Rajouri, November 3
After reports of a Pak family managing permanent resident certificates of Jammu and Kashmir and government jobs for its four members, the state government has ordered an inquiry into the matter.

The letter written by the finance commissioner’s (home) office to the deputy commissioner’s office here on October 17 with subject line “holding of inquiry by Sudershan Sharma, additional commissioner, Jammu, into the issuance of PRC (state subject certificates) to a Pak family”, says: “Whereas it has come to the notice of the government that four members of a Pak family have got government jobs after obtaining certificates from the office of the deputy commissioner, Rajouri.

“Whereas, it has become necessary to inquire as to how these Pak nationals have succeeded to manage the certificates and the government jobs. “Now, therefore, it is ordered that Sudershan Sharma, additional commissioner, Jammu, will hold a probe and submit his report within 30 days.”

Official sources said Sarwar Hussain Tariq, a Pakistani, had migrated to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) in 1965 along with his wife Ghulam Zohra and had attained Pakistani nationality. In POK, Zohra had given birth to three sons and three daughters.

On October 22, 1980, Sarwar Hussain along with his wife and six children came on Pakistani passport to Ujjahan in the Thanamandi area in Jammu and Kashmir on one-month visa. However, before their visa would have expired, Sarwar managed to get it extended by another two months, the sources said.

The government tried to deport the family to Pakistan, but Sarwar approached the high court seeking directions for the resettlement in the state on the grounds that they were already permanent residents of this state, they said.

On August 19, 1982, the high court stayed their deportation and since then the family had been under surveillance, the sources added.

Jammu, November 3
For Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad the spat between his alliance partner, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) has come a welcome pause. Otherwise the PDP had been training its guns mainly at the Congress, which has tried to keep itself aloof, whereas ideally it should have stood by its alliance partner in its fight against the NC, the main Opposition party.

The row between the two started on the issue of troops withdrawal has been taken too far with leaders of both parties making personal attacks against each other.

It started off with a statement of former Chief Minister and NC patron Farooq Abdullah accusing the PDP of being too power-hungry to withdraw from the coalition. This was followed by a series of statements by other leaders like Abdul Rahim Rather, two provincial presidents Ajay Sadhotra (of Jammu) and Mehboob Beg (of Kashmir).

PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti reacted in equally strong terms. Mehbooba went to the extent of alleging that Farooq was so power-hungry that he was trying to dump his son, Omar Abdullah, with whom, she

alleged, he was involved in a power struggle within the party.

While Farooq and Omar preferred not to react, two provincial presidents, Sadhotra and Beg accused the PDP and its leader Mehbooba of being ideologically bankrupt.

Trying to pay back in the same coin, they alleged that the PDP patron and his daughter were running the organisation in a dictatorial manner and the Mufti could not look beyond his daughter.

The PDP and the NC have too many reasons to fight against each other.

Primarily their base remains confined mainly to the valley. Although the NC has relatively wider support, including in Jammu and Ladakh regions, the PDP draws its support from the Kashmir valley only. It has to compete with the NC which has a strong grassroot support everywhere.

Not just that, the PDP could have pulled out of the coalition and scripted the fall of the Azad government, but it apprehended and rightly so that it (the government) might be bailed out by the NC. Moreover, Azad is closer to NC leader Farooq than the PDP.

And in the process it is the Congress which is sitting pretty and watching developments from a safe distance. In the fight between the NC and the PDP, it is the Congress alone which is the gainer.

Srinagar, November 3
As the Durbar has shifted to winter capital Jammu, political activities, too, have spread over warmer environs of the Jammu region.

The war of words between political rivals, ruling PDP and the Opposition National Conference is also at its peak. It is virtually a war between the two former Chief Ministers and top leaders of both parties, with former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba on one side and Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah on the other.

The issues being taken up by these leaders range from the ground-level situation, developmental works to the withdrawal of troops, scrapping the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Indo-Pak dialogue for the resolution of Kashmir issue. While Mehbooba has caught the NC patron Farooq on the wrong foot on the issue of de-militarisation, Omar has challenged the Mufti on the next Assembly elections.

The PDP patron, as part of his public meetings targeting the elections, has said security and stability in Jammu and Kashmir could be possible in a space provided by amity, friendship and cooperation between India and Pakistan.

Addressing a day-long convention of PDP workers in Pahalgam, the constituency he represents, the Mufti said the PDP’s agenda was to ensure a future for Jammu and Kashmir in which its people would gradually benefit by growing cross-border commerce, trade and tourism in the region.

“This necessarily presupposes and mandates a cooperative relationship between our country and Pakistan, which appears to be even more promising in the emerging regional scenario,” the Mufti said. He added that the emphasis of the PDP’s campaign on opening up of all cross-border traditional routes in Jammu and Kashmir stemmed from this realisation of the state’s past as a version of today’s free trade zone. He said, “The removal of restrictions on travel will significantly remove the restrictions on our growth as is happening in other parts of the world.”

He added that besides trade and commerce, tourism was going to play a major role in the economic growth of the state. The state had the capacity and potential to provide tourist and recreational resorts of international standards, he said adding that opening up of all traditional routes, better connectivity with South and Central Asia, revival of the historic Silk Route and increased traffic on the Karakoram Highway would help promote the state.

Doda, November 3
Huge forest wealth was reduced to ashes in a devastating fire that broke out in Chirala range in Baderwah town of the district, earlier this week, official sources said here.

The forest fire which started from one compartment of the Chirala range on October 31, spread to other compartments and has been continuing since then, they said.

Fire authorities said efforts were on to prevent the fire from spreading further and to extinguish it with the help of locals.

The assistance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and village forest committees had also been sought for the purpose, they added.

However, the amount of forest wealth lost in the fire can be ascertained only after the Forest Department officials visit the remote area, they said.

Surprisingly, Baderwah is the home constituency of the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. — PTI