Jammu, December 22
It has been 18 years since their exodus from Kashmir in 1990. About three lakh Kashmiri Pandits living in various refugee camps inJammu and Delhi are already finding their "distinct and exclusive identity" not just diluted, but even threatened.

The post-exodus generation is either ignorant of its mother tongue, the main bulwark of their identity, or prefer other languages. Their distinct culture is already reeling under outside influences.

According to Agnishekhar, chairman of Panun Kashmir, the community symbols are confronted with extinction. He maintained that there was a subtle process of ensuring total “ethnic cleansing of the Pandits.”

Kashmiri Pandits have always faced an identity crisis. Way back in Kashmir, prior to their exodus, they would identify themselves with the national mainstream and would proudly claim themselves to be Indians. They would prefer to describe themselves as Indians first and Kashmiris later. And once they left Kashmir, they were made to realise the hard way that they were Kashmiris first and later anything else later.

Agnishekhar maintains that the process of “ethnic cleansing that was started by the Islamic extremists in 1990 is being perpetuated further by the successive governments”. He pointed out the government is the main source of employment for the youth. He said of the 2.50 lakh people recruited by successive state and central governments there were only 42 Pandits. “This is a subtle way of forcing us out of the state where we can hardly retain our language, the mainstay of our identity”, he observed.

Quite a number of surveys have been carried out by various Kashmiri Pandit organisations about the survival of their language. Most of these surveys have brought out disappointing conclusions. Most of the post-1990 generation has either stopped speaking the language as they hardly get a chance to speak. Even at home they prefer Hindi.

Interestingly it is mainly in the refugee camps spread in different parts of the Jammu region, where the displaced Kashmiri Pandits have been able to retain their distinct identity. But the camps do not hold any promise. And an identity alone cannot help them to survive. They have to move out to sustain themselves even at the cost of their identity.

Agnishekhar, who is a renowned scholar and an expert on history and culture of Kashmir remarked, once the language is extinct, the cultural decline will also start.

He asserted that the creation of a separate homeland is the only solution to ensure that the Kashmiri Pandit civilisation that is thousands of years old is not let to extinct.

Jammu, December 22
The National Conference legislator Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari has threatened to resign from the legislative assembly if the Congress-led coalition government failed to open a degree college in his constituency of Surankote in Poonch district.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Bukhari accused the coalition government of deliberately neglecting people of Poonch district and opening new colleges on political considerations.

“This government has been willfully neglecting the people of Poonch district including Surankote because they had given their mandate to the National Conference in the last Assembly elections,” he said. “The government has been discriminating with the people on party basis,” he added.

Demanding opening of a degree college in Surankote, the sitting legislator said, “It has been a long pending demand of the people of Surankote but this government announced 18 new degree colleges purely on political considerations.”

He reminded Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that a cabinet decision during the NC government in 2002 had approved the college in Surankote and all the requisite formalities too had been fulfilled.

“On December 26 we would stage a sit-in and submit a memorandum to the Governor Lt Gen (retd) S.K. Sinha,” he said, adding “if genuine demand of the people was not conceded by the government then I would resign from the legislative assembly.”

“People of Surankote had also given their land for the purpose of college and a Jammu university campus was also assured to them,” he said, adding “However, this government has totally ignored them.”

“At the cost of densely populated areas new degree colleges have been opened in places where population is very less,” he said.

Sitting MLC from Poonch Mohammed Rashid Qureshi and youth leader Chander Mohan Sharma were also present in the media briefing. 

Jammu, December 22
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today fixed January 26, 2008, as the deadline for completion of the Sitlee filtration plant. He said the project would add 70 lakh gallons of drinking water in the water supply distribution system of the city.

Azad as part of his personal monitoring programme of important public utility projects, visited the Sitlee filtration plant and took stock of the progress. The project on its completion would augment water supply in critical areas and ensure two-time supply per day after completion of its third intake.

Chief engineer, PHE, Jammu, V.K. Goswami, said another 70 lakh gallons per day would be added to the system within the next six months, which would also raise the total supply of drinking water to 210 lakh gallons daily.

He said one unit of 70 lakh gallons per day would be on a standby and put into operation as and when required. He said the plant would be constructed at a cost Rs 6.54 crore.

Goswami said 10 tube wells of the capacity of 2 lakh gallons each were also being dug by the ERA to address the water supply needs in scarce areas. Inspecting various components of the plant, the Chief Minister also directed for carving out a beautiful water body to improve the ambience of the plant.

