Udhampur, March 2
With all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are gearing up for forthcoming Assembly elections, the Gujjars, the nomadic people, have intensified their agitation for getting political reservation under Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Hundreds of Gujjars took out processions at Udhampur and Reasi in support of their demands for political reservation. Memorandums were submitted to deputy commissioners of Udhampur and Reasi to forward the same to Governor.

Apart from opposing Scheduled Tribe status to Paharis, Gujjars have launched a political struggle for reservation in Legislative Assembly as well as Legislative Council.

The Gujjars, who were given tribal status in the year 1991 after a long drawn struggle by the community leaders, are claiming that they are entitled, as per the Indian Constitution, to the reservation proportionate to their population in the state.

“If the provision is applied to the state, which has its own Constitution, Gujjars have legal right for political reservation,” argued Dr Javid Rahi, secretary of the Tribal Research and Cultural Forum. He expressed surprise over denying legitimate rights to the tribal population.

“Scheduled tribes have been already granted reservation in civic bodies and panchayats so there is no reason to deny the same in Assembly,” Dr Rahi said and asserted this nomadic community has decided to launch a decisive agitation to get their demand fulfilled.

Gujjars were of the view that only way to address the injustice with this nomadic community was political reservation. “For years development funds meant for Gujjars areas have been diverted somewhere else and villages inhabited by this community lacking basic amenities like safe drinking water, electricity, health and education,” alleged Abdul Rashid, a Gujjar leader of Reasi.

Although political parties like the Panthers Party and the BSP have already endorsed demand of political reservation for Scheduled Tribes, other political groups have yet not cleared their stand on this issue.

Jammu, March 2
The demand for preponement of the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir has surfaced again with political parties favouring completion of the poll process between May and July 2008.

The election to the 87-member Assembly is due in October-November 2008. BJP state president Ashok Khajuria said here today, “We not only want the state to go in for early election but we favour that the state be placed under the Governor’s rule.”

He said, “In order to ensure free and fair election, the entire poll process be held under the Governor’s rule.” In this connection, he referred to the 1977 election and 
said the poll was free and fair to a large extent because it was held under the Governor’s rule.

His party colleague, Dr Nirmal Singh, said, “Besides favouring an early poll we want the term of the Assembly to be reduced from six to five years as is the case in the country.”

He said that five years are enough for a government to fulfill its commitments. He said that the successive ruling parties had “misused” Article 370 that gives a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, by having the Assembly term fixed for six years.

Provincial president of the National Conference, Ajay Sadhotra, said, “We are ready for early elections.” He said the schedule for the Assembly election has to be fixed by the Chief Election Commission in consultation with the state government.

He agreed with the BJP leaders’ contention that since the ruling coalition had failed to deliver the goods it was better if people were given a chance to elect a new government.

Even leaders belonging to the PDP, that shares power with the Congress, are in favour of the preponement of the Assembly poll. PDP general secretary Nizam-ud-Din Bhat said that May-July “is the ideal time for holding the election.”

Explaining the need for preponing the poll, Bhat said, “From June end till the first week of October people and the government, besides the security forces, will remain engaged in the month of Ramzan, followed by  Id-ul-Fitr, two month long annual Amarnath  pilgrimage.”

However, leader of Panthers Party in the Assembly Harsh Dev Singh said, “No doubt we are for early election, I do not find any scope for preponing the poll because the ruling coalition has nothing to sell to the electorate.”

He said that the opposition campaign against failure of the Chief Minister to check corruption has shaken the base of the Congress and the PDP.

He too wanted that the term of the Assembly be reduced from six to five years and added, “I have repeatedly tried to table a bill for amending the constitution so that the term of the Assembly was reduced but the successive governments sabotaged my plan.”

Srinagar, March 2
All the separatist organisations and leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have condemned and rejected the views of Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on his readiness to set aside Kashmir issue and focus on other aspects for improving relations with India.

“This is highly condemnable and we reject it,” said Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of the Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. “We have taken it seriously as it has not come from an ordinary person but a prominent leader from Pakistan, though he was new to political arena,” Akbar added.

The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference is holding a meeting of its executive committee (Majlis-e-Shoora) here within a few days to discuss the issue, after which it would come out with its formal stand on Zardari’s views, the spokesman told The Tribune here today.

He reiterated the Hurriyat stand that the Kashmir issue was not a border dispute between India and Pakistan, but a matter regarding the future of 1.3 million people of entire Jammu and Kashmir.

The Kashmir issue had its own history and it seemed that Asif Ali Zardari was unaware of the Kashmir’s political history, for which the people of Kashmir had “sacrificed their lives,” he added.

The moderate faction led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also condemned and expressed its concern over the statement made by PPP leader. A former chairman of the APHC, Abdul Ghani Bhat said any delay in resolution of the Kashmir issue would be of serious consequences in the entire South Asian region.

The resolution of Kashmir issue was important for peace in the region, as both the neighbouring countries of India and Pakistan were nuclear powers, he said. Zardari’s statement was a deviation from Pakistan’s long stand on Kashmir, unlike his wife, Benazir Bhutto’s views, the Hurriyat leader opined.

