Srinagar, March 10
The expulsion of senior leader and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is seen as a significant development at the political level when the process of leaders changing political parties has gained momentum.

Both the ruling PDP and the opposition National Conference (NC) have been witness to the exchange of several senior leaders and second rung leaders from one party to the other during the past few weeks, particularly after the stormy session of the state legislature was adjourned sine die.

These changes have gained momentum in view of the scheduled Assembly elections later this year with two major political parties of arch rivals, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Farooq Abdullah, already having trained their guns against each other.

Senior PDP leader and agriculture minister Abdul Aziz Zargar, as chairman of the disciplinary committee said Mir had been expelled from the basic membership of the party. The decision had been taken in view of his indulging in anti-party activities and criticising the policies and programmes of the PDP. He, however, claims that he belonged to the “real” PDP and the real decision lay with the people.

He told The Tribune that party leaders had vindicated his views that the democratic system was not functional in the PDP. It was the party of a single family, he reiterated. He also disassociated himself from the PDP for the main party issues about two years ago and remained aloof from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ms Mehbooba Mufti after he was not given “due status” in the Azad-led coalition government that took over in November 2005.

Mir had been a senior minister in the Mufti-led coalition government for the first three years.

In a related development, another former minister and PDP leader Sarfaraz Khan has also turned rebellious against the party leadership and expressed concern over the expulsion of Ghulam Hassan Mir. Khan, in his statement today, said the PDP’s decision to expel Mir was unjustified as he had been among the founder members of the party. He blamed Mufti Sayeed and Ms Mehbooba Mufti for indulging in politics of “divide and rule.”

Earlier today, six members of the PDP, including two senior leaders, one of them a former NC MLA, Sadiq Ali, returned to the NC. They had remained with the PDP for about four years now and joined their parent party in the presence of NC patron Farooq Abdullah today. According to party chief, former NC MLA, Sadiq Ali, would be entrusted with a responsible position in the state level party set-up, while another leader, Sheikh Abdul Rahman, a former district president of the PDP, would be given a position at the provincial-level of the party.

It is believed that at this juncture of the exchange of leaders of political parties from one party to the other, a new Third Front was in the offing. Mir also confirmed it saying that it was bound to take place. Several leaders in the coalition government including the transport minister, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and the CPI (M), which has four members in the Assembly and others, are expected to constitute the Third Front. Others expected in the Front include former minister and militant-turned politician and MLA, Usman Majeed representing Bandipore. Usman Majeed, who had overtly disassociated himself from the Peoples’ Democratic Forum (PDF), had also been a minister in the Mufti-led coalition government.

Udhampur, March 10
Notwithstanding claims of the state government to ensure supply of essential commodities in rural areas, there is an acute shortage of ration in many villages adjoining Katra town.

Villagers alleged that ration meant for poor people was being supplied to fake card holders with the connivance of some officials of the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department.

CAPD officials have allegedly incorporated fake ration card holders in the list of poor families and the quota ration allotted to these fraudulent families is being supplied to shopkeepers to sell it in the open market. There is no ration in most of the depots set up by the CAPD in different parts.

"After getting complaints about fake ration card holders, I have summoned the tehsil supply officer (TSO) to clear his position", naib tehsildar, Katra, Amarnath Badyal, told the Tribune and assured to thoroughly check the list of ration card holders. "It is a matter of grave concern and we will probe it thoroughly", he said.

Residents of adjoining localities of Katra were of the view that the real cause of the shortage of ration was that these fake card holders took away a major chunk of the ration allotted for these areas.

"There are as many as 500 fake ration card holders in adjoining areas of Katra", alleged Pandit Shiv Kumar and added that they had brought the matter to the notice of the authorities concerned but to no avail. "Officials of the CAPD are hand in glove with some shopkeepers as the ration allotted to these fake card holders was being sold in the market", he alleged. He pointed out that this scandal had been going on unabated for the past so many years but the authorities seemed to be non-serious to stop this bungling.

