response in as shops remained closed while schools functioned normally. |
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Cong-BJP join hands to oppose bandh
Udhampur, August 29 Keeping aside their political rivalry, the BJP and the Congress activists marched through the bazaars of Udhampur and, chased bandh supporters at many places. Although the Congress had already announced its opposition to the
bandh, the BJP activists, under the leadership of state secretary Pawan Gupta, also came on the streets and asked shopkeepers to open their shops and business establishments. “Earlier, we had distanced ourselves from this strike call but due to hooliganism by Panthers activists we are forced to come on the streets to protect shopkeepers and traders from hooligans”, argued Gupta while defending his decision to join hands with the Congress. “We are not opposing the bandh as Congress or BJP workers. We are on the streets as citizens of
Udhampur”, said a senior Congress leader who was marching along with the BJP leaders. |
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Clearing operations will be completed on time: Azad
Srinagar, August 29 He said all 13 villages had been cleared of unexploded ammunition and commended the Army personnel for completing the difficult job in 15 days when the first estimate was that it would take about six months to clear the villages. Azad said this during an extensive tour of the villages adjacent to the ammunition depot at Khundroo in Anantnag district of south Kashmir that bore the maximum brunt of the August 11 incident. He met affected people, assured them of full compensation for the losses they had suffered and told them that he had discussed with the Prime Minister the need to have the arms depots set up away from civilian population. Accompanied by minister of education Peerzada Muhammad Sayeed and minister of state for power and health Peer Muhammad Hussain, the Chief Minister also visited the relief camp set up at Jogi Gund to take stock of arrangements made for the affected people in the camp. Briefing the Chief Minister about the operation Aatish launched to clear civilian areas, Brig K.S. Rana said 20 tonnes of ammunition was recovered and destroyed at Ranipora Range. He said seven task force teams and 68 sub-teams had been set up to undertake the clearance job. He said the clearance job was extended to 21 villages although only 13 were affected. He also said about 65 orchards and agriculture fields had also been cleared by now. The Army school where about 600 local children study, would reopen on September 3, he further added. The Chief Minister said the assessment of losses to residential houses would be completed in a couple of days and distribution of compensation money would start within a week. He said normally Rs 10,000-15,000 were paid for a fully damaged house, but in this case he had taken up the issue with the Prime Minister and requested him to pay full compensation. He said in case of crops, if any orchard or agricultural field was not cleared by the harvesting season and the crop was damaged, full compensation would be paid to the farmers. |
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Minorities threaten to migrate
Udhampur, August 29 The bandh call was given to lodge a protest against the second successive attack on the Laxmi Narayan temple at Bhaderwah, and the failure of the authorities to nab the culprits. Traffic on the Batote-Doda-Kishtwar road remained disrupted as people staged dharna at several places on the highway. Hundreds of passengers were stranded due to the bandh. Leaders of the the minorities warned that they would have to migrate if the authorities failed to strengthen security in these militancy plagued areas. Shops and business establishments remained closed at Bhaderwah and Kishtwar where members of the minority communities took out processions under the banner of the sabha. After burning an effigy of the state government, they submitted a memorandum to Kishtwar deputy commissioner Shahid Inayatullah demanding adequate security for minority communities. At Bhaderwah, a massive demonstration was held against the police failure to nab the militants involved in the recent incident of throwing grenades. They warned that the minorities would be left with no option but to migrate if authorities failed to contain militant activities in these areas. |
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5 Army jawans die as vehicle falls into nullah
Udhampur, August 29 According to the police, as soon the vehicle reached Digdoll, about 5 km from Ramban, the driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell into the Bislahri Nullah. Four Army personnel died on the spot, while another succumbed to his injuries later. According to the Ramban police, the deceased Army personnel have been identified as Brijesh Kumar, Sepoy Rajesh Singh Tomar, Lance Naik Raj Kumar Yadav, Arvind Kumar Chouhan and Lance Naik Rishi Dev. The identity of the injured soldier has been established as Narinder Singh. —
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2 Hizb commanders surrender
Udhampur, August 29 One of the commanders, Jahangir, had been active since 1996 and the other, Bilal Ahmed, had been a part of the terror organisation since 1998. After laying down their arms, they pledged to live a peaceful life. The Commanding Officer of 4 Rashtriya Rifles and the additional superintendent of police, Bhaderwah, were present during the surrender
ceremony. In the past some time, a number of hardcore militants have laid down arms in Doda district. |
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Farooq denies Mufti element in his political return
Jammu, August 29 Farooq remained out of the election arena and projected Omar as the chief ministerial candidate just before the Assembly elections in 2002 which is believed to have resulted in the drubbing the NC got at that time. Omar lost the election from Ganderbal, the traditional constituency of the Abdullah clan. Old guards have blamed Farooq for the debacle in the last election, due to his sudden decision to transfer power to his son. The newly set up PDP bagged 16 seats, all from the Kashmir valley, that threw the NC out of power although it was the single largest party with 28 seats. When contacted, Farooq denied that the Mufti factor had made him review the five-year-old decision to remain out of the state’s political scene. Farooq Abdullah had recently said that his decision in 2002 was a mistake. With Omar on the saddle it would have become an uphill task for the NC to face the damage that the PDP could have caused in the forthcoming elections. An experienced politician like Farooq Abdullah would be in a better position to steer the NC, old guards in the party claim. However, circles close to the Abdullahs claim that both of them reviewed the decision in the best interests of the party.
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