Jammu, March 15
Within two days of cancellation of class 8th examinations owing to leakage of papers, the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education had to cancel the life science (biology) paper of ongoing matriculation examination today as reports came in that the question paper was already available in the market.

On March 13, the State Board of School Education canceled the examination of class 8th as the question papers were already being sold in the market for Rs 1,000. The sources told The Tribune, that today’s paper was being sold at Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 at various places.

The last moment news about the cancellation came as a shock for 49,069 class 10th students, who were already seated in their respective centers and were waiting for the distribution of the question and answer sheets.

According to the sources, the officials of the State Board of School Education came to know that the question papers were already on sale in the border district of Reasi.

Highly placed sources in the board told The Tribune that a similar complain was received by the board officials two days ago about the leakage of physics and chemistry paper, but no action was taken as the examination had started.

The news of the cancellation of the examination forced these students, in 526 centers spread in the region, to protest outside the board premises in Jammu.

“They are spoiling our career; this is not for the first time that a question paper had been leaked. Is our state board of school education not competent enough to check such type of leakage of the papers,” asked student Ankit Gupta.

He said, “We demand that stringent action should be taken against anyone involved in such type of leakage, this spoils the career of thousands of students. Those who purchase these question papers score more than those who spend complete year on preparation for the examination.”

Speaking to The Tribune, secretary of the State Board of School Education Veena Rajput, said, “We have taken the issue very seriously and a committee of three joint secretaries of the board has already been constituted to ascertain the truth behind the leakage.”

She said, “The chairman of the State Board of School Education received a call in the morning from the police saying that they have the information about the paper leakage, so we immediately decided to cancel today’s examination.”

When asked about the news about the leakage of physics and chemistry paper of class 10th two days ago, the secretary said, “I am not in a position to recollect it.” She said the board has decided to reschedule today’s examination for March 29.

Jammu, March 15
The Vigilance Organisation has registered a case against former education minister Peerzada Mohd Sayeed on the basis of a complaint filed by an independent MLA Shoaib Lone.

Lone had alleged that Peerzada had accepted Rs 40,000 for clearing a file pertained to his brother-in-law, who had applied for permission for opening elementary teachers training course.

Though Peerzada had vehemently denied the allegation on the floor of the House, in mid January, the case was referred to the Vigilance Organisation after Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s assured of a fair probe.

Following this, Peerzada was made to resign from his cabinet and the PCC president posts to facilitate impartial inquiry.

Official sources said here today that the vigilance sleuths have started questioning Shoaib Lone and the driver who was alleged to have been a conduit between the former minister and the complainant.

The sources said so far “we have not received any documentary evidence to prove that money was charged by the minister.”

The sources said without any documentary evidence it would be difficult to say whether the complaint made by Shoaib Lone was genuine.

“We will be questioning more people and once some documentary evidence was available with the vigilance organization, a report will be submitted to the state government.”

Asked when shall the report be submitted, a senior official of the Vigilance Organisation said, “Nothing definite can be said. The submission of the report will depend on the availability of some documentary evidence.”

Srinagar, March 15
In view of the improved security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the government is hopeful of more foreign investments in various areas like hydro electricity, financial services and offshore banking to boost its economy.

The state has made its intention clear to a group of world’s leading financial investors including those from the US and UK, who are currently on a two-day visit to Kashmir to look for investment opportunities here.

Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who met the representatives of the foreign investors here last evening, briefed them about the improved security scenario in the state, especially in Kashmir, and told them that areas like hydro electricity, financial services and offshore banking offered great opportunities for investment here.

He said the state was safe for investment and he looked forward to their
positive response.

The group comprised investors from the US and the UK including Capital Group, Fidelity, First State Investors and Federated Investors, collectively controlling businesses worth $ 30 trillion around the globe.

During their meeting with the Chief Minister, the representatives discussed some potential areas for investment. Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, minister for finance Tariq Hameed Karra and economic advisor to the state government and chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Dr Haseeb Drabu also joined the interactive session with the visiting investors, an official spokesman said.

The group appreciated the efforts of the government towards development and peace process. During the next six to seven months, they would be firming up their plan and drafting a blue print on how foreign investors could participate in the development of the state.

Talking about the visit of the foreign investors to Kashmir, Dr Haseeb Drabu said that they were on tour of the country and had already visited Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin and Kolkata before coming here.

