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Ceasefire Violations
Ceasefire violation gives residents nightmares
Doctors go on strike
Doctors protesting in support of their demands at Gandhi Nagar Hospital in Jammu on Tuesday. A Tribune photo
President to tour state from Friday
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Karra’s allegations stun police, admn
Police prevents migrants from crossing over to Pak
Govt Claims Fall Flat
Beware tourists, it’s
houseful in valley
ReT teachers take out rally
PM assures Shah of free and fair polls
Residents seek deployment of more buses
Vegetable, fruit shops remain shut
Air Marshal to visit Srinagar
BJP alleges bias towards Jammu varsity
NC victory a tactic: Cong
LeT militant killed
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Army moves reserved battalions near LoC
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria Tribune News Service
Jammu, May 20 Highly-placed sources in the Defence Ministry told The Tribune that the Army had enforced reserved battalions on war-time positions all along the LoC. They said recent developments in the form of infiltration bid in Bainglad on May 9 night, Samba attack on May 11 followed by ceasefire violations in Tangdhar and Poonch forced the Army to redeploy its reserved troops close to the LoC. Pakistani troops on May 19 had opened unprovoked firing on an Indian forward post in the Nangi Tekri area of Poonch sector killing an Army jawan. "Tangdhar and Poonch incidents forced us to move reserved battalions close to the LoC," said a senior Defence officer. He, however, rubbished media reports of redeploying 6000 troops in the state. Ever since the truce on borders the Army had been the first line of defence on LoC followed by Rashtriya Rifles as second line of defence and paramilitary forces in the hinterland, he said. But ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops has not only put us on high alert but compelled us to enforce reserved battalions on the LoC. Defence sources said going by the intelligence inputs of more infiltration bids by militants this year and past experiences troops can never be removed from the forward positions close to the LoC. They said demilitarisation could be done in the hinterland provided the state had the infrastructure to tackle the situation, which unfortunately was not there. Talking to The Tribune, a senior Army officer of XVI Corps said, "We simply cannot trust Pakistan and hence the question of demilitarisation doesn't arise at all." Just see only three militants involved in Samba encounter have put the entire Army and other security forces on the toes so as to keep the Kashmir issue alive, he added. He also expressed regrets over weak-kneed approach of New Delhi, which he claimed "has always been a deterrent for the Army to retaliate to Pakistan's misadventure". "We lost a jawan in Poonch sector yesterday but we didn't retaliate because of fragile government policy. Instead we requested the Pak Army authorities for a flag meeting to sort out the matter," he said. The senior officer asserted that no way Pakistan's ISI, which has been fomenting trouble in the state, could be controlled by any Pakistani government and hence India should also take a strong posture to its misadventures. When contacted, Defence PRO Lt-Col SD Goswami said after the Poonch incident the Pakistani authorities have yet to respond to our request of holding a flag meeting. The BSF, guarding the 187 km long international border, has already said that it will be putting 1000 more troops on the IB besides installing sophisticated electronic gadgets for effective surveillance.
