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Degree College Row
VAT exemption on CSD items
Doda admn to bring displaced families back
Crime Against Women |
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Khundru Mishap
CII meets MLAs to put economy on fast track
Dal Lake Beautification
Body of Pak militant found
Renovation plans for Jama Masjid
Politics of troop reduction with election year around
Project to save Jehlum
from pollution
Doctor suspended
No takers for accountability panel’s proposals
NC leader Sanaullah dead
Panun Kashmir firm on its homeland demand
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Degree College Row
Udhampur, December 30 While opposition National Conference charges the ruling coalition of “playing politics with education,” activists of the ruling Congress party are also not happy with the decision of the state government to ignore “deserving” areas while opening new degree colleges. The Congress activists, during the public meeting of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, strongly demanded a degree college at Chenani at Udhampur on Saturday. The party leaders are also devising strategy to launch a mass movement for getting a degree college for Majalata, another area of same district. “Ours is the most genuine and deserving case for opening a degree college,” argued R.S. Pathania, a youth leader of the Congress, adding, “During our meeting with the Chief Minister, we brought this matter to his notice who assured to look into our grievances.” Located about 48 kilometres away from Udhampur, students of Majalta tehsil have to either go to Udhampur or Samba for higher studies. Local residents were of the view that the opening of a degree college in the tehsil would benefit students of Jammu, Samba, Ramnagar and Billawar also. Amit Sharma, another resident of Majalta, pointed out that students of nine higher secondary schools namely Gujroo Nagrota, Ramkote, Khoon, Thial, Majalata, Sarunsar, Manwal, Barnadadha and Kathadh would be benefited in case authorities sanctioned a degree college. “I do not know what is the criteria of opening a degree college. Colleges have been sanctioned in some areas where only two or three higher secondary schools function while as in Majalata belt there are as many as 10 plus two schools,” argued Pathania, adding, “Inhabitants of this belt have been facing step-motherly treatment for years together.” As reported earlier, opening of a degree college at Dharmari in Reasi district has sparked massive protest in Mahore. NC legislator Abdul Gani Malik has already launched an agitation in Mahore against attempt of the state government to play “politics with education.”
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VAT exemption on CSD items
Jammu, December 30 Earlier, the ex-servicemen had given a memorandum to the government on November 26 with an ultimatum to consider their demands, including VAT exemption on CSD items. “Looking at the government’s attitude, we are planning to float a political party. The final decision on this will be taken at our governing council meeting in February,” Jammu and Kashmir Ex-Servicemen League president Maj Gen Goverdhan Singh Jamwal said. “There are more than 1.5 lakh families of defence personnel, with over 15 lakh voters, who can use their right to vote to meet their demands,” he said. However, the league said if their demands were not addressed by January 26, then they would not accept the annuity from the state government. Generalwal said the league would submit a memorandum in this regard to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on January 7 - the first day of the Budget session. — UNI
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Doda admn to bring displaced families back
Udhampur, December 30 Doda would be the first district in Jammu and Kashmir where the people, who had fled their homes and hearths due to the threat of militants, would be resettled at their native places. The district administration has reasons to take this “bold but risky” initiative for the return of the displaced people as this area, which was earlier famous for selective killings of civilians. Doda did not witness even a single such major incident in the year 2007. The last big incident of selective killing was took place in Kulhand, near Doda on May 1, 2006 in which over two dozen members of the families of minority community were massacred. “We will implement our policy after going through all aspects including threat perceptions,” deputy commissioner, Doda, Sourabh Bhagat told The Tribune while disclosing various aspect of this comprehensive plan. “Adequate security to these families would be foremost task before the administration and in this regard a high level monitoring committee headed by the district magistrate and comprised of the Army, police and civil officers, would be constituted,” he said. He further disclosed that the civil administration would get inputs from intelligence agencies and security forces before resettling their families at their native places. As there would be no immediate sources of income for these families at their native villages, the authorities have decided to provide some financial help besides creating some job avenues for them. “At initial stage one-year free ration would be given to all those families which would come back to their homes,” he said and added that some financial help would also be given to these families to construct their homes as either houses have been either burnt by the militants or got damaged. The deputy commissioner, who had convened a meeting of senior officers to expedite the process of implementing this plan as soon as possible, said elaborate security for the these families would be made. As silent migration has been going unabated from Doda district since early 90s, the authorities have also initiated steps to verify all displaced families, which have been putting up at either Udhampur or Jammu. Bhagat had convened a high level meeting of senior officers of the Army, police, CRPF and Revenue Department to discuss the issue of migrants. The meeting was apprised that so far as 101 displaced families of this district have been registered with the relief commissioner migrant Jammu in addition to 83 families verified by the CID authorities. Bhagat apprised the participants that the list of migrants will be sent to the officers of the Army, CRPF, police, sub-divisional magistrates and tehsildars to prepare strategies for calling the migrants back to their native villages.