He said the purpose of their visit was to explore the potential of investment in the states they were visiting. He said they were the world’s largest fund managers who had meetings here.

He said they also discussed setting up of international financial centre to facilitate financial investment in the development of the state. He described their response as encouraging.

Srinagar, March 15
Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah’s remarks on Muslims and militants in a recent interview have sparked a virtual war of words between the People’s Democratic Party and the National Conference.

Condemning Farooq’s views, the PDP general secretary and MLC Nizam-u-Din Bhat has said it was very obvious that all kinds of people indulge in violent campaigns and one doesn’t have to cite the examples.

During an interview with a news channel, Dr Farooq stressed repeatedly that no subscriber of any other faith indulge in militancy and it was only Muslims who carried out the acts of terror, informed Bhat.

According to a PDP spokesman, Bhat has held that Farooq Abdullah disagreed with the contention of the interviewer that militancy had no religion.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said, is on record of having stated that the biggest threat that the country faces is from Naxilism and that has nothing to do with Islam, Bhat has said.

The PDP general secretary said grown in a liberal society Dr Farooq Abdullah has developed a mindset in apportioning all the blame for militancy to Muslims. But, he wondered whether Farooq still a Muslim, would consider himself a militant or not.

Referring to Farooq Abdullah’s another observation that the public representatives of the state were having militant connections, Bhat said it had become obsession with the NC patron to level false and unfound allegations in general terms against the elected representatives of the people.

“In fact he is scared by the prospect of another electoral debacle in the ensuing elections and is now trying to dub his rivals as militants. This is an old tactics of the NC, which has failed in the past and has no chance of success in future,” Bhat said.

Reacting to this, a spokesman of the National Conference here today denied the reports that Farooq Abdullah had said Mulsims were terrorists. He added that such allegations of the PDP were baseless and in fact the former chief minister had in the course of his interview said because of the acts of some misguided Muslim youth all of them were being branded as terrorists.

Surankote, March 15
He always wanted to be a singer but unfortunately landed up in the wrong hands. Made to shed his peaceful way of life, 24-year-old Javed Iqbal turned a militant in Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit.

But one thing he knew that he has not taken birth to spread terror. Javed was forced by a Surankote-based area commander of LeT, Abu Walid, in September 2001 to join the outfit and underwent arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for five months.

However, immediately after crossing over to this side in February 2002, he surrendered before the police. He even handed over the Pika gun, which was to be used for killing people.

Now Javed Iqbal, a special police officer with the local police here, not only helps his country by wielding gun against the militants but also invites the misguided youths to give up the path of violence through his singing.

“I have seen it all. When I was forced to join militancy, I never thought that I would use arms against my own people. Five months of training never changed my feelings towards my people and even as I was there in PoK receiving training I used to sing local songs of peace in my area,” says Javed, a resident of Dodi here.

“When I returned, fed up with them, I decided to give up the gun and instead defend my country. I thought I could really make a difference for peace in my area through singing. I, through my songs, am not only making efforts to bring the misguided youth back to mainstream but also trying to prevent others from falling prey to their (militants) nefarious designs,” he adds.

This former militant-turned-SPO and singer who sings in Gojri and Pahari languages has four music albums to his kitty.

In one of the albums, Udh Ja Kabutra-highlights the pain and agony of separation from his native land and also brings to fore the exploitation that a misguided youth has to suffer at the hands of “terror spreading masters” on the other side of LoC.

Preebet Singh Parihar, sub-divisional police officer, Surankote, said Javed was doing good service for the department and even greater for the nation by inviting the misguided youth to give up gun and join the mainstream.

Jammu, March 15
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is hopeful of winning the maximum number of seats and forming the next state government.

The party is hopeful of emerging victorious in the state like it did in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

State leaders of the BSP today celebrated the 74th birth anniversary of Kanshi Ram, the party’s founder leader, in Jammu.

The leaders expressed hope that the party would get a simple majority in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

“People have realised that the BSP is the real voice of the downtrodden section of the society. As a result, people in large numbers are coming forward to join our party,” Bhagwan Singh Chowhan, area coordinator of the BSP, said.

Adding he said, “Under the Mayawati’s leadership, we are hopeful to form the next government in the state.” He added that Uttar Pradesh had prospered under Chief Minister Mayawati’s rule.

