Jammu, April 14
The issue whether the Congress will go alone in the ensuing Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir or in alliance with the PDP will be decided at a meeting between Sonia Gandhi, AICC chief, and Mufti Mohd Sayeed, patron of the PDP, which has been sharing power with the Congress during the past five years.

When a senior PDP leader was asked whether his party will contest the next election on its own or in alliance with the Congress he said the matter would be discussed between the Congress high command and the Muftis.

A Congress legislator said that majority of leaders of the state unit of the party were opposed to contesting elections in alliance with the PDP.

Those in the Congress who oppose going to the polls in alliance with the PDP say that the PDP's ideology, slogans and demands could affect the Congress in the Jammu region from where it had won 15 seats in 2002 poll.

In the PDP the opinion is divided. One set of the leaders argue that contesting the election in alliance with the Congress will prevent pro-coalition government vote bank from splitting.

They say that once the pro-ruling coalition votes split, the National Conference could gain advantage.

Those in the PDP who oppose alliance with the Congress say that if the two go to the polls together the PDP would not be able to field party candidates from all the 46 constituencies in the Kashmir valley.

Also, the Congress stand on demilitarisation and dual control could affect the PDP's chances in the valley.

However, some senior congress leaders in Jammu,including two MLAs,who did not wish to be identified, said that hitherto Sonia Gandhi has favoured the present political arrangement to continue when the relations between the PDP and the Congress unit in the state were on the verge of a rupture on several occasions.

They said that she may not favour distancing Mufti Mohd. Sayeed and instead support a secret electoral understanding between the two.

If that arrangement worked the PDP could field dummy candidates in the Congress stronghold and vice versa.

This arrangement could leave majority of 37 constituencies in the Jammu region open for the Congress to contest and majority of constituencies in the Kashmir valley, which has 46 seats, open for the PDP.

The PDP had won 16 seats from the Kashmir valley in 2002 election and none from the Jammu region.

Some of the senior Congressmen, including Abdul Gani Vakil PCC vice-president and Social Welfare Minister,considered to be a close confident of Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has already announced during series of recent public rallies in Kashmir that the Congress will go alone in the next election.

Jammu, April 14
Being projected as a movement of poor and downtrodden strata of the society, the newly formed National Bahujan Party (NBP), though would contest on all the 87 assembly seats in the upcoming polls but would support the party exclusively devoted to the cause of neglected lot.

It may be mentioned here that one of the founder members of Bahujan Samaj Party and former state BSP president Dr Satpal was expelled by Mayawati for his alleged “anti-party” activities last year.

Since then Dr Satpal had been striving to bring BSP’s other rebel leaders from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab under one umbrella.

Finally his hard toil paid some dividends with a maiden rally addressed by former MP and grandson of DR Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar at Parade Ground here today.

In his address Prakash Ambedkar said that NBP would support a party which considers poor and downtrodden people as supreme than anything else.

Expressing regrets over moral degradation of political parties and leaders, judiciary and media in the country, he said the three important pillars of society did not carry trust of the people anymore.

Ambedkar said, “After independence the spirit of nationalism gradually subsided paving way for evils like casteism because of increasing poverty.”

The alarming situation can be gauged by the fact that even Prime Minister in the recent past admitted that 180 districts of the country faced law and order problems.

He said considering miserable plight of such people, the NBP would support that party which held supreme the interests of neglected lot.

The NBP national president KK Manhotra, who also addressed the rally, announced that in the upcoming polls the NBP would contest all the 87 assembly seats.

Former BSP MLA from Kathua district, Sagar Chand also lashed out at the BSP chief Mayawati in his addressed accusing her of issuing party tickets to the candidates for assembly polls in lieu of hefty sum of money running over Rs 20 lakh.

However, Dr Satpal, the man behind the NBP, didn’t train his guns on Mayawati and asked the people to support the party. Around 3,500 people from different places of the Jammu region attended the rally.

Jammu, April 14
A special team of the Jammu Kashmir Police that claimed to have solved Captain Megha Razdan’s case, returned today from Pune after questioning Megha’s husband Captain Chaitanaya Bhatwadekar’s childhood girlfriend, a computer professional in Pune’s suburb.