According to the JKLF chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik, who has been advocating the involvement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in any dialogue process to resolve Kashmir, has also expressed concern over the PPP leader’s views.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir “sacrificed” their lives during the past six decades, particularly during the last 18 years for a cause. Malik added that the “sacrifices” of the people could not be ignored.

He favoured Indo-Pak friendship and added that the two countries would not be friends by suppressing the Kashmir dispute.

Jammu, March 2
Finally, the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community languishing under inhumane conditions in one-room tenements in migrants’ camps across Jammu region has some hope of getting a home.

At least 276 families were given possession of two-room flats at Muthi phase-II here today rekindling hopes among major chunk of displaced families, who eagerly await completion of Jagti satellite township near Nagrota.

Talking to The Tribune, divisional commissioner, Jammu, Sudhanshu Pandey said: “The work is in full swing at Jagti and allotments would be done after its completion. Relief commissioner’s office would be doing the job in a very transparent manner.”

When contacted, relief commissioner (migrants) Vinod Koul said: “Out of 1,024 flats constructed at Muthi, Purkhoo and Nagrota, 276 were allotted to displaced families at Muthi phase-II today and the process would continue till March 31.”

Regarding Jagti satellite township, he said: “The work was initiated during October last year and we are confident to meet the deadline of September 2009.”

The relief commissioner claimed that 31,000 displaced families have been putting up in Jammu, out of which 5,000 are in migrants’ camps.

Koul said: “Priority is given to the families directly affected by the militancy and economically weaker families.”

Panun Kashmir Movement chairman Ashwani Chrungoo said: “In first go, the government has accorded priority to displaced families at Battal Balian and Kathua camps. They had been living horrendous life because of camps’ close vicinity to industrial estates.”

He, however, expressed dissatisfaction towards the pace of work at Jagti saying: “Though the work is going on but not at the desired pace. We had expressed our dissatisfaction to the government.”

He added: “By and large we agree to the plan being executed by the government but the pace has to be speeded up.”

Taken up under the Prime Minister’s reconstruction programme at a cost of Rs 253 crore, the township comprises of 4,218 sets, consisting of 176 blocks, and it is coming up on an area of about 700 kanals.

The township would have a hospital, three schools, three community halls and 40 parks. The facilities of sewerage, drainage, drinking water and electricity are part of the integrated project.

Around 2,500 displaced families would be accommodated in the township.

Jammu, March 2
They had never gone out of their villages and when the Army provided that opportunity to these 24 students from the remotest belts of the border villages of the Baramulla district, they grasped it with both hands.

The Baramulla-based 19 Infantry Division of the Army has organised the tour under Operation Sadbhavana, in which the students would travel from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

“This is for the first time that I have been out of my village. I am very much excited as I would be seeing different parts of the country. I am very much thankful to the Army for providing me with such an opportunity to see how our nation looks like,” said one of the students.

The students, who reached Jammu on Friday, were taken to see the international border between India and Pakistan at various places in Jammu.

“I am very much excited to be on the international border of our nation.” said another student, who wished these borders could vanish and he could shake hands with the people on the other side.

A teacher accompanying the students said, “Majority of the students in this tour belong to very poor families, who otherwise could not afford to send their children on country tour. We are really thankful to the Army for providing these students with such an opportunity.”

Giving details about the tour, Jammu-based PRO of the ministry of defence Lt-Col S.D. Goswami said, “Such tours help these students to understand the vast and dynamic culture of the nation.” So far the Army has organised 47 such tours in which 1,431 students were benefited.

Jammu, March 2
Going by the pace of work, which has been going on for the last two decades, completion of the Kashmir valley rail project by 2012 looks impossible, a zone engineer of the Konkan Railways has said.

The Konkan Railways have been constructing broad gauge line from Katra to Lolie village in Ramban, which passes through complex geological formations.

“Work has been going on in different sectors but unforeseen problems and other technical hiccup continue to delay the project,” he said.

“Tunnels had been a problem for us because of certain factors like seepage, water logging and swelling due to earth pressure,” he said, adding, “The project cost has already escalated to Rs 11, 272 crore from Rs 3000 crore and considering slow pace of work the Katra-Qazigund sector would not come up by 2012.”

Not going too far down the memory lane last year the Northern Railways after finding Himalayan range a hard nut to crack had approached Geological Survey of India (GSI) to conduct a workshop for its engineers so as to acquaint them with geological aspect of the unpredictable terrain.

“Already running behind schedule, the Konkan Railways, IRCON and HCC have been giving their best but problems keep haunting us,” he added.

It may not be out of place to mention here that some under construction tunnels on Katra-Qazigund sector had collapsed last year.

A Northern Railway official said, “Last year we continuously faced seepage problem in a tunnel near Udhampur forcing us to seek assistance of Austrian engineers.” He also admitted that around 40-meter portion of the tunnel had caved in due to earth pressure.

“Building castle in air is no crime but befooling gullible people in election year so as entice them is paradoxical. However, at this stage when eight states including Jammu and Kashmir would soon go to Assembly elections and LS polls could be announced, the UPA government can even promise moon,” said former finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather.