According to official records a quota of 973 quintals of ration had been fixed for Katra tehsil every month and out of this allotted quota, only half of ration reached the destinations.

Substantiating their allegations, Shiv Kumar narrated the example of Kund Dheorian village where villagers had threatened to launch a stir due to non-availability of ration in the CAPD depots. "It is just a tip of the ice-berg. Most of the villages are confronting the same problem", alleged Baldev Raj and alleged that there was a nexus between nine officials and shopkeepers to sell ration in the open market.

Jammu, March 10
With the Amarnath pilgrimage beginning in July, the holy month of Ramadan in September and the new Assembly to be elected before November 20, 2008, authorities seem to be in a fix and are finding it hard to decide on an appropriate date.

According to election officials, the Assembly elections will be conducted in four phases spread over two months.

The last elections in 2002 were also held in four phases, beginning in mid-August and ending by mid-October. At least 400 companies of security personnel would be required to conduct the polls. Besides, more security is needed during the campaigning process and for the protection of candidates. In the last elections, there were 709 candidates in the fray for the 87-member Assembly.

The Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir is expected to attract over 200,000 pilgrims from all over the country during the pilgrimage for which adequate security arrangements have to be made.

An election process around that time would be difficult, according to the officials. The pilgrimage would conclude on August 16 - the full moon day of the Shravan month of the Hindu calendar.

Ramadan, the month of fasting, begins in early September during which Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. Eid-ul-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan will also be celebrated in the first week of October.

“Religious sentiments have to be taken into consideration before finalising the election dates,” officials said.

The authorities also fear a rise in cross-border infiltration cases as the recent snowfall has damaged the barbed wire fencing on the Indian side at many places along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The fear of infiltration picking up in the run-up to the elections is also looming, said an official.

Meanwhile, agencies are busy shifting through militancy-related statistics and patterns for a security study. They have gathered the relevant data since 1990. Statistics reveal that the maximum number of 5,946 militancy-related incidents took place in 1995 - a year before the 1996 polls.

“Then incidents kept declining before rising to 4,536 in 2001 - again a year before the 2002 polls. But 2007 registered the least number of 1,058 incidents,” revealed sources.

“The highest number of 1,424 civilian casualties was in 1996, while the least number of 399 was in 2007,” an official said.

The highest number of 613 casualties among security forces was found in 2001, while the same year, witnessed the highest number of 2,020 terrorists being killed.

According to these figures, till December 2007, there have been 66,722 militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in January 1990, with 16,685 civilians, 5,225 security force personnel and 20,501 terrorists killed. — IANS

Udhampur, March 10
The National Conference (NC) virtually kicked off the election campaign from Udhampur today as party patron and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah addressed a pubic meeting and interacted with the party cadre.

Although the NC has yet not finalised names of party candidates for the three Assembly seats of Udhampur district, Dr Abdullah called upon the party cadre to work for the success of NC nominees in the forthcoming elections.

Addressing party workers at Sehail Jattan area, Dr Abdullah said people were fed up of the anti-poor policies being propagated by the ruling coalition in the state.

He said the Congress-led coalition regime had failed to fulfil promises which were made during the 2002 Assembly elections.

The NC patron said due to the wrong policies of the coalition regime, people had faced a lot of hardships.

He pointed towards the ongoing agitation launched by employees of various government departments.

He asked party workers to educate the masses about the wrong policies of the coalition government.

Earlier Dr Abdullah along with other leaders of the party called on veteran ailing BJP leader Lala Shiv Charan Gupta.

Bandipore, March 10
Militancy in the valley is largely under control, but threats to the present atmosphere of peace remain formidable, General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, Lt-Gen Mukesh Sabharwal said here today, about 54 km from Srinagar.