However, official sources said, the special team headed by a sub-inspector from Gangyal Police Station had also brought the girl, who has been identified as Seema Kulkarni.

The body of Captain Megha, (26) was found hanging from the ceiling of her official residence in Kunjwani on July 1, 2008.

On April 2 this year, the police formally arrested Bhatwadekar, for abetting his wife to commit suicide.

A senior police officer said, “The police team, which had left for Pune last Sunday, returned this afternoon after questioning the girl.”

He, however, claimed that the girl had not been brought to Jammu. But sources said, the girl identified as Seema Kulkarni, a computer professional, was brought here this afternoon by a special team headed by sub-inspector Javed.

The team had left Jammu on April 6 after a totally baffled Jammu Police in a step-by-step, worked out the case in nine months.

The team in its week-long stay at Pune got some vital clues about the case and informed the higher officials here, who instructed it to bring the girl to Jammu for further investigations, the sources added.

Sources further said Megha’s husband had been under constant surveillance ever since Megha’s body was found hanging from a ceiling under mysterious circumstances at her official residence, adding he had also enacted a drama to mislead the police when some “unidentified” assailants had waylaid him and attempted to slit his tongue with a razor.

The sources divulged that Megha was under stress after she came to know about her husband’s extra-marital affair. Ironically, both Megha and Bhatwadekar had been in love with each other and then they had tied the nuptial knot.

Jammu, April 14
Justice J.P. Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, while deciding a substantial question of law dismissed criminal acquittal appeal of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, filed against judgment of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu’s order of January 18, 2002, acquitting the accused of charges framed under Sections 324,323 and 34 of the RPC.

The prosecution alleged that the complainant had come to Vyas Chander’s shop to purchase a “Hero” bicycle for Rs 1,400 and had told him to keep the bicycle ready, which he would buy on his way back.

The complainant, on his return after about 20 minutes, noticed that the respondent had not fitted quality accessories. He accordingly told him to remove the pillion seat.

The complainant, despite the accused’s removing the pillion seat, did not agree to purchase bicycle and it is then that the respondent started abusing him.

His son Pardeep Kumar, accompanied by his other son, attacked him with fists and blows. Pardeep hit him with a tyre rod on his head and the complainant received severe head injuries.

The respondents were charged under Sections 323/324/34 RPC on their seeking trial, but were accordingly acquitted by trial Court because of infirmities noticed in prosecution evidence and its case.

B.S. Slathia, AAG appearing for the State submitted that the trial Court had committed an error of law in acquitting the accused merely on the ground that he had found some contradictions in version given by witnesses in their statement under Section 161 of the CrPC.

B.B. Kotwal, Advocate for the accused, on the other hand, justified the acquittal of the respondents on the ground that the prosecution evidence, when read as a whole demonstrated that the prosecution case was full of unexplained contradictions and unworthy of credence.

The HC, while dismissing criminal appeal filed by State, observed that “Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate had found prosecution evidence to be suffering from material contradictions as the story projected by prosecution witnesses in Court was an exaggerated version of occurrence, which they had projected in their statements under Section 161 of the CrPC. Story of exhortation projected by prosecution during currency of trial was no where to be found either in First Information Report or in statements recorded during investigation of the case.”

Jammu, April 14
The First Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI), one of the oldest units of the Indian Army, celebrated its Diamond Jubilee here today.

As a part of the celebrations, a first day cover, commemorating the battalion, was released by Jammu chief postmaster-general D K Vudki and General Officer Commanding 10 Infantry Division Maj-Gen A. K. Malik.

A solemn ceremony to honour the battalion’s martyrs, including Rifleman Mohamad Iqbal and Rifleman Janak Singh, both of whom were decorated with the Vir Chakra was also organised.

They hailed from Rajouri and Reasi respectively. War widows were also honoured on the occasion.

A major attraction was the launch of a hot air ballooning expedition, which was the hot favourite among school students, from the BSF stadium at Phalour. A large number of ex-servicemen were also present at the event.

1 JAK LI was the Army’s first unit to be raised post-independence. Having deep roots in Jammu and Kashmir, it was once a part of the J&K state forces.

Raised on April 15, 1948, as a volunteer force during the days of cross-border raids into J&K, it was then known as the First Jammu and Kashmir Militia Force.