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Ceasefire violation gives residents nightmares
Punjtoot (LoC), May 20 “For the past 60 years we have been witness to all types of hostilities between the two nations. We have seen wars, cross-LoC shelling and people especially farmers living on the LoC have always been the worst-affected,” Bhajan Chand, a resident of Punjtoot village said. He added, “Many people lost their lives and property due to the cross-border shelling which took place before the cross-border ceasefire was declared five years ago.” The residents of these villages, who have been witness to the cross-border hostilities between the two countries for the past six decades, were reaping the benefits of the ongoing bonhomie between the two nations. But after three major incidents of ceasefire violation from the Pakistani side, they fear that they could again become “sitting ducks on fire.” “Before the ceasefire was declared, we had to leave our fields as the Army occupied it to lay down mines. But after the ceasefire was declared, we heaved a sigh of relief, but now we fear that our worst nightmares might again come true,” Gharu Ram, a farmer in Jorian village said. Meanwhile, Army sources said if the abrasions in ceasefire by the Pakistani side continued, people living on the borders might again have to face problems. “If the violation of cross-border ceasefire continues from the Pakistani side, then the Indian government might have to think of revoking it,” a senior Army officer told The Tribune on the conditions of anonymity. “We have been displaced so many times that now we would like to die rather then leave everything behind,” Suresh Kumar of Troati village on the LoC said. |
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Doctors go on strike
Jammu, May 20 However, emergency services were kept out of the purview of the token strike. The call had been given by the medicos following an alleged attack on them by a mob led by Jammu municipal corporation corporator Surinder Singh Shingari at the Sarwal government hospital a few days ago. The mob, including family members of a patient who had died due to the alleged negligence of a doctor, had manhandled the hospital staff besides ransacking the hospital property. Medicos and paramedic staff across the region suspended routine work for one hour in protest against what they claimed “hooliganism”. At the Sarwal hospital, medicos condemned the attack on the staff at the behest of Shingari. In a memorandum to the hospital, medical superintendent Harbans Sharma, medicos and paramedic staff castigated Shingari for his unruly behaviour. They also demanded round-the-clock security at the hospital premises so as to ensure safety of the staff. Copies of the memorandum were later submitted to director (health services) Jasbir Singh, J&K Government Medical Employees’ Federation and the medical superintendent. A similar protest was also staged by doctors and staff at the Gandhi Nagar district hospital. Shouting slogans against Shingari, medicos said before jumping to conclusions, the public should understand the nature of the case. They also condemned rampant political interference in the health department. Meanwhile, Sarwal hospital medical superintendent Harbans Sharma has lodged an FIR against Shingari and the mob, which created ruckus in the hospital besides manhandling the hospital staff. |
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President to tour state from Friday
Srinagar, May 20 During her visit, the President is scheduled to visit forward areas of the Kashmir valley and will have meetings with senior state government functionaries on overall security and developmental scenario in the state. Apart from visiting the forward areas, the President will be addressing troops in North Kashmir on Friday. The visit is also significant in view of the Assembly elections due to be held in the state later this year, for which various political parties have already geared up their activities to woo the voters. On her arrival here on Friday morning, the President would be attending a function of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) being held at the SKICC. Soon after the function Mrs Pratibha Patil will visit the forward areas and address sainik sammelan in one of these areas, before returning to the summer capital in the evening, sources here said. The President on the second day is scheduled to visit and have a night stay at the tourist spot of Gulmarg on Saturday. The visit takes place at a time when a large number of tourists have started thronging various scenic spots in Kashmir valley, including the Dal lake and Mughal Gardens in Srinagar, and Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg. Official sources here disclosed that the President would be visiting Doda district on Sunday, and return here in the evening. On Monday, the President will inaugurate the Centre for Kashmir Studies at the University of Kashmir, Hazratbal. After concluding the visit, Mrs Pratibha Patil would be in Jammu to attend a function of the SKUAST (J) at the Zorawar Singh Auditorium of Jammu University. |
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Karra’s allegations stun police, admn
Jammu, May 20 Even sleuths of the vigilance organisation, who are engaged in examining complaints against several senior in-service and retired government officials, feel amazed over the way the minister has accused “our organisation of adopting communal and regional approach in dealing with those against whom complaints of corrupt practices had been received.” Pleading for anonymity, an officer of the vigilance organisation today said: “Stalling development works is not in our jurisdiction,” adding that “there is no question of resorting to pre-meditated moves to sabotage development works in the valley.” He said since more than 70 per cent employees in the government departments and civil secretariat belonged to the valley, it was but natural that “our organisation remains flooded with complaints of corrupt practices of officials and industrialists belonging to the valley." Asked to comment on another PDP leader’s fears that the organisation had interfered to get some works in the Assembly constituency represented by the finance minister stalled, senior government functionaries said the organisation had no powers to interfere and get development works stopped. However, sources in the vigilance organisation made a startling revelation when they said Karra was peeved over the way the vigilance sleuths wanted to probe whether the compensation money to those whose land had been acquired for road development project had been distributed within the set norms or not. They suspected that the minister was misinformed about the facts because there were a number of officials who did not want the vigilance organisation to spread its net. Karra’s charges have given a handle to the National Conference to strike at the PDP. While leader of the Opposition Abdul Rahim Rather has asked the finance minister and his ministerial colleagues to resign if they stand by their charges, patron of the National Conference Farooq Abdullah has demanded a high-level probe to ascertain whether the finance minister was correct or not. The Opposition wants the Chief Minister to react because he has been always appreciating the role of the vigilance organisation for its valuable contribution in checking corruption.
