Jammu, December 10
Bansi Lal Kaul along with 12 members of his family used to live in a double-storeyed house in a posh locality of Raj Bagh in Srinagar. Now at the age of 83, his family has increased but his living accommodation has shrunk to a one room makeshift hut in a migrant camp of Jammu.

Bansi Lal’s case is not an isolated one, but the living condition of an entire community of more than 3 lakh Kashmiri Pandits who got displaced after Armed insurgency broke in Kashmir 17 years ago.

The living condition of Kashmiri Pandits is in shambles as they have no other option but to live in a single room accommodation in migrant colonies in and around Jammu city.

“We are internally-displaced people, who were forced to leave their place of birth as the majority community took up arms against their own country,” said Bansi Lal Kaul. He said, “Ours is the only community that has to live the life of a migrant in their own country and for the past 17 years we have been forgotten by the government of our country.”

The condition of Kashmiri Pandits living in migrant camps is pathetic as they have to live in highly congested areas.

“The migrant colonies where we live-in are highly congested and we don’t have proper sanitation, water and electric supply.” said Manoj Kaul, a migrant living in Purkhu migrant camp.

Majority of the houses that belonged to Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir have either been burnt down or have been occupied by locals in the valley. In some cases, Pandits were forced to sell their entire property in the valley at a throwaway cost.

“I had an apple orchard in my village in Pattan, but I had to sell all my property, including an orchard at less than the price that I used to get annually by selling the apples.” said Prem Nath Bhan, who now along with his family of six lives in a makeshift migrant camp in Muthi Jammu.

“We can’t forget when we were forced to leave the valley, militant targeted Pandits and killed them.” said Mohan Lal, a resident of Jawahar Nagar Srinagar who now lives on a rented accommodation in Jammu.

Commenting on the living condition of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, Ashwini Churangoo, chairman of the Panun Kashmir said, “No doubt the living condition of Kashmiri pandits in migrant camps of Jammu is worse. People who earlier used to live in big houses have no other option but to live in small huts.”

Jammu, December 10
PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baigh today staged a comeback in the Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet led by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, more than a year after he was unceremonioulsy removed by his party.

Baigh was administered the oath of office at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan by Governor S. K. Sinha.

The decision to re-induct Baigh into the Cabinet at the post, virtually snatched by the PDP in September, 2006, as the party went to town, saying it had lost faith in him, was taken at a meeting between Azad and PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed here recently.

With Baigh's reinduction, the strength of the Council of Ministers in the Congress-led coalition government, headed by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, has risen to 22.

The number of cabinet ministers has risen to 14 after his reinduction. There are also eight ministers of the state in the present government.

Baigh, who represents Baramula assembly constituency, was looking after Finance, Planning and Law Ministries during the stint in the Mufti Sayeed's government and later in Azad's Cabinet. He had resigned on September 3, 2006 .

Later talking to reporters, the Chief Minister said reshuffle of portfolios would be done after by-elections of Poonch assembly constituency scheduled for December 12. — PTI

Jammu, December 10
There were a number of sidelights that were witnessed during the oath-taking ceremony of PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig at the Raj Bhawan today.

l The distance between Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mufti Mohd Sayeed seems to have narrowed down, while the distance between Governor S.K. Sinha and the PDP patron has bridged.

Soon after the Governor administered the oath to Baig, Sinha came down from the dias and shook hands with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and greeted Baig’s wife. Though Mufti Mohd Sayeed was standing next to Baig’s wife, the Governor turned his back and was about to leave when someone dropped a hint in his ear that Mufti Sayeed was also there. Sinha then took a step back and greeted Mufti.

l After the oath-taking ceremony was over, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was seen discussing some issue with senior PDP leader Rangeel Singh. Former Deputy Chief Minister Pt Mangat Ram Sharma kept a close watch on their discussion and was seen dropping some inputs to Azad during the discussion.

l Speaker of the J&K Legislature Assembly, Tara Chand, arrived late at the ceremony. He was seen searching for a chair and later found a place next to the Chief Minister. — OC

Srinagar, December 10
When the letter of appointment for a teacher finally reached his home Rais Ahmed, a B.Ed, was no longer waiting for it. His mother said he left home and never came back. The news of his death in an encounter was the next they heard of him. Rais was a resident of Tulran village in south Kashmir 5.

