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Govt’s floor test today
‘Debar Independents who joined Cong’
Azad may not get support of non-Cong MLAs
Bhaderwah |
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Bandh extended for 48 hours
BJP blocks highway
Amarnath Land Row
Amarnath Land Row
Land row may fuel separate statehood demands
Protests leave Jammu as dumping ground
Strike causes shortage of essential commodities
Azad inaugurates Assembly complex
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurates the newly constructed State Legislature Complex in Srinagar on Sunday. — PTI
photo
A view of Jammu city after a brief shower on Sunday. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
Residents allege police excesses
Hideout busted in Pattan
BSF officer among 4 killed
Illegal structures in Dal to be razed
Geelani released from house arrest
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Govt’s floor test today
Srinagar, July 6 Even as Chief Minister Azad and the Congress were confident of victory, the numbers did not seem to be in their favour unless some of the members take “political decision” to ensure his continuity in the office. Azad requires 44 members to prove his majority in the 87-member House, which he has assured to the Governor, but his bogey is short of five members. His caravan of 39 members include 21 from the Congress, six other associates, 10 alliance members led by PDF chairman and transport minister Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen and two CPM members. Expelled PDP member Ghulam Hassan Mir, who had constituted his own Democratic Party (DP) recently, is also expected to vote for the government. Political observers here believe that there could be possibility of some of the PDP members voting for the government. The stand of two vital parties opposed to Ghulam Nabi Azad, the PDP