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Crime Against Women
Jammu, December 30 Even after two years, the state legislature is yet to take up the Bill before implementing the DVA in the state where crime against women continues to show an upward trend. It may be mentioned here that legislations passed by the centre necessarily do not apply to Jammu and Kashmir because of Article 370 unless and until state legislature passes a Bill in both houses to adopt it either verbatim or after making requisite amendments. This year the winter capital alone has witnessed over 700 cases of crime against women till November 2007. Talking to The Tribune, the leader of opposition in the lower house, Abdul Rahim Rather, said, “Soon after the centre Act on domestic violence I moved the Bill during 2005 assembly session and I hope that government will table it in both houses for discussion in the coming budget session”. “The DVA is an important legislation and I will raise this issue in the interest of women in legislative assembly’s business advisory committee meeting,” he added. National Conference legislator Ajay Sadhotra said, “Though we have sufficient legislations to protect women but if the Act is implemented in the state it would certainly bring a decline in the graph.” Sadhotra expressed regrets over laid-back attitude of the present government saying, “To implement the Act political and administrative will is required”. “It was the National Conference that opened two women cell police stations in the twin capital cities,” he said, adding, “Today, the scenario has totally changed in the backdrop of militancy and ever-increasing crime graph against women. Now people demand women cell in every district.” Talking to The Tribune, women cell SHO Anita Pawar said, “This year 711 cases of atrocities on women came to us, out of which chargesheet in 37 cases were filed before different courts.” On an average women cell police station in the heart of city gets 80-90 complaints every month. A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity said, “Crime against women has increased manifold in the state in the past 19 years. Certainly this Act can play a significant role provided it is adopted by the state and given wide publicity to create awareness among the people.” Talking to The Tribune, a state high court lawyer, Abhinav Sharma said, “In the Act a mechanism has been evolved to help women in distress. It ensures speedy trial with first hearing to be held within three days of the case and then entire trial has to be disposed off preferably within 60 days.” When contacted to know whether a Bill to adopt the Act would be introduced in the coming budget session, state law secretary A.H. Kochak said, “Several Bills have been forwarded for the cabinet approval and as of now it would be premature to say anything.”
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Khundru Mishap
Jammu, December 30 Beigh, responding to a deputation of the residents of the affected villages who called on to him yesterday said he would look into the matter personally and would call all the relevant records from the concerned authorities pertaining to sanctioning and disbursement of the relief. Assuring that a follow up action would be taken in the matter within a week’s time, he said anyone found guilty of any discrepancy would be dealt severely. The deputation headed by PDP’s political secretary Peerzada Mansoor Hussain alleged the district administration of adopting an anarchical attitude in the disbursement of the relief. He alleged that while almost all the villagers in the affected area had suffered similar damage to their houses, cattle and crops, different yardsticks were used by the administration for disbursement of relief. “Even the assessment reports of civil administration are contradictory to the assessment done by the Army.” Mansoor told deputy CM. Mansoor has threatened to launch a sit-on protest in front of the district development commissioner Anantnag's office if immediate action was not taken in the matter.