Official sources said in Shopian district, as many as 42 youths had escaped their homes to join militant outfits. Most of them were below 20 years of age and some were students of class XI.

ASP, operations, Pulwama, Abdul Qayum said 12 of them had been killed, 8 had been nabbed and many were still absconding. Some were apprehended and handed over to their families, he added.

Even as the police and security forces have turned the heat on militants, desperate groups of ultras running short of cadres continue to find ready recruits in youngsters, mostly coming from impoverished families, as they are easier to lure. “Our youths are always targeted by militants and we are torn between them and the security forces,” Manzoor Ahmad, whose brother Shabir Beg, a class XII student, disappeared from home on July 5 and joined a militant outfit.

A police official said militant minders easily infiltrated among school and college-going youths and influenced them to join their fold. “They exploit political resentment of the people to fuel their armed movement. Some impressionable youths fall for the bait,” a police official said.

An 18-year-old boy and his four friends, who were apprehended by the police in Pulwama, days after they left their homes, said his friend’s brother had persuaded them to leave studies and join the struggle.

“They said everybody would respect my family and I would be able to take care of their needs,” the boy said.

A senior official said it was decided to rehabilitate the boys as they were young and innocent-minded.

“It's very scary for the society, but it also shows desperation on the part of these outfits. Families do not want to report matters to us out of fear. We get to know only when their sons join some militant group,” he said.

Udhampur, December 10
Although the security forces had cordoned off the entire area, militants, who were trapped in a hideout near Gool in Ramban on late Sunday night, managed to give the police the slip. Some police parties have launched a massive search and combing operations in the area but no contact so far has been made with the militants who were responsible for killing a constable of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Police officers are tight-lipped over the incident but sources disclosed that militants took advantage of the darkness and slipped away from the encounter despite being the fact that heavy contingent of police was deployed.

On late Sunday night, the police started a search operation in the Bhatyas area of Gool following input about presence of some militants in this belt. During the search operation, militant ambushed the police party in which one constable namely Gagandeep Sharma, son of Suraj Sharma of Domana, Jammu, lost his life. After the incident, additional forces were rushed to the spot to track down the militants who were trapped in the hideout. The search operation was continued whole night but to no avail as militants who were trapped in the gunbattle believed to slip away taking advantage of the darkness. This morning the police fanned its parties in different areas of the Gool to track down the ultras. 

Jammu, December 10
After 450-mega watt Baglihar hydroelectric project over the river Chenab in Chanderkote run into rough weather, now it’s the turn of the 600-mega watt Sawalakote hydroelectric project in Dharamkund near Tangar village.

After hue and cry was raised over gross irregularities, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has cancelled the letter of intent that had been issued to a consortium led by SPAS of Norway.

Since then the matter is subjudice before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

Initially the 600-mega watt project was allotted at an estimated cost of Rs 7,500 crore but interestingly, its capacity was increased to 1,200-mega watt without any change in the monetary figure.

Azad has also formed a cabinet sub-committee to go into the alleged irregularities in the project, which official sources say continue to plunder the state coffers of the cash-strapped state.

A senior bureaucrat on the condition of anonymity said, “The Government of India has certain guidelines, like Rs four to Rs five crore for each mega watt of power that has to be generated.”

“Even if we go by Rs five crore for each mega watt, then the amount should not exceed Rs 3,000 crore for 600 mega watts. In case, the capacity has to be increased to 1,200 mega watts, the amount accrues to Rs 6,000 crore.”

“Without going for competitive bidding the coalition government through an order in March 2006 issued letter of intent to the SPAS of Norway,” he said adding, “In 2001 Hochtief of Germany and NCC of Norway were initially roped in for the project.”

However, Hochtief backed out and NCC closed down its operations in India after financial institutions refused to fund the project in absence of the Government of India guarantee.

He said, “After Hochtief and NCC moved out, SPAS (Special Purpose Vehicle for Development of Sawalakote Project) of Norway came into the picture, who roped in Ozaltin of Turkey and HCC of India.”