The force had drawn strength from late Sheikh Mohamad Abdullah, who had galvanised the “sons of the soil” from all castes and religions of the state. The battalion thus came to be known as theSher-e-Kashmir.

Jammu, April 14
Ousted at the Centre in May, 2004 the BJP has embarked upon on a survey to be conducted at the national level, to evolve a foolproof strategy to win back the Lok Sabha elections which the saffron brigade lost with a ‘marginal’ difference.

The party had lost the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat to the Congress, while the National Conference, had also caved in before the Congress.

Addressing mediapersons here today, national secretary of the BJP, Kiran Ghai said, “The party high command has framed a 54-member team to visit the Lok Sabha constituencies where the BJP despite being preferred by the people, lost with narrow margins.”

Kiran said, “There were a total of 297 Lok Sabha seats where the BJP had been winning quite often. Today the party has 138 seats with it and hence the party high command in the backdrop of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls has decided to take feedback from grass-root workers about the remaining 159 seats.”

She said subsequently a detailed report would be submitted to the party so as to explore the possibility for winning back the lost seats in the coming elections.

Ghai exuded confidence that the BJP would form the next government and that L.K. Advani would be the Prime Minister.

She rejected charges put up by the Congress that the BJP had created roadblocks in a Bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in the Parliament.

She also expressed sorrow over the AICC chief, Sonia Gandhi’s, silence on inflation and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s proposal of dual control over the state.

Jammu, April 14
Despite the Congress-led coalition government’s ‘revolution’ in the health sector, the miniscule post-graduate (PG) faculty at the only Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in the winter capital continues to take a toll on psychiatric patients.

The hospital has three PG doctors in psychiatry, out of whom one usually remains on leave and the remaining two have to examine over 250 patients at the hospital OPD daily.

The hospital had come up during late 60s but hitherto successive regimes for reasons inexplicable could not introduce the PG faculty.

Official sources told The Tribune that the Medical Council of India in its latest communiqué has once again asked the state health department to introduce the PG faculty.

When contacted, a senior official of the state health department admitted that government over the years could not get PG faculty at the hospital but cited the dearth of qualified psychiatrists in the state as a reason for the major lacuna.

However, a senior psychiatrist said that in absence of the PG faculty, patients were deprived of adequate treatment that too when protracted militancy continues to affect the mental health of the people.

“Due to militancy, patients having symptoms of psychiatric diseases like anxiety, phobia, reactive depression and post-traumatic stress disorder have increased manifold,” he said.

He said that 25 per cent of people in Jammu region, particularly from militancy infested areas like Poonch, Rajouri, Doda and Udhampur suffer from psychiatric disorders.

“Had the government introduced PG faculty, things would have been certainly different today,” he said.

Sources said that last year, a team from Medical Council of India had visited the 75-bedded hospital and had given consent to starting the PG faculty but the state health department could not complete the requisite formalities.

Considering the heavy influx of both OPD and in-hospital patients, the absence of PG faculty is a grave injustice to mentally-ill persons, they added.

The nonchalant attitude of the state government towards the psychiatric patients could be gauged from the fact that an amount of Rs 1.48 crore sanctioned by the Centre under district mental health programme remained unused for three years.

Udhampur, April 14
Ruling out a pre-poll alliance with any political party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today announced to contest elections on all 87 seats of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

The party has been working overtime to woo Gujjars, Bakerwals and other backward classes (OBCs) to penetrate into Doda district and Kashmir Valley where the BSP has no base.

Addressing a rally at Udhampur, which was organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, national general secretary and in charge of Jammu and Kashmir Narinder Kashyap made it clear that the BSP has almost finalised the process of selecting candidates for 87 seats of the Assembly.

“We have already announced the candidates for 20 seats, while names for the remaining seats will be made public very soon”, he said.

He also claimed that the party had received overwhelming response in Kashmir Valley as many prominent politicians had expressed their desire to contest on the BSP mandate.

“In the coming elections, we will open our account in all regions and sub-regions of the state as there is a strong wave in favour of the BSP in Jammu and Kashmir”, he claimed, adding, “Apart from the scheduled tribes, Gujjars and Bakerwals, a large number of people from other castes are also coming forward to join the BSP”.