In his first media interaction after taking over the charge, a most crucial corps in charge of Army operations in the Kashmir valley, Sabharwal said militants continued to make infiltrations bids from across the border. Asked if Pakistan has shown any restrain in its support to Kashmiri militants, he said he did not believe so as terror camps and other infrastructure remained in tact in Pakistan.

Sabharwal put the number of militants active in the state anywhere between 500-600, which is a considerable climbdown from approximate figures of 3000-4000 only two to three years back.

The General dedicated a bridge over a river to the public, which had turned up in sizeable numbers to mark the occasion. As part of its efforts to find more support among the local populations, the Army has been taking initiatives to build civic infrastructures in remote parts of the valley and officers said their efforts had been fruitful. "The Bandipore area has long been a hotbed of insurgents and LeT is active here more than other areas. But we have been able to kill a large number of militants and dismantle their infrastructure in the past few months. It would not have been possible without public support," an official said.

The Army had killed two LeT militants three days back who were planning to kill local MLA Usman Majid.

What has been a reason of relief for the authorities, Army officials said, is the decreasing proportion of Kashmiris in the militancy, which is being increasingly led by Pakistanis launched into here from across the border.

General Sabharwal said under prevailing circumstances it would not be appropriate to scale down the strength of the Army but the decision was for the government to make.

MLA Usman Majid, who was a militant before he gave up arms to join politics, said time had come for the people of Kashmir to face the truth and shun militants' and seperatists' policy of "death and distruction".

Srinagar, March 10
Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah here today said the Kashmir issue required a political solution to be worked out by the top leadership of India and Pakistan and stressed the need for resuming constant measures in this direction.

He appealed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP leader L. K. Advani and Pakistan leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharief to help develop friendship by demolishing the walls of mistrust.

The National Conference patron pointed out that he welcomed Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari’s statement on Indo-Pak friendship that needed to make forward movement in a positive direction.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he, however, expressed his disagreement with Zardari’s statement on the state saying that the issue could not be “kept in cold storage.” Abdullah claimed that the Indian government wasted two years on Kashmir issue when Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf was in command. He added that the issue would not be solved at the level of foreign secretary-level talks saying that it could be solved only when the two sides resume a constant dialogue at the higher levels.

The National Conference is also looking forward for a Third Front as a “balancing force” between the Congress and the BJP ahead of the next general elections to defeat communal forces. The NC was an ally of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre though it had later distanced itself from alliance parties. The NC has already indicated that the party that was relegated to the Opposition in 2002 Assembly elections after a gap of 27 years, would go alone in the Assembly elections later this year, though it had alliance with the Congress for some time in the past.

This was made clear by Abdullah on the occasion when two senior leaders, one of them a former NC legislator, among six persons returned to the party fold after shifting from the ruling PDP. Those who returned to the party included its former legislator Sadiq Ali and a district president of the ruling PDP Sheikh Abdul Rahman.

“We want the Third Front to be a balancing force between the Congress and the BJP. So when the elections are there the Third Front is strong enough to defeat communal forces,” he said. He also added that the Left Parties, the CPI and the CPM were “unhappy with the UPA” and were looking for a proper time to leave the alliance. They wanted to distance themselves from the Congress and at the same time avoid the BJP to come to the fore.

Udhampur, March 10
Even as the district administration has been trying to persuade Hindu organisations to call off Tuesday's strike call, Muslims of Kishtwar town have come forward to join hands with their Hindu brethren in their struggle for the renovation of the damaged historical temples.

Exhibiting communal harmony and brotherhood, Muslim traders and organisations have extended full support to the bandh call given by some Hindu organisations on Tuesday to lodge protest against damage of two historical temples in the Varindabal area of Kishtwar. "Our Muslim brothers have also offered support to our strike call", said Brij Mohan Dubey, district president of the Sanatan Dharam Sabha.

Hindu organisations, while giving a bandh call two days back, had appealed to all communities to support their just and genuine cause. Responding to their call, Muslims traders and activists of some political groups have extended support to the ongoing stir of Hindu organisations.