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Police prevents migrants from crossing over to Pak
Punjtoot (LoC) May 20 Hundreds of Pakistani migrants under the banner of the Jammu and Kashmir Refugees Front today gathered in Pallanwla sector and marched towards the Punjtoot village located just on the Line of control, to cross over to the other side of the line of control. Though the tight police arrangement prevented the refugees from crossing over to the other side, they staged a sit-in a few metres inside the LoC. The refugees while raising anti-government slogans said despite the recommendations made by the G.D. Wadhwa Committee the state government had not implemented any of them. Speaking to The Tribune Captain Youdhvir Singh, chairman of the JK Refugees Front, said, “We have been demanding permanent settlement, compensation for our left-over property, 10 per cent reservation in government sector and allotment of land as per the norms for other migrants. Adding, he said, “We had given an ultimatum to the government, but it has failed to fulfil its promises, so we have decided to cross over to the other side of the border and go and claim back our property and live like a citizen there.” The refugees also expressed their resentment against Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for what they termed “negligence” on the part of the Prime Minister for ignoring the 21 lakh strong community. “The Prime Minister during his recent visit to the state announced a comprehensive package of Rs 1600 crore for the Kashmiri Pandit migrants who are only 3 lakh in number, he even announced various other sops for them, including job reservation etc. but again he neglected us,” Rashpal Singh, general secretary of the front, told The Tribune. Adding, he said, “We are 21 lakh in number and the government announced a mere package of Rs 50 crore for us, which was far below what we needed. We too need to be treated on par with Kashmiri Pandit migrants as we have been suffering for the past 60 years.” The police stopped the refugees from crossing over to the other side of the border, though the refugees tried to break the police cordon, but they were pacified by the top police officers deployed there to stop them. Speaking to The Tribune, Shakti Pathak, SP, rural; said, “We won’t be allowing them to cross our territory.” Later, after raising slogans for a few hours the refugees extended their deadline to crossover the border by five days. “If the government again fails to fulfil its promises then after five days we will again try to cross over to the other side of the border,” Singh said.
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Ration scarcity adds to people’s woes
Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service
Assar (Doda), May 20 The inhabitants of drought-affected Ramban district have been facing scarcity of the wheat and rice as the ration depots set up by the department of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) are not getting adequate quota from the headquarters. The locals have time and again highlighted the issue of the shortage of ration. Today, Congress workers came down heavily on their own government for its failure to provide ration to the people. A rally of Congress workers was held at Assar in connection with the preparations for the coming Assembly elections. Instead of highlighting achievements of the party-led coalition regime, Congress workers pinpointed the government's failure to provide free ration. Former minister and MLC Mohammed Sharief Naiz, who presided over the meeting, tried to placate the enraged workers but to no avail. The Congress workers alleged that their government had promised to give free ration to the drought-affected people, but the promise had not been fulfilled. “What to say of free ration, even rice and wheat is not available in the market”, Sham Lal Bhagat, a senior leader of the Congress from Assar said. He further said most of the outlets of the CAPD department were closed as there was no ration for the common masses. Om Parkash Sharma, another Congress leader said for the past three months, inhabitants have been facing shortage of ration. MLC Mohammed Sharief Naiz assured them that he would take up the matter with the authorities concerned. Assistant director, CAPD, Ramban Zaffar-ul-Bhat admitted that there was shortage of ration in the district. He said last month only 40 per cent of the allotted quota for APL families was supplied in the district. It is worthwhile to mention here that the government had admitted on the floor of the Legislative Assembly that Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, besides, parts of Udhampur and Kathua districts, were facing the worst drought of the century. The CAPD department had announced to provide free ration for three months to the families of drought-prone areas.