Minister, Roads and Buildings, Gulchain Singh Charak, divisional commissioner, Jammu, Sudhanshu Panday, and other senior officers accompanied the Chief Minister during the visit.

Azad also inspected work on Rs 39.90 crore “Sidhra-Sruinsar-Mansar Road” upgradation project.

The Chief Minister directed the executing agency, ERA, to complete the project within the targeted period. The ERA officials assured that the project would be completed by December 2008. He also inspected the construction material processing plant and the material testing lab near Sardan nallah bridge.

Jammu, December 22
Academicians, intellectuals, bureaucrats and prominent citizens today acknowledged the growing need of inclusive education so as to enable children with different abilities to live normal lives.

These views emerged at the day-long workshop on the topic “Successful Implementation of Inclusive Education: How?” organised by the Model Institute of Education and Research (MIER), in collaboration with Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), New Delhi, and the RCI Zonal Coordination Committee, Ludhiana, here today.

Secretary, Social Welfare Department, N.K. Verma, who was the chief guest on the occasion emphasised on the growing need for inclusive education.

He also explained the role of government and allied agencies in bringing children with different abilities under the purview of education so as to enable them to live comparatively “normal” lives.

Verma also appreciated the efforts of the MIER in becoming the first institute in the state to enter into the field of inclusive education and for preparing teachers to handle different kinds of students.

He assured government’s help to the MIER and all other agencies as it had been accorded high priority by the government and other organisations.

Principal, MIER College of Education, Dr Renu Gupta, also highlighted the objectives of the workshop and the issues to be deliberated upon.

RCI chairperson Sara Johnson in her address elaborated the objectives and activities of the RCI Zonal Coordination Committee.

Director, MIER, Dr Arun K. Gupta, said, “People in the state are gradually becoming aware about issues related to inclusive education.”

“However, a lot requires to be done in the direction of identification, enrolment, assessment, coverage, retention and development of different children. Steps should be taken to have an appropriate programme for their education and rehabilitation,” he said. He added, “Valuable feedback from the agencies would go a long way in promoting inclusive education in the state.”

The workshop was conducted in three sessions.

Jammu, December 22
The communal harmony witnessed on the occasion of Id, took an ugly turn today, after the news of cow slaughter spread in the city.

After the news was reported from the Belichrana area on the outskirts of the city, people belonging to the Hindu community, came out on to streets to protest against the incident.

Various demonstrations were held in Jammu and the protesters demanded that strict action be taken against people behind the heinous crime.

“This is a very unfortunate incident and we strictly condemn it”, said a protester, while burning an effigy of one of the accused at Bikram Chowk in Jammu. The agitated protesters demanded that the people behind the act should be hanged in public view.

“Cow is like our mother and anyone who kills our mother won’t be spared. If the police and government fail to take any action we would punish the culprits on our own,” said another protester.

Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Satwari police station, Sukdev Raj, told The Tribune, “We swung into action on receiving information that some people had slaughtered a cow on the occasion of Id. We raided the place and recovered meat and legs of the animal. We also seized the weapons used in the slaughter.”

He said, “We have sent the meat and blood samples for forensic tests to the Animal Husbandry Department and the report is expected to come on Monday.”

The officer said a case under Section 298- A of the Cr.PC had been registered at the Satwari police station and six persons had also been arrested.

Meanwhile, various Hindu political parties, including the BJP, the Shiv Sena and the Kranti Dal also held protest rallies and demanded stern action against the accused.

The heads of various religious organisations have condemned the incident and requested members of different communities to maintain calm.

The police has also taken elaborate measures to control any untoward incident that could flair communal tension in the area.

Srinagar, December 22
The Jammu and Kashmir Police today said it had not arrested any person in connection with November 23 serial blasts in court complexes in Uttar Pradesh that left 12 people dead and 50 others injured.

The police said some news reports have quoted UP DGP saying that the J&K police has also arrested a suspect in the wake of arrest of two HuJI militants by the UP police. “This is incorrect,” a police spokesperson said.

One of the nabbed militants, Khalid Mohammed, allegedly underwent training in the valley where HuJI has a limited influence. “We are in touch with the UP police and giving them all cooperation," the police said in a statement.

"It is very much possible that Khalid would have been trained here," a police official said, stressing that they were yet to get reports from their UP counterparts about his past stay in Kashmir.

Poonch, December 22
The tall claims of the state government of improving power situation in the state have fallen flat and the residents in this border township are made to go through a tough phase with unscheduled power cuts and low voltage.