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CII meets MLAs to put economy on fast track
Jammu, December 30 Chairman of the CII state council Sanjay Puri suggested various ways and means that would pave way for rapid economic growth of the cash-strapped state. Puri pointed out that creating class accommodation, developing tourist hubs in cities, plying metered cabs near airports and railway station besides constructing five star hotels, food streets would go a long way in improving fiscal health of the state. “Similarly, promoting eco, heritage, religious and cultural tourism besides developing Parihaspur in Srinagar and Nagrota as satellite cities would also yield rich dividends,” he added. Puri also suggested reduction in power tariff by enforcing measures to check transmission and distribution losses and according priority to mini hydel projects to give an impetus to the state economy. He also coined similar ideas to refurbish health and education sectors. Appreciating CII’s initiative, the legislators assured they would take up various suggestions with the government. Legislators also suggested CII members to venture into meat and poultry, cement industry in Basohli and Kathua. The sitting legislators who attended the programme were Girdhari Lal, Sham Lal Sharma, RS Chib, Parduman Singh and Ashok Sharma.
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Dal Lake Beautification
Srinagar, December 30 Assisted by the police, officials of different department razed to ground more than hundred structures, constructed illegally at Chuntkul, an outflow channel of the lake despite some resistance. More than three lakh trees were axed and hundred of illegal houses and other structures demolished during the past one year on the orders of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on a public interest litigation (PIL). The petition alleged that despite spending crores of rupees during the past 15 years, the condition of the lake has deteriorated. Despite court orders, illegal construction in and around the lake, including greenbelt, was going on. Half a dozen officials of the Lakes and Waterway Development Authority were suspended for allowing illegal construction on the banks of the lake after court orders. To curb the fresh illegal constructions, the authorities have decided to disconnect electricity and water supply to all houses and other structures, official sources said. They said the court had issued contempt notices to various department after a committee headed by registrar judicial Abdul Wahid in his report said these department had implemented the court orders. It has expressed its displeasure over slow conservation measures for restoration of the lake and directed the waterway authority to speed-up its work. It also directed the vice-chairperson of the authority to expand its activities and maintain a daily diary of the details of the works of whatever nature performed for restoration of the lake. The court directed that diary should be submitted to the chief secretary for production with his observations to the court. The court empowered the chief secretary to issue orders that may be necessary for conservation and restoration of the lake.
— UNI
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Two soldiers among five injured in blast
Baramulla, December 30 DIG (North) Srinivasan said a powerful IED blast took place near a bank at Azad Gunj at 12.25 pm. He said 10 to 15 kg of explosive was likely to have been used for the blast, sound of which was heard in the entire town and adjoining villages. Official sources said five persons, including two soldiers of 46 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and a woman, were injured in the blast. The injured were admitted to a hospital and a security force vehicle was also damaged. Srinivasan said windowpanes of about 15 houses were also damaged in the blast. Had it not been a holiday today, there would have been large number of civilians casualties as the area remained crowded on working days, he
said.— UNI
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Body of Pak militant found
Srinagar, December 30 The police identified the slain Pakistani as Abu Shakir, whose name is listed in official records as a JeM militant. His identity could be fixed after the cops found an identity card with him. A joint team of police and Army had engaged militants hiding in a house in Pulwama in a fierce encounter yesterday and they had found a dreaded JeM commander, Abdul Gani Dar alias Jangvi, dead when the firing ended. The police said they had reports of the presence of at least two militants there and they recovered Shakir's body during search. South Kashmir has been less rife with militant groups of Pakistani origin and presence of JeM in Pulwama would be a point to ponder for the authorities.