Bhartiya Janta Party and Sanatham Dharam Saba has given Kishtwar bandh call for Tuesday in protest against the damage to historical temples.

Sanatham Dharam Sabha district president alleged that the GRIEF authorities, despite several requests, have failed to repair the historical temples at Vindrabal on Kishtwar-Chatroo Highway which has created great resentment in the community in the entire district.

"One of the temples is more than 200-year-old and some imprints of Mahabharata's time are also clearly visible in the temple", Dubay said and added that the GRIEF authorities during the expansion work of national highway had blasted a big boulder on the highway, which led to damage to the temples," he said.

Mendhar (Poonch), March 10
Those who feel that the inter-caste marriages are hard to materialise amongst Hindus are wrong as here in this border township, the marriages among different castes amongst Muslims too face stiff opposition from society.

Amongst the Hindus, Brahmans cannot marry Rajputs, Shatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras and can tie a knot with the Brahmans only. Similar is the case with other castes.

However, interestingly, the marriages between different castes amongst the Muslims also face hardships in this border township because of rigid caste system. Even the couple that wishes to tie the knot has to feel the heat and most of the times simply give up.

The inter-caste marriages amongst Chauhan, Manhas, and Manyal to Qureshi, Teli and Khokhar Rajputs are not welcome in society here and the couples wishing to enter wedlock face stiff resistance with deep-rooted caste system in society.

“It is not that the caste system is rigid amongst the Hindus, but even in our area, it is deep-rooted amongst us also,” said Tehseen Ahmed, a resident.

“Such marriages, involving boy and girl from different castes, hardly materialise in our society because of social stigma associated with them. There have been cases where the couple has to take extreme steps on not being allowed to marry.”

“Caste polarisation, which I find in Rajouri and Poonch, has rarely been seen elsewhere. Leave aside the inter-caste marriages, there are problems within the sub-castes of a particular caste among the Muslims,” said Zaffar Chowdhary, a resident and a journalist who has worked on the identities of Rajouri and Poonch.

Udhampur, March 10
To educate farmers about various schemes on latest trends in agriculture, the Agriculture Department, Udhampur organised an awareness camp, especially for the farmers belonging to Gujjar and Bakarwal community, under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) at Chadwa village near Mansar.

Speaking on the occasion, Director, Agriculture, gave details about various schemes of agriculture launched by the Centre and the state government, especially designed for the benefit of farming community and exhorted farmers to drive maximum benefit out of such schemes.

Experts of the department, Udhampur, delivered lectures on new technologies. As many as 100 farmers participated in the camp.

Lauding the efforts of the department in educating the farmers about the latest technologies being implemented in the fields, . Harsh Dev Singh, MLA, Ramnagar, said such efforts would go a long way in boosting the agriculture production in the district.

Terming the agriculture as backbone of rural economy, he urged upon the farmers to update their knowledge about the new agricultural practices for supplementing their income. He hoped that the department would also organise such more camps in every nook and corner of the district for the benefit of the farmers. The MLA also distributed prizes among the best vegetable growers of the area.

Srinagar, March 10
The state police today said they had averted a probable tragedy by busting a hideout of the LeT, which was being used as a launchpad for its cadres, for carrying out fidayeen attacks.

Police sources said they received information that the house of one Nazir Ahmad Bhat, a tailor, was being used as a militant hideout. The hideout was carved out through a cupboard and concrete floor.

The police said they recovered police uniforms, six hand grenades, seven AK magazines, 200 rounds of AK ammunition, one 2”mortar besides, three sewing machines used for stitching uniforms. However, the militants were not present during the police raid.

The police said they had been receiving inputs that the LeT was planning a sensational fidayeen attack in Srinagar city. They said arms, ammunition and uniform to carry out the attacks were being transported from Kupwara-Handwara areas and was being stored on the periphery of Srinagar.