While speaking on Kanshi Ram, Chowhan said, “Throughout his life, he worked for the downtrodden and weaker sections of the society. He even rejected the offer of becoming India’s president as he felt becoming the president would create hindrance in his work for the welfare of the weaker sections.”

It criticised the organisers of the conclave in New Delhi for inviting a "dreaded terrorist", Yaseen Malik, to address the conclave as a youth icon.

Jammu, March 15
Even after protesting outside the office of the divisional commissioner, Jammu, for 80 days, the demand of Doda migrants for a relief package stands unfulfilled.

Today, these migrants came out on the streets to protest for their demands. The migrants said they were victims of militancy and had to leave everything behind as they migrated to Jammu to save their lives.

“To save our lives, we either had to take to guns against our own country or had to leave everything behind and migrate to Jammu. So we opted for the latter in the hope that our gesture would be appreciated by the government, but here we stand a neglected lot as nobody is addressing our woes,” said Abdul Rasheed, a protesting Doda migrant.

Protesting migrants demanded a relief and rehabilitation package similar to the one given to Kashmiri Pandits.

“We don’t know why the government has adopted double standards. We are also victims of terrorism as Kashmiri Pandits. Then why are we being denied of relief benefits given to them,” said another protesting migrant.

The migrants blamed the state government for harbouring terrorism in the state by giving pension and other allowances to terrorists and neglecting them.

“Those who took to guns against India are enjoying pension and other allowances, whereas those who became their victims have been ignored. For the past so many years, we have been moving from pillar to post, but the government has always neglected us,” said Pawan Kumar, a protesting migrant.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court in its ruling had asked the government to provide relief and rehabilitation to the Doda migrants on similar lines as given to Kashmiri migrants.

Srinagar, March 15
The Crime Branch of the state police has registered case against three persons, including a bank manager for fraudulently drawing a car loan of Rs 3 lakh, while it presented a charge sheet before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

An official spokesman said one Irshad Ahmad Bhat applied to the branch manager, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Humhama, for car loan in January, 2003. In the process of completing the bank formalities, one Mohammad Qasim Lone was shown as the guarantor without his contest and knowledge.

But, in place of Mohammad Qasim, one Tufail Ahmed presented himself as the guarantor for facilitating the sanction of loan by resorting to an act of impersonation.

The concerned branch manager, despite knowing the said impersonator, accepted him as the guarantor in place of Mohammad Qasim for fulfilling the bank documentation for the sake of a mere formality and as such completed the act of fraud infringing the state exchequer.

Subsequently, the so called loaner produced a fake insurance cover note and certificate of registration attributing the said number to an Alto car which in fact happened to be the registration number of a tipper.

The conspiracy hatched by these three accused persons facilitated the fraudulent drawl of an amount of Rs 3 lakh subjecting the bank to complete loss.

Srinagar, March 15
Concerned over the dwindling number of royal Chinar trees in Kashmir,
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged people and institutions to plant
these trees on a major scale.

The day, observed as the Chinar Plantation Day in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister planted several chinar saplings on the foreshore road along the Dal Lake and Kashmir University campus.

According to the Chief Minister, chinar was the prominent representation of Kashmir's cultural landscape, which had come to be used as a synonym of the valley.

He described the decrease in number as a serious matter and urged people and institutions to plant chinars wherever sufficient land was available.

He said at present there were only about 40,000 chinars left in Kashmir of which majority was old.

About 7,000 chinars were 400 years or more old while another 10,000 were 300 years old, he added.

Azad said chinar plantation was taken up simultaneously today in all the districts of the valley. The Floriculture Department supplied chinar saplings to all the deputy commissioners while, on the instructions of the Chief Minister, 1,000 saplings were sent to Jammu for plantation 
in the division.

At the Kashmir University campus, the Chief Minister interacted with the faculty. He expressed dismay over the increasing number of concrete structures in the campus and compared it with the older times when the university campus was considered as the best in the country.

He called for immediate halt to more constructions on the campus upon which vice-chancellor Riyaz Punjabi assured him that he would issue a notification in this regard.

Prof Punjabi told the Chief Minister that the Naseem Bagh campus of the university was being declared as a heritage site.

The campus has large groves of magnificent chinars believed to have been planted by Mughal ruler, Shah Jahan, who is also said to irrigate these with milk.