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Renovation plans for Jama Masjid
Srinagar, December 30 Jamia Masjid, known as one of the sacred shrines of Islamic followers, is in the heart of the old city, where thousands of people congregate for prayers. Minister for finance, housing and urban development Tariq Hameed Karra, during his recent visit to historical shrine and other areas of the city, said after the plan was implemented, better civic facilities would be available to the people of the area. He said the coalition government was committed to developing and further beautifying Srinagar and several schemes were already under implementation in this regard. Originally built by Sultan Sikandar and enlarged by his son, Zain-ul- Abidin, it is an example of Indo- Saracen architecture. Destroyed thrice by fire and rebuilt each time, the mosque, as it now stands, was repaired during the reign of Maharaja Pratap Singh. Be it the holiness or the constructional elegance, Jamia Masjid is quite unparalleled in every aspect. Comprised of 370 wooden pillars, Jama Masjid symbolises one of the best architectural specimen that survived the ravages of time ever since it was constructed. While looking into the origin and the construction of Jamia Masjid, the name of Dogra ruler Maharaja Pratap Singh comes several times as it was during his kingdom that the maintenance and repair works of the mosque was carried out. Pratap Singh enthusiastically encouraged the re-construction of Jama Masjid many a time and even offered financial assistance too.
— UNI
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Politics of troop reduction with election year around
Srinagar, December 30 Militancy, which plagued the state’s economy for several years, was put on the back burner though terrorists made their presence felt by sporadic killings of domestic tourists and planned suicide attacks on Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and National Conference President Omar Abdullah. Human rights violations were dealt with severely as 12 police personnel, including an SSP, were booked for allegedly killing an innocent in custody and labelling him a foreign mercenary, while the 2006 Kashmir sex scandal came back to haunt the high and mighty again this year. The year began with the PDP raising its stakes in the political arena by demanding reduction of troops and repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The rift between the Congress and its junior alliance partner kept rumour mills working overtime that former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s party would walk out of the coalition on the issue. After verbal exchanges and shadow boxing, the political turmoil was brought to rest by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who formed a high-powered committee under defence ministry A.K. Antony to go into the issue of troop reduction. After several meetings, the panel decided against troop reduction and favoured relocation of security personnel and vacation of hospitals, schools and other public places with the rider that troops would continue to have area domination. The Centre stood by Azad’s reasoning that reducing troops would undo the gains through anti-terror operations and the state would plunge back to the peak days of militancy. The PDP followed this with another stunt with Sayeed and his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, refusing to take security with them, but the bluff was called when intelligence officials briefed them about the threat perception from militants. For the first time in 17 years of militancy, the state government acted swiftly following an allegation that a civilian Abdul Rehman Paddar was killed in a fake encounter. The encounter was allegedly staged by policemen for cash rewards and promotions, but 12 of them, including an SSP, ended up being arrested in the case. Azad, who ordered the arrests, said this would send right signal down the rank and file that human rights violations are not accepted. At least four more similar cases came to fore after kin of missing persons registered complaints with the special investigation team probing the Paddar case. Although the sex scandal rocked the state in 2006, its aftershock was felt this year as the Division Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court monitoring the CBI probe named several high-profile politicians, senior bureaucrats and police officials for their alleged involvement in the case. As the year drew to a close, another political shake up was in store when the Chief Minister took away the forest and environment portfolio from PDP MLA Qazi Afzal and sacked State Forest Corporation chairman due to allegations of corruption in the department. In protest, Afzal resigned from the Cabinet, which was not accepted. The scam also pointed to finance minister Tariq Hamid Qara, who was instrumental in bringing Aijaz Ahmed Bhat as forest corporation chairman despite his long absence from the duty. Later, it was found he was in possession of a US passport also. At the intervention of the Congress high command, the forest portfolio was restored to Qazi during a small Cabinet expansion in which Muzaffar Hussain Baig of the PDP, who was unceremoniously removed last year, was brought back. Separatist politics was at its lowest ebb as a majority of them, including the Hurriyat Conference, again boycotted the third Round Table Conference on Kashmir chaired by the Prime Minister. There were several attempts made by the Hurriyat Conference for a separate dialogue with the Centre, and mediators like Sayeed and union water resources minister Saif-ud-din Soz were roped in but to little avail as the government made it clear it would not enter into dialogue individually with these groups.