“Without inviting competitive bidding the coalition government issued the letter of intent to the SPAS of Norway but Chief Minister did a right job when he revoked the letter and framed a cabinet sub-committee,” he added.

Till date only 20-kilometre approach road for the project has been completed while work on 18-kilometre of another approach is being carried out by the Larsen and Toubro.

“Gaping holes exposed the rot. Violation of norms has been causing a loss of Rs 1,250 crore to the state every year,” he added.

Even the union power ministry expressed grave concern to the high cost of the project and single offer adopted by the coalition government.

The cabinet sub-committee headed by Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din in its report to the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had made startling revelations.

The report read, “Instead of observing pre-requisites to arrive at an economical project cost, reasonable terms and conditions of the contract and enforceable contract documents/DPR, the new consortium was facilitated to submit directly a so-called DPR to Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which implies that they scooped over the preliminary requirement of scanning of the DPR by the owner.”

“Instead of appreciating Power Finance Corporation’s earnest effort to bring down the cost of the project to a reasonable limit, the managing director of the state power corporation availed complete liberty to justify the cost stating that the project was awarded through limited competitive bidding which is not the fact as no bidding route was adopted and comparing the revised cost with the earlier exorbitant cost of the same group,” read Taj Mohi-ud-Din’s report.

“Had there not been intervention of the Chief Minister (Azad) at appropriate time, the state would have sunk into a financial catastrophe running into thousands of crores of besides putting at altar the prestigious Sawalakote project,” further read the report.

In his report, the CAPD minister stated the government placed a full-time chief engineer (S&K) for the project.

“But to create a distortion in the system, the then managing director of Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC), Shalinder Kumar, sidelined the chief engineer and instead started either directly handling the project or using other officers (even officers without any technical background like GQ Wani, Director Finance JKSPDC stepped into the assignment),” stated the report.

“It is surprising to note that despite refusal from Power Finance Corporation, the two responsible officers of the JKSPDC continued to pursue the institution and also REC to fund this unacceptable/ unviable scheme,” read the report.

Taj Mohi-ud-Din’s report further stated from the above facts it is clear that these two officers have made a deliberate attempt to hoodwink the state government by keeping the authorities in darkness.

Srinagar, December 10
The pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), led by Yasin Malik, today dashed a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, apprising him of the alleged ''deteriorating'' human rights situation in the strife-torn state and seeking his intervention in stopping such “violations”.

In its letter to the UN chief on the International Human Rights Day today, the JKLF claimed that the people of Jammu and Kashmir experience on regular basis the “phenomenon” of custodial killings, enforced and involuntary disappearances, destruction of property, rape and molestation of women, crackdown and search operations besides arrests and torture.

“The perpetrators of this atrocity are the Indian forces acting on the directions of their government,” the front alleged.

The JKLF said the atrocities in the Kashmir valley have increased rapidly despite “fake slogans” by the ruling party in the state. “It is worth mentioning that those responsible for such killings and other atrocities are promoted instead of suspension.”

The front further wrote that India was trying to consolidate its political control over Jammu and Kashmir by using “diabolical” laws and ordinances such as the Disturbed Areas Act of 1999 and the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, giving license to the armed forces to “kill, molest, rape, cordon off entire population and to conduct house-to-house searches.”

Talking on the Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, the front said, the J&K government has issued these laws in order to arbitrarily detain the political activists.

“There are hundreds of people languishing in jails without any trial and several political activists have been arrested during this year on concocted cases under these laws,” it alleged. The JKLF further claimed the state government disregard for court directions, quashing detention orders or granting bail was particularly disconcerting as courts were the only resort for anybody seeking legal redress.

“This process undermines the function of the judiciary to uphold and protect the human rights. In Jammu and Kashmir, as many as 677 civilians have been killed from December 2006 to November 2007. Out of these, 44 have been killed in custody, 210 structures destroyed and about 70 women raped and molested by the Indian armed forces.”

“Thus, a country which is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenants of Civil and Political Rights is in clear breach of its obligations under the International Human Rights Law,” it said.

Citing some alleged cases of human rights violations, the JKLF said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were being subjected to these atrocities because they have been demanding their “birth right” -- the right of self-determination -- which was also guaranteed by the United Nations Charter.