The Power Development Department (PDD) has been imposing huge unscheduled power cuts and even when the power was supplied the voltage was too low, rued the residents. “We are made to suffer by the department concerned at a time when extreme cold prevails in the area,” said a resident.

They further alleged that people from all walks of life including students, businessmen, are also suffering due to this lackadaisical attitude of the department.

“The PDD has made our lives miserable. Not only they impose huge unscheduled power cuts making us to suffer. But even when the power is supplied such is the voltage that it is difficult to recognise a person,” said Saqib Khan, a resident.

“The government makes tall claims of improving power situation in the state, but no such improvement seems to exist on the ground.”

Executive engineer, M&RE, Poonch Division, U.C. Manchanda admitted that the PDD imposes unscheduled cuts. “We impose unscheduled power cuts, but since the state is overdrawing power from northern grid, the distress cutting is made everywhere in the state,” said Manchanda.

The executive engineer also admitted the voltage problem. He said the PDD is installing higher capacity transmission (132KV) line and the voltage will definitely improve after the line is installed.

Jammu, December 22
A group of about 50 passengers who arrived here via Mumbai on Go Air flight faced many hardships for several hours on Saturday as their luggage was reported misplaced by the air line staff in Jammu.

The passengers, majority of them being tourists, could not go further with their travel schedule in the absence of luggage and were stranded in Jammu airport till late afternoon without food and water.

According to reports, after landing in Jammu around 10 am when passengers were waiting for their luggage they were informed by the airline staff that their luggage had not arrived in Jammu.

Agitated over the poor management and delayed response of the airline staff the passengers started protesting against the indifferent attitude of the airline staff. When they contacted the airline staff in Mumbai they were informed that there is no alternative available with them but to wait till evening.

The airline authorities also made every effort to pacify the stranded passengers claiming that they were making alternative arrangements but passengers alleged that no one from the airline contacted them and compensated them for the inconvenience caused to them.

Majority of passengers alleged that no one from the Go Air is willing to come forward and help them locate their luggage. “We are waiting here with our children without food and water but no one from the Go Air has come forward to take care of our needs,” Lata Ajwani, a female passenger stranded outside Jammu airport said. Ajwani and her co-passengers were on their way to Vaishnov Devi shrine. 

Jammu, December 22
Despite being mainstay of the economy, the government’s laid-back attitude has been taking its toll on the vast tourism potential in the state.

The prestigious ropeway project which had to connect the heritage monument of Mubarak Mandi with the ancient Bahu Fort across the Tawi river, has been hanging in balance since 1996.

In 2005, much hype was created by the Jammu and Kashmir State Cable Car Corporation Limited to start the project but till date, the Rs 20 crore project continues to gather dust in official files.

However, director, Tourism, Jammu Ajay Khajuria attributes the delay to the backtracking of private players.

Talking to The Tribune, he said, “The project had to be constructed on a BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis. The state government had to provide the land and private parties had to raise the infrastructure, operate it for 30 years or so and then transfer it to the state government.”

“There is no delay on the part of the government. The J&K Cable Car Corporation Limited had put everything in place preparing detailed project report after due consultations with the RITES Limited and had floated tenders. However, private parties backed out,” he said.

He added, “Perhaps they thought it to be commercially non-.viable.”

“Now the corporation has started the process afresh but it may take some more time for us,” he said.

Sources in the cable car corporation said, “Dissatisfied over income aspect private parties backed out as they must have felt that returns were not enough.”

“Under an agreement they had to pay royalty to the cable car corporation as well before transferring it to the corporation after expiry of the prescribed period of 30 years,” they added.

A senior official of the corporation said, “Considering past experience we have started fresh process redesigning the project so as to minimise cost of raising the infrastructure.”

“The project is very important for us as a large number of tourists visit Mubarak Mandi, from where they can go to the Bahu Fort via cable car.”

Under Section 6 of the Jammu and Kashmir Aerial Ropeways Act, 2002, the state government intended to construct two aerial passenger ropeways, one at Mubarak Mandi and Bagh-e-Bahu at Jammu and another at Zain-ud-din Wali Sahib Dargah at Ashmuqam in Anantnag.

After completing the first phase, the government had plans for a similar ropeway from the Bahu Fort to Mahamaya Forest enclave located at the hilltop.

Then then principal secretary to the Tourism and Floriculture Department, Anil Goswami, vide government order number TSM/PLN-STS-34/06 dated March 6, 2006 had also issued a public notice seeking objections, if any.

However, despite repeated attempts, managing director of the J&K State Cable Car Corporation Limited, Javed Iqbal Punjoo, could not be contacted.