— PTI
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Project to save Jehlum from pollution
Srinagar, December 30 Also called Vitasta, originating from Verinag in south Kashmir and going to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir before passing through
Lal Chowk and other towns, the Kashmiri Hindus consider it as an incarnation of the Goddess
Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. An official spokesman said in the first phase Rs 25 crore was being spent to develop and beautify the embankments from Sonawar to Lal Ded hospital. So far Rs 9 crore have been utilised for the purpose, he said. He also said 450 encroachments had been removed from the
banks of the Jehlum, while out of 59 houseboats to be shifted under high court directions, nine had already been
shifted. To keep the Jehlum neat and clean, it was decided to install dustbins on its
either side. — UNI
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Srinagar, December 30 A complaint was filed against the doctor on December 25 with the helpline of the secretary, health. It said the doctor posted at health centre of Seer Hamdan was absent from duty and there was no doctor available for night shift. Accordingly, the chief medical officer, Anantnag, was instructed to rush to Seer Hamdan and verify the complaint.
— PTI
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No takers for accountability panel’s proposals
Jammu, December 30 In the absence of independent investigating agency to probe cases of corruption besides inadequate staff, the recommendations of the JKSAC to the government also continue to gather dust in files. A senior official of JKSAC pleading anonymity said, “Till November 2007, the JKSAC referred 18 cases to the government but the latter has not implemented even a single leaving aggrieved people high and dry.” It may be recalled here that the JKSAC came into being in 2002 by the coalition government and after a long search Justice R.P. Sethi, a retired Supreme Court judge, was appointed as its chairman on August 26, 2005. The JKSAC official said, “Nearly 1,600 complaints were lodged with the JKSAC at the twin capital cities till November 2007. At Jammu office approximately 650 of such complaints were registered.” “After minutely perusing all the cases, which of course is a time consuming job in the wake of inadequate staff, the JKSAC made recommendations in 18 cases,” he said, adding, “However, the government has not honoured even a single recommendation thereby defeating the purpose of autonomous body.” “Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s crackdown on corruption and pathetic condition of the JKSAC conveys everything to the people,” he said. He, however, admitted that JKSAC can only recommend to the government its decisions and the latter reserves the prerogative of honouring them or not.
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NC leader Sanaullah dead
Jammu, December 30 He was also holding the post of district treasurer of the district committee, Poonch. Sanaullah was injured in an accident and breathed his last today. Expressing grief over his demise, the Abdullahs in a joint statement said the leader will be remember for long and his demise was a loss to the party.
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Panun Kashmir firm on its homeland demand
New Delhi, December 30 The convention demanded that in any future dialogue process, the atrocities suffered by the Kashmiri Hindus must be taken into consideration. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ajay Chrungoo, chairman, Panun Kashmir, said: “Our vision of the Panun Kashmir is a vision of renaissance of Kashmiri Pandits. Nurturing of a political consciousness, based not on narrow sectarian considerations but on civilisational perception, has been our thrust. It has led to shedding of despondency and defeatism and ushered in a new era of hope and dynamism. “To sustain this dynamism and impart sufficient kinetics to our movement, a simultaneous rejuvenation of cultural consciousness was imperative.” The Panun Kashmir demanded the immediate announcement of an employment package for 25,000 Kashmiri Pandit youth. He also wanted the setting up of a special tribunal to address the issues concerning forcible occupation, fraudulent usurpation of Kashmiri Pandits’ properties and shrines along with the updating of electoral rolls.
— ANI
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