J A M M U   &   K A S H M I R

Ram Setu: Near-complete bandh in Jammu region
Highway blocked, demonstrators lathicharged

Jammu, September 12 Stray incidents of violence were reported during the five-hour bandh in the 10 districts of Jammu against the move to demolish mythological Ram Setu for building the Sethusamudram project.

Rameshwaram Ram Setu Raksha Manch activists burn tyres to protest against the move to demolish Ram Setu in the sea between India and Sri Lanka in Jammu on Wednesday.— Tribune photo by Anand Sharma

Aasar-e-Sharief 
Azad inspects expansion work
Srinagar, September 12
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also chairman of the Muslim Wakf Board, today visited Aasar-e-Sharief in Hazratbal to inspect development works and expansion of shrine premises. After paying obeisance at the shrine, Azad went round the 250 kanal shrine premises and took stock of works going on to expand and beautify the complex, an official statement said.

‘Do not give assent to RTI Amendment Bill’
Jammu, September 12
A controversy has arisen here over the recently passed amendment Bill pertaining to the introduction of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Jammu and Kashmir with human rights activists describing it as “insipid and a half-hearted attempt” of the government to empower common people.

Army busts 2 hideouts of militants
Rajouri, September 12
Army in two separate operations in border districts of Poonch and Rajouri busted two militant hideouts and recovered arms and ammunitions.

3 LeT men arrested
Srinagar, September 12
The police here arrested three over- ground workers and recovered arms and ammunition from their possession, the police said today.

Scooterist injured
Rajouri, September 12
A scooter-borne person was injured seriously after an Army truck ran over him in Poonch town this morning.

BJP for salary hike for VDC members
Udhampur, September 12
Charging the Congress-led coalition regime with adopting indifferent attitude towards Village Defence Committees (VDCs), fighting militants in mountainous areas, state unit of the BJP today threatened an agitation if salaries of VDC members were not released. VDC members of about 24 villages of Arnas, Reasi and Mahore have been demanding salaries. They are also demanding modern communication equipments and sophisticated weapons.

Azad for autonomous Service Commission
Srinagar, September 12
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today favoured autonomy for the state Public Service Commission to insulate it from outside influences.

Ram Setu: Near-complete bandh in Jammu region
Highway blocked, demonstrators lathicharged
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 12
Stray incidents of violence were reported during the five-hour bandh in the 10 districts of Jammu against the move to demolish mythological Ram Setu for building the Sethusamudram project.

The police used lathicharge to disperse the demonstrators ,who blocked the highway near Udhampur.

A near-complete bandh was observed in the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch and Kishtwar.

Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal blocked the Jammu-Pathankot and the Jammu-Srinagar highways by squatting on roads and burning tyres.

Glass panes of over 12 buses were smashed by the demonstrators who accused the Congress-led UPA government of hurting the sentiments of Hindus by deciding to construct the project to create alternative shorter route for ships to cross the Gulf of Mannar by demolishing the structure connected with the religion.

Aasar-e-Sharief 
Azad inspects expansion work
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 12
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also chairman of the Muslim Wakf Board, today visited Aasar-e-Sharief in Hazratbal to inspect development works and expansion of shrine premises. After paying obeisance at the shrine, Azad went round the 250 kanal shrine premises and took stock of works going on to expand and beautify the complex, an official statement said. He inspected pace of acquisition of nearby structures to expand the premises for more space for prayers.

The statement said Azad directed speeding up construction of a fountain in the Glass Bagh and use of locally available diver stone on pavements in the shrine complex. He also asked officials to sink two tubewells for watering turf in the developed Glass Bagh.

Azad called for speeding up acquisition of nearby 81 structures of which 30 have been removed so far. The acquisition would add another 13 kanals to the shrine complex. As many as 27 plots have been allotted to the affected families while efforts were on to rehabilitate others. Azad told reporters, on special occasions like Eids and Fridays the devotees would had enough space to offer congregational prayers.

‘Do not give assent to RTI Amendment Bill’
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 12
A controversy has arisen here over the recently passed amendment Bill pertaining to the introduction of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Jammu and Kashmir with human rights activists describing it as “insipid and a half-hearted attempt” of the government to empower common people.

The state government completed the exercise without any public consultation. Human rights activists have urged Governor S.K.Sinha not to grant assent to the amendment Bill as it would keep people of J&K at a disadvantageous position vis-a-vis those in rest of the country. 

There is no RTI in J&K at the moment although a Bill was passed by the legislature in December, 2003, that was notified in October, 2004. A Bill seeking certain amendments to the earlier Act was passed by the legislature in its session that concluded recently at Srinagar.As J&K enjoys special constitutional position, the Central RTI Act, 2005, is not applicable in the state.

Wajahat Habibullah, chief information commissioner of India, is reported to have described the amendments in the J&K Act as “deficient and insipid”.