Jammu, March 10
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and member, Parliament, Mehbooba Mufti, has sought the extension of agriculture loan waiver facility, recently announced in the Union Budget, to the horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

The PDP president spoke to the Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram and the Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in this regard seeking their intervention in bringing the horticulturists from the state under the ambit of the agriculture loan waiver scheme.

Mufti said the horticulture sector was the mainstay of the state economy and due to recent heavy snowfall the orchards in Jammu and Kashmir had suffered extensive damages.

She said the agriculture loan waiver scheme would prove beneficial to the state only if it was extended to the horticulture sector.

According to an official party statement the union ministers have assured the PDP president that the relief given under the agriculture loan waiver scheme would be extended to Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu, March 10
Having stung the Congress by surprise by clinching the post of the city Mayor, the BJP today took out the victory procession across the city. The newly elected Mayor, Kavinder Gupta, was led in a long convoy of cars from the Brigadier Rajinder Singh Chowk to the Town Hall where for formally taking over the reins.

Earlier in the morning, an impressive car and scooter rally started from the party headquarters and reached the Brigadier Rajinder Singh Chowk, where hundreds of party activists, including corporators, joined the carvan of vehicles.

Sate BJP president Ashok Khajuria and party MLA Jugal Kishore Sharma along with Kavinder Gupta led the rally in an open vehicle, and after passing through main bazars, reached the Jammu Municipal Corporation premises.

On the way, they were accorded rousing receptions at different places by various market associations, including Parade, Raj Tilak Road, Purani Mandi, Old Hospital Road, City Chowk, Shalimar Road, Kanak Mandi, Rajinder Bazar, Shaheedi Chowk, Residency Road, Raghunath Mandir and Hari Market.

At the Town Hall, outgoing Mayor Narinder Singh and JMC commissioner Vinod Gupta received Kavinder Gupta and escorted him to the chair of Mayor.

Khajuria, while congratulating Gupta on assuming the chair of Mayor for the second time, said the policies of the Congress-led coalition towards Jammu were exposed and everybody united to defeat the Congress, PDP, NC and all such parties which had no concern for the Jammu.

Taking a dig at the government for rehabilitating the families of slain militants, he said, “The families of the slain militants are more dear to the state as well as the Central government and the nationalist people have no place in their scheme of things.”

He also assured the BJP’s full support to the “genuine demands” of striking SRTC employees and those of clerical cadre and impressed upon immediate fulfilment of their demands.

He said the coming elections would prove to be waterloo for the Congress and the BJP would play a decisive role in government formation in the state.

In his first address to party activists and mediapersons, Gupta said he was committed for the overall development of Jammu city. “My work should bring respect to the party and the chair, and for that I need cooperation of all corporators irrespective of their political affiliations”, he said.

Gupta asked the state government to be impartial in allocating funds for the JMC so that the corporation is in a position to take up the development-related works and complete in time.

Jammu, March 10
Minister for social welfare and senior vice-president of the Pradesh Congress Committee Abdul Gani Vakil appears to have exceeded his brief while speaking about the coalition partner, the People’s Democratic Party.

Vakil, a close confidante of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was reportedly critical of the PDP in his statements during his recent tour of Kashmir. Obviously, this was not liked by the PDP, which registered a strong protest, prompting the Chief Minister to issue strict directions to all leaders, including ministers and legislators not to speak on the issue.

The Chief Minister barred the party leaders from speaking anything on the issue of party’s electoral alliance with any political party. He said nobody had been authorised to speak on the issue and warned that he would take serious note against those making such statements.

Vakil’s recent statements in the valley targeting the PDP have already led to considerable confusion among the alliance partners. Particularly, when Vakil is thought to be speaking on behalf of his mentor and leader Azad.

Azad is not known to have enjoyed or been enjoying cordial relationships with the PDP. But he has never gone public on the issue. And when Saif-ud-din Soz was appointed the PCC president, it became clear that this was being done to keep the alliance partner in good humour ahead of the elections in the state.