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Beware tourists, it’s
houseful in valley
Srinagar, May 20 The recent terror attacks in Jaipur and a series of violent infiltration attempts through the state border with covert support of Pakistani establishments may have hit headlines of late, but it has apparently not affected tourism in Kashmir, which continues to bask in relative peace. As a matter of fact, the current year may break the past records of tourist arrival if the coming months follow the early trend. Top hotels like Grand Palace, Hotel Mumtaz, Welcome and Centaur have guests returning disappointed as rooms have been booked for days in advance. "Organised tourism-led by package travel operators has grown manifold and is almost running the tourism industry. Rooms in hotels here have been booked in advance," Md Abdullah, a hotel manager said. He added that hotels had also joined hands with these operators and offered them large-scale booking. Joint director, tourism, Sarmad Hafeez, said not only the number of tourists visiting the valley had increased, their profile had become more upmarket as well, which was evident from the houseful bookings in premium hotels. Tourism officials cribbed in the past that most of the visitors were stingy "yatri tourists", who on their pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi would extend their trip to Srinagar. With the advent of organised tourism coupled with corporate clients, the profile had undergone a change for better for the tourism industry, he added. Azim Tuman, president, Houseboat Owners Association, said things were looking up this year. He, however, said bookings were not full in houseboats. Madhu Kapodekar, a 32-year-old bank official from Pune said, "My mother was a bit apprehensive when me and my friends joined a group for a trip here. But when we told her that things were no longer confined to Kashmir, which was relatively peaceful these days, she agreed." With no direct Mumbai-Srinagar flight, airlines linking Srinagar to Delhi and Mumbai are running full steam. An operator said, "Earlier it costed Rs 3,000 to book an economy class ticket in a Delhi-Srinagar airlines, but now one is lucky to get a seat for less than Rs 4,500 to 5,000." |
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ReT teachers take out rally
Udhampur, May 20 The protest demonstration started from the main chowk of Udhampur and passed through different areas before culminating into a rally which was addressed by all leaders of the association. Addressing the rally Sharma said ReT teachers had been functioning as backbone of the education sector in the state. He regretted that despite their role in streamlining functioning of defunct school, ReT teachers had been bearing brunt of the discriminatory policies of the government. Highlighting problems of ReT teachers, Sharma said the state government had promises to regularise all teachers who have completed five years of service. "A number of ReT teachers have completed the required tenure but they are yet not regularised", he said and lambasted the authorities for playing with the future of the educated youth. Other speakers while speaking on the occasion said ReT teachers played a dominant role in streamlining the functioning of the defunct schools in far-flung areas. They said a number of schools in rural areas were being run by the ReT teachers. They demanded all teachers who have completed five years of service should be regularised. They further demanded that five years of service should be included in the official record of the ReT teachers. It was also demanded that salaries of the ReT teachers should be enhanced due to raise in the prices of the essential commodities. |
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PM assures Shah of free and fair polls
Srinagar, May 20 This assurance was given to the ANC president during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi yesterday, a party spokesman said here. The ANC has recently decided to participate in the forthcoming Assembly elections after it remained away from active politics for the last two decades. Shah had taken over as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1984 after ousting his brother-in-law, the then chief minister Farooq Abdullah. On the appointment of impartial observers, the Prime Minister said he had no objection to such a demand and asked the ANC president to provide a list of the people he would like to be put as independent observers. The meeting also discussed ANC proposal to hold an intra Kashmir peace conference. The meeting was also attended by national security adviser M.K. Narayanan and chairman, intra Kashmir conference, Muzzaffar Shah. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together people from both sides of the valley that would provide some tangible solution to the Centre and the Pakistani government for peaceful and lasting solution to the Kashmir issue. The Prime Minister asked G. M. Shah to provide the list of the invitees for the conference. He also gave his assurance of rendering all possible help to ensure smooth conduct of the conference.