“The Jammu-Udhampur track took several years and its now 23 years since Kashmir valley project was initiated,” Rather said, adding “Even if the project is completed by 2015 we would say that the government has done a good job.”

The project was sanctioned in phases beginning with Udhampur-Katra sector in 1995 followed by clearance for the Katra-Qazigund track in 2002.

The project with a total length of 292-kilometers will be having 120 km in the form of tunnels including country's longest tunnel of 11 kilometers at Banihal besides world's highest bridge near Korri.

Jammu, March 2
Many rare animal and bird species have recorded a population increase in Jammu and Kashmir over the years, but heavy snowfall this winter has affected wildlife adversely.

Wildlife warden Nasier Ahmad Kitchloo said here that several hundred birds and animals - including some rare species - had been affected by the “unprecedented snowfall” last month.

“Our department swung into observing wildlife behaviour and noted that several hundred pheasants, leopards, wild cats and other small mammals had been affected,” he said. The beautiful and reclusive Himalayan pheasant has been forced by the snowfall to move close to villages.

“Hundreds of pheasants of different types have come down to human habitations. There is a possibility that people might have caught them or even killed them. Our men are on the job to rescue the beautiful birds from captivity.”

He said when snow falls, the wings of pheasants become heavy, so they cannot fly and just loiter around. Then the glare caused by sunshine causes a blinding effect and they stray into human habitations in search of food.

Experts point out that Kashmir got a “good” snowfall in 1992, after which there was a dry spell for a few years. It also snowed heavily in 1996 and 2005 but February 2008 was the heaviest.

“This leaves a confusing impact on fauna,” Kitchloo said.

Other affected animals are leopards, wildcats and small mammals. These animals have also come down to lower altitudes and leopards have caused damage in terms of killing or maiming people and lifting cattle.

“So far two people have been killed, five injured and over a dozen cattle lifted by these leopards.” In some remote mountainous areas, the administration had got villages evacuated during snowfall earlier this month for fear of avalanches.

“In some cases the leopards used these abandoned houses as shelters,” said the official. “Now when these people are going back they are making these animals captive and might go for their illegal trade as well,” Kitchloo said.

The department has fanned out to rescue and release such animals.

“We have got four wildcats and three leopard cubs rescued so far. Two wildcats that had fallen ill are under treatment while others have been released,” he said.

While the wildlife population has decreased the world over in conflict areas, it has increased considerably in Jammu and Kashmir, Kitchloo said.

This, he said, was because all licensed guns were required to be deposited at police stations when militancy set in. Second, no hunter would go deep inside a forest for fear of militants or getting caught in crossfire.

According to the official, “The population of Hangul (the famous red deer of Kashmir) has gone up to 300 in 2006 from slightly over 100 in 1990.” There were about 800 Himalayan black bears in 1990. By 2007 the number went up to 3,000.

The musk deer population increased from 300 in 1990 to about 2,800 in 2007, the Pir Panjal markhor - a member of the mountain goat family - were about 100-odd in 1990 but increased to about 500 in 2007.

Similarly among birds, Kitchloo said, rare species like pheasants and black partridge have registered a 50 percent increase in population. — IANS

Jammu, March 2
As elected corporators of the Jammu municipal corporation (JMC) are busy for the upcoming elections for the posts of mayor and the deputy mayor, it seems they have forgotten the promises made to the residents of Jammu prior to their election.

While the JMC is all set for the elections to be held on March 5, the entire city has been virtually turned into a garbage dump.

The situation in the famous Gumat Chowk near the Jammu bus stand is so bad that one cannot withstand the stinking smell coming out of the garbage dump that has not been lifted for days.

"This place is the heart of Jammu city. Anybody entering or leaving the city has to enter from this area, but one can see the callous attitude of the Jammu Municipal Corporation," said Sham Lal, a shopkeeper.

"For the past few days, no one has come to lift the garbage from here. This place is just a few yards away from the JMC office. The garbage dump is producing such a foul smell that it becomes difficult for a person to stand here for long."

Residents lament that their elected representatives spend more time in politics than on addressing problems of the people.

Residents have said that the JMC should show seriousness in its job, as the city of Jammu is famous for its temples, and such garbage dumps bring a bad name to the city.

All attempts by this reporter to contact officials of the JMC turned futile, as he was told that officials were busy in a meeting.

Srinagar, March 2
The police along with the Army killed two militants belonging to Al-Badr outfit. One of the slain militants hailed from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Budgam police said they were hiding in the house of the widow of a slain Hizbul Mujahideen and the forces surrounded them after they were tipped off about their presence.

The police said they had information on the presence of these militants in Chewdara locality of Budgam district, a central Kashmir area, and began cordon and search operation today morning.

The militants fired from the house of Rashid Bhat, a killed HM ultra, and both were gunned down in the ensuing firefight. The police have identified both militants as Janbaaz Khan of PoK and Imtiyaz Ahmed Dar, a local.

Some houses also received damaged in the fight, locals said, adding that three of them were largely destroyed. A number of people came out in protest, something which has been a norm started by separatists, who portray militants as fighters on their behalf.