Vakil owes his phenomenal rise in politics to Azad only. It was because of Azad that he was appointed as a cabinet minister. Vakil remained camped in New Delhi during the finalisation of the name of the PCC president, strongly lobbying for Azad. His statements, which were supposedly critical of the PDP, were understandably directly attributed to Azad, who has rightly tried to set the record straight by making it clear that nobody has been authorised to speak on the issue of coalition.

Jammu, March 10
The Jammu and Kashmir State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, headed by Justice G.D. Sharma (Retd.) and Khalid Hussain, have directed the National Insurance Co. Ltd to reimburse loss of insured’s stock in trade valuing of Rs 8 lakh along with interest at 8 per cent per annum from January 28, 1991, (date of loss) till the final payment is made.

Poshkar Nath Pandita, before his forcible migration from Anantnag town (Kashmir valley) in 1990 was running his trade business by selling cloth and other articles in his firm. The stocks of trade were insured for Rs 8 lakh covering November 26, 1990, to November 25, 1991, as the period of insurance. During subsistence of insurance policy, his shop was ransacked and looted by anti-national elements on January 28, 1991. On receiving information about the alleged loss, a complaint was lodged with the DIG, Jammu, on February 2, 1991, and National Insurance Co. Ltd was requested to appoint loss assessor and surveyor.

Poshkar Nath Pandita finally took courage to personally visit Chief Judicial Magistrate, Anantnag’s Court to seek judicial intervention for the registration of an FIR. The lackadaisical and recalcitrant approached by the National Insurance Co. Ltd forced him to file a complaint before the Jammu and Kashmir State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on July 25, 1995, wherein the insurer took categorical objections that insured failed to produce an FIR and final investigation report made by the police station, Anantnag, resulting into dismissal of the complaint. However, the order of commission was set aside by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directing the commission to appreciate and decide the matter afresh on the basis of evidence.

The commission after thoughtfully considering rival contentions of counsel for parties allowed the complaint, while observing that “As this was a case of failure to discharge contractual obligation so it amounted to “deficiency in service”. It has been established that the insurer committed gross negligence for not getting loss assessed from the recognised surveyor after claim was raised before it. In this view, we accept the appeal.”

The commission further directed the National Insurance Co. Ltd. to pay Rs 6,000 as litigation expenses to the complainant for dragging him to unwanted litigation.

Jammu, March 10
The bustling markets and streets of Jammu city are plagued by encroachments by shopkeepers and haphazardly parked vehicles on roadsides which have added to the misery of pedestrians.

Shopkeepers in almost every market have illegally occupied a majority of the portion of the footpath by placing their items on it, making pedestrian movements difficult. “You enter any market and you would see that shopkeepers have encroached upon a majority of the footpath by placing their items on it,”said Manish Kumar, a local resident.

Adding he said, “The practise of encroaching upon public property creates lots of problems for the common man as it becomes difficult for people like us to walk on these footpaths.” Residents in the city rue that the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) should take stringent measures to remove such encroachments so that the common people did not face problems.

Adding to the woes are the haphazardly parked vehicles on the roadsides especially the big shops, converting the roadside virtually into a parking lot.

The haphazardly parked vehicles not only create pedestrian movement difficult but also are responsible for traffic jams. “People don’t follow traffic rules, the lanes and by-lanes of Jammu markets are narrow, but still people bring their vehicles here and park them haphazardly. Even the traffic police have placed no-entry sign boards but nobody obeys these rules,” said Pawan Kumar, a local shopkeeper in the busy Hari Market locality of Jammu.

Shopkeepers, however, say they cannot be held responsible for the haphazardly parked vehicles as it becomes the duty of the civic authorities to provide proper parking space to the people who bring their vehicles with them for shopping.

Be it the haphazardly parked vehicles or the space encroached upon by the shopkeepers, the common man is at the receiving end, who has to face various hardships.

Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact the newly elected mayor of the JMC to comment proved futile as he was busy celebrating his victory.