He claimed that an Uttar Pradesh would be repeated in Jammu and Kashmir as the social-engineering concept of the party was becoming popular in this state too.

“The people are fed up with the NC, the Congress, the PDP, the BJP etc and only the BSP has been emerging as a political force in the whole state”, he claimed.

For the past six months, the BSP has been trying to implement its social engineering concept in Jammu and Kashmir too.

The party has already announced name of a Brahmin candidate for the Ramnagar seat of Udhampur district.

Ramnagar has been considered as a bastion of the Panthers Party and now the BSP has been trying to penetrate into this area by wooing the upper castes.

Similarly, the party has deputed some senior leaders to woo prominent Gujjars activists as the BSP has been contemplating to give mandates to the scheduled tribes in some seats of Doda district.

“We have so far succeeded in convincing many Gujjar leaders to join our party”, Yashpal Bhagat, state president of the BSP told the Tribune.

He sounded confident that the Gujjars and the Bakerwals would come in large number in favour of the BSP during the Assembly elections.

With a hope to make inroads in the Gujjar vote bank, the BSP has been openly opposing the ST status to ‘Paharias’.

While almost all political parties in the state have supported the ST status to ‘Paharias’, the BSP is the only party, which has opposed this demand.

In 2002 assembly elections, the BSP had won only one seat. That MLA too had later deserted the party to join the PDP.

Rajouri, April 14
Even as the state government makes tall claims of improving working conditions in government undertakings, workers involved in Kalakote and Mogla coal mines allege that they had not been paid their salaries for the past nine months.

The workers, who have been observing a hunger strike since April 9, alleged that the Coal Mines Corporation, a state government entity, had not taken the matter seriously.

The workers alleged that despite their repeated requests for the past few years, the corporation had failed to pay their salaries on a “regular basis”. They said during the past nine months, they had been paid intermittently for just three months.

More than 350 workers are employed in the coal mines. They are also seeking modern facilities, uniforms and residential accommodation from the state government.

Sources said 21 workers inside the Mogla mines had observed a hunger strike. The condition of 10 workers had deteriorated so far and two of them, Babu Lal and Ram Dev, had been admitted to the sub-district hospital at Sunderbani for treatment.

“We just want that our salaries should be paid on a regular basis. The corporation has never taken care of our demands and its attitude towards us is non-serious”, complained Ram Chander, a worker at the Mogla mine.

Meanwhile, managing director, S.S. Anand, admitted that the salary of the workers was pending. He said the backlog of pending salaries was only for the past five months.

“We don't have funds for paying the salaries but will pay the same when we get them. We have taken up the matter with the deputy commissioner who is monitoring the situation closely,” he added.

Srinagar, April 14
The former minister and expelled PDP leader Ghulam Hassan Mir is working out the constitution of a new political party that will be floated soon ahead of the Assembly elections due to be held later this year in Jammu and Kashmir.

The process of drafting the constitution has begun so that it is conveyed to the Election Commission of India well in time before the election process gets started in the state.

The new party will be an alternative to the two arch rival regional parties, the PDP and the opposition National conference, Mir opines, who is representing the Tangmarg constituency of Baramulla district in the state Assembly.

He is in touch with several “like minded” parties in garnering support for his new party, but he declined to identity these parties and political leaders, who may emerge on the political stage in the next elections.

The former tourism minister in Mufti-led coalition government had not been included in Azad’s Cabinet for his aspirations to get elevated to the higher position, while another senior member, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh had been assigned the top slot of the deputy Chief Minister.

Ghulam Hassan Mir was expelled from the PDP for his anti-party activities earlier this year. Though he has maintained that his was the real PDP as both the PDP and the National Conference were family centred parties.

Mir has another MLA and former minister Sarfaraz Khan by his side and has already launched an awareness campaign beginning from his home constituency of Tangmarg. “There are many friends who will be joining the party”, he told the Tribune here today.

He added that a four-member committee of senior members had been assigned with the job of suggesting a name for the new party and drafting its constitution.

The task will be completed soon so that the party initiates its activities, the former minister said.