Habibullah, who had served in J&K for several years in various positions, reportedly favoured a strong legislation giving the citizens a sense of being involved in governance and infusing transparency into the system.

The Working Group on good governance in J&K appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh under the chairmanship of N.C.Saxena recently recommended the appointment of a chief information commissioner of the state, appellate authorities and departmental information officers for effective RTI. The Working Group also recommended that the people should be encouraged to make use of the RTI Act by creating awareness for this purpose.However, experts point out that the amended RTI Act would arm officers to hide facts rather than reveal these to the public.

The Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an NGO, has pointed out the Bill curtails citizen’s access information in Jammu and Kashmir. The objective of the Bill introduced on August 31 was to bring the state RTI Act passed by the legislature way back in 2003 on a par with the Right to Information Act (RTI Act), 2005, passed by Parliament. 

Maja Daruwala, director, CHRI, says the proposed amendments are a half-hearted measure and do not go the whole length to bring the state RTI Act on a par with the Central RTI Act.Several MLAs had argued for referring the Amendment Bill to a joint select committee consisting of members of both Houses of the J& K legislature for detailed consideration of the Act and the amendments.

The CHRI believes the amendments do not effectively secure the fundamental right to access information for citizens in Jammu and Kashmir. If the Amendment Bill becomes law, citizens will have inferior rights in matters relating to seeking and obtaining information from the government compared to those enjoyed by citizens in other parts of the country. 

The Governor should send the Bill back to the legislature for bringing it on a par with the central Act, the CHRI demanded. 

Army busts 2 hideouts of militants
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, September 12
Army in two separate operations in border districts of Poonch and Rajouri busted two militant hideouts and recovered arms and ammunitions.

Defence sources said 48 Rashtriya Rifles troops on a tip-off busted a militant hideout in Margan Dhok in the Darhal area, here and recovered two 82 mm mortar shells, three 52 mm mortar shells, four black Chinese grenades, 12 Pakistan- made hand grenades, five UBGL grenades, five Pika gun rounds, 140 AK rifle rounds, detonator and I.com radio set.

3 LeT men arrested
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 12
The police here arrested three over- ground workers and recovered arms and ammunition from their possession, the police said today.

The accused are Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives and were arrested from Karan Nagar. They have been identified as Mohammad Maqbool Mir alias Shaheen of Bandipora ,Ishfaq Ahmad Fazili alias Khand Peer of Bandipora and Ishtiyaq Ahmad Rather alias Billa of Bemina.

The cops said one AK rifle, six magazines, seven Chinese hand grenades and 200 rounds of AK ammunition were recovered from their possession.

Scooterist injured
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, September 12
A scooter-borne person was injured seriously after an Army truck ran over him in Poonch town this morning.

Sources said Baljeet Singh, son of Vikram Singh of Daara village, was on his way to home from Poonch town on a scooter (JK 12-0291) when an Army truck of 20 Kumaon unit attached to 153 Territorial Army (TA) ran over him. The victim received serious injuries on the head and was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, in a critical condition, the sources added.

BJP for salary hike for VDC members
Tribune News Service

Udhampur, September 12
Charging the Congress-led coalition regime with adopting indifferent attitude towards Village Defence Committees (VDCs), fighting militants in mountainous areas, state unit of the BJP today threatened an agitation if salaries of VDC members were not released. VDC members of about 24 villages of Arnas, Reasi and Mahore have been demanding salaries. They are also demanding modern communication equipments and sophisticated weapons.

Addressing a meeting at Arnas in Reasi district, BJP president Ashok Khajuria expressed surprise over conditions of VDC members fighting militants. He regretted despite assurances the government had done nothing to ameliorate lot of those who had frustrated designs of anti-national forces. He alleged the ruling coalition had been trying to demoralise nationalist forces in the state.

Khajuria,interacting with VDC members, assured their problems would be brought to the notice of the authorities. He also demanded sophisticated weapons and modern communication equipment for VDC members .

Lone BJP MLA Jugal Kishore assured VDC members to take up this issue in the Legislative Assembly. He said during the previous regime of the NDA at the Centre adequate funds were released for strengthening VDCs. He, however, pointed out as part of a conspiracy the present dispensation had been weakening the VDCs to appease anti-national forces.

A large number of VDC members turned up to highlight problems faced by them. They pointed after joining the VDCs they had become target of the militants while the authorities were also giving them a raw deal. They revealed majority of the VDC members were without salaries as the authorities refused to give them funds. 

Azad for autonomous Service Commission
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 12
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today favoured autonomy for the state Public Service Commission to insulate it from outside influences.

Addressing inaugural session of the golden jubilee function of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission here, he said his government would provide all assistance to the commission.

A function to mark the 50 years of the commission was organised at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) and Governor S.K. Sinha, several of Azad's cabinet colleagues,chief secretary C. Phunsog, legislators, , J&K PSC chairman Muhammad Shafi Pandit and his counterparts from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh attended the ceremony.