“Gross human rights violations are taking place in Jammu and Kashmir on a large scale. However, we would like to emphasise that the Government of India should be strongly advised and directed to adhere to various international covenants to which New Delhi is a signatory,” the front said. The Government of India should be also advised to allow the United Nations Special Reporters, the Amnesty International, the Asia Watch and the international non-governmental organisations to visit Jammu and Kashmir, the JKLF further urged the UN Chief in its letter. — UNI

Srinagar, December 10
A series of protest demonstrations were held here today by several separatist organisations marking the World Human Rights Day.

These organisations, both factions of the Hurriyat conference, JKLF and others, demanded an end to the alleged gross violation of human rights at the hands of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.

Several members of the JKLF were detained near Regal Chowk when they were leading a march towards the office of UNMOGIP at Sonwar. They were to submit a memorandum at the office seeking international intervention to end the human rights violations at the hands of security forces in the state.

The police had to use force at several places to prevent the protest demonstrators from creating law and order problems.

Moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference carried out march through the Central Lal Chowk area.

Meanwhile, the two-day hunger strike led by JKLF chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, which began here yesterday concluded this afternoon.

Srinagar, December 10
At least 20 activists of two factions of JKLF were detained here today when they were trying to take out a march in the city where protests were organised by separatist outfits, including moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, on World Human Rights Day.

Carrying candles, a group of JKLF activists headed by Mohammad Yasin Malik marched from Maisuma, where Malik is on a hunger strike since yesterday, to the local office of the UN military observers group for India and Pakistan to submit memoranda.

When they reached Regal Chowk, police swung into action and took into preventive custody eight of the activists and lodged them in Kothibagh police station, the sources said.

Minutes after, another group of JKLF activists headed by Mohammad Saleem Manji, made an appearance at Regal Chowk and started a march towards UNMOGIP at Sonawar. However, the police, which was deployed in strength intercepted the march and took 12 of the marchers into preventive custody, the sources said.

The third faction of HJLF headed by Javid Ahmad Mir also took out a procession at Abi Guzar and dispersed peacefully.

The largest march was organised by moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq from its Rajbagh headquarters to Sher-e-Kashmir Park. Mirwaiz demanded demilitarisation in both parts of Jammu and Kashmir saying it was a precondition to ensure “improvement in human rights situation.” — PTI

Rajouri, December 10
They are called Special Police Officers (SPOs) of the Jammu and Kashmir police but they do petty jobs of orderlies and domestic helps, courtesy the “influential people” they provide security to.

Despite playing a commendable role in quelling terrorism in this militancy-hit state, the SPOs are being taken for a ride by the “influential people” they are attached to for security. In majority of the cases here, the SPOs attached to politicians, administrative officers, police officers (including retired), some mediapersons and businessmen, are being made to do petty jobs other than providing security.

Sources in the Police Department said of the 900 SPOs recruited in the district, more than 150 were working as orderlies, drivers, cooks and babysitters with the “influential people” they are attached to for providing security. In some of the cases, these SPOs have been found working in the shops of businessmen (who get SPOs for security reasons) here, sources added.

“What else should I ask for? My boss takes care of everything from meals to my clothing. In lieu I have to just accompany him to the places he goes,” said a SPO with a politician. Another SPO attached with a mediaperson also working as cook, said “What's the harm in it? I just cook food for him and at times I do wash his clothes”. “It is too little a price for getting a government job”.

Not only the SPOs attached to “influential people” also called PSOs (personal security officers), provide security to most of the businessmen and are exploited and made to work as salesmen by the latter.

“There is no doubt that SPOs have played a crucial role in countering insurgency operations but this is also true that in most cases where these SPOs are performing security duties for some politicians, administrative officers, police officers, businessmen and even for that reason with some mediapersons, they are exploited lot”, said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity. “We have clear cut information that SPOs attached with most of the influential people have been made to fit in other roles other than providing security by them”, he added.

“There is quite a truth in the fact that SPOs are being made to do petty jobs by people they are attached to for security reasons”, IG, Jammu, S.P. Vaid said.

The body of a 55-year-old man was recovered from the Samadian road, near the Exhibition Ground in Jammu.

The body was taken to a hospital where doctors said he had died of cold.
— PTI