The floating of a new party comes at a time when the state is only months ahead of the Assembly elections with the three major players, the ruling Congress and PDP, and the opposition National Conference.

The top leaders of the ruling PDP and the National Conference are already in the process of rejuvenating political activity across the state.

National Conference president and MP, Omar Abdullah had a public meeting at Dooru near Sopore in north Kashmir yesterday, that was followed by a workers meeting of the PDP in Sopore town a day earlier.

President Mehbooba Mufti chaired it. The PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has been touring different areas of the Jammu region to garner public support, while Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has his focus on infrastructure development across the state.

The Congress formally launched its campaign with the visit of president Sonia Gandhi in Jammu recently here.

Srinagar, April 14
More than 14,000 visitors have visited the Indira Gandhi Tulip Garden since it was thrown open to tourists by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on March 29.

In the past two weeks, besides, tourists and the VIPs, Bollywood director Raj Kanwar has been shooting his film “Sadiyan” here with his troupe.

The concerned officials of the Floriculture Department and the workforce continue to be on their toes maintaining the garden and entertaining the VIPs and the tourists.

“This is something new that could be seen only in films”, said Javed Ahmad, an official at the garden. It is another addition to the City of Sun, Srinagar, after the famous Mughal gardens - Nishat and Shalimar, he added.

During the first week, the number of daily visitors was around 1,000, but during the past few days, the number has increased, said Javed Ahmad.

“These days the daily number ranges between two to four thousands”, he said. “The foreigners are really happy to see the sprawling tulip garden with its bewitching beauty,” overlooking the Dal lake, he commented.

There are visitors from the USA, European countries, Thailand, Singapore and other countries, he said.

Many union ministers, leaders and senior officers of the central and state governments have been visiting the garden in the past two weeks.

Lately Union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav too was here with his family. The garden will help boost tourism.

Bollywood too is making a beeline for film shootings here as many enquiries have been made recently, and some of them are expected to come here within the next two weeks.

Bollywood’s love affair with Kashmir had come to a halt with eruption of militancy in the valley. Actor, Anupam Kher was here for about a month last year in south Kashmir.

It all began with Rattan Iran’s “Meray Apnay” when veteran, Amrish Puri and Mayuri Kango shot for the film in 1999. However, the movie has been shelved.

In 1990, all cinema halls had been shut due to militancy in the valley, and now a cinema hall has been re-started a couple of years ago.

Over the years, the only film known to have been shot in the valley was “Mann”. It was shot in the snowy slopes of Gulmarg starring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala.

Since the tulips begin blooming by March end, the recent rains have added to the beauty of the garden.

Jammu, April 14
In the election this year, the BJP has several cards up its sleeves in the form of constantly rising inflation, unemployment and proposals like self-rule, dual control over Jammu and Kashmir besides, greater autonomy to woo the people.

Addressing mediapersons here yesterday, BJP state spokesperson Ramesh Arora appealed to the people to grab the opportunity so as to show door to the parties responsible for their “miserable plight”.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir have got a golden opportunity to vote the parties out of power, who are responsible for their miseries,” he said.

He said if people goofed up this time, then they would have to suffer more for the next six years.

He said the PDP and the National Conference (NC) should be exposed for inimical proposals like demilitarisation, joint currency of India and Pakistan, joint power-sharing formula and greater autonomy.

Lashing out at the Congress-led UPA government for rising inflation, Arora said during the NDA government, inflation was up to 3.8 per cent maximum but it had crossed 7.6 per cent under the UPA government.

He said the Congress was hand-in-glove with big business houses and had lost control over growth rate and price hike.

Referring to AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s visit to the temple city yesterday, he said she didn’t utter a single word about price rise.

“In fact, the Congress in the state as well as at the Centre has miserably failed on the economic front,” he added.

He also referred to the withdrawal of the central excise refund package to the industries in the state, which he said had sounded a death-knell to the entire process of industrialisation.

“Approximately 430 industrial units with an investment of over Rs 3,000 crore would be closed due to this unwise and autocratic decision,” he said, adding, “Announced in 2002, the industrial incentive had to last till 2012.”

These pre-fabricated huts would be given on contract to private parties, preference to be given to local people, for running the affairs in those huts. In return, the board will receive commission from the contractors.