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Residents seek deployment of more buses
Udhampur, May 20 A delegation led by president, Kishtwar Welfare Association and PDP leader Saquir Saddiqui today called on the deputy commissioner, Kishtwar, to apprise him of the problems being faced by the local residents. The delegation pointed out that local students studying in Kendriya Vidhayala faced immense hardship due to the non-availability of buses. They urged the deputy commissioner to direct the NHPC authorities to deploy more buses and start regular service for the local students. The deputation informed that the NHPC had promised to provide bus service to the local students. Saddiqui also drew attention of the deputy commissioner towards the dilapidated condition of roads in different parts of Kishtwar districts and demanded special funds to repair them. The deputy commissioner assured to solve their problems as early as possible.
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Vegetable, fruit shops remain shut
Jammu, May 20 Vegetable and fruit sellers kept their shops closed for the second consecutive day today, causing immense hardships to the people, who returned empty-handed from the markets. Markets in the city wore a deserted look as shopkeepers and vendors refrained from their daily routine and kept their shops closed. The vegetable and fruit vendors have been protesting against what they claimed the CAPD’s irrational rate list fixing price of vegetables and fruits. “Without taking us into confidence the CAPD issues the rate list every three days, which in no way is justified,” Rakesh Gupta, a vegetable seller, said. Business suffered as vegetable and fruit markets at Narwal, Parade, Janipur, Bari-Brahmana, Railway Station, Satwari, Bus Stand, Narwal Pain, Indira Chowk, BC Road and Trikuta Nagar were closed. Subhash Chand, president, Fruit and Vegetable Retailers’ Association said, “The CAPD issues rate list every 72 hours without keeping in mind that the prices of vegetables and fruits keep fluctuating every two to three hours.” He said until the CAPD devised a strategy, our strike would continue. |
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Air Marshal to visit Srinagar
Srinagar, May 20 In addition to meeting with the key appointments of the station and addressing the station personnel at various forums, the Air Marshal would call on the State Governor and the Chief Minister during his visit. The Air Marshal will also interact with media on the concluding day on Thursday, the spokesman said. The Air Marshal will be accompanied by his wife Mrs Arundhati Barbora, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (regional). Mrs Barbora will have a meeting with wives of the station personnel and will take stock of various welfare activities being run by the station. |
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BJP alleges bias towards Jammu varsity
Jammu, May 20 He said the BJP is not opposed to the grant of the Central university status to the Kashmir University but stated that the party wants a fair treatment to the Jammu University. By “according a preferential treatment” and denying similar status to the Jammu University, the authorities in the state and the Centre have added “fuel to the fire” and infuriated the people of Jammu, he added. The BJP leader said the authorities should instead grant Central university status to the Jammu University and set up an Indian Institute of Management in Kashmir.
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NC victory a tactic: Cong
Jammu, May 20 Addressing mediapersons here, Bhalla said elections to the cantonment board were never fought on party lines, but the NC deliberately created hype so as to garner support for Singh. “All 24 candidates, who were in the fray, had no affiliation with any political party and to say that the NC has defeated the Congress in its stronghold, makes no sense,” he said. Some politicians, while playing to the gallery made misleading statements, he said, while referring to the hurriedly called press conference by Singh at his residence last evening. Singh had claimed that all seven winning candidates were backed by the NC and the Congress had to bite the dust. Bhalla also denied that he never campaigned for the candidates before the cantonment elections.
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LeT militant killed
Srinagar, May 20 The police said the encounter between the militants and the troops led to the killing of one militant at Sitri Kota forests near Bandipora. One AK 47 rifle, four magazines, two wireless sets and about 300 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter. The troops noticed suspicious movements of the militants at around 5.30 am today. When they were challenged, the militants opened fire on the security forces, a defence spokesman said.
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Doctors and paramedic staff of hospitals falling under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Health Services observed a one-hour strike across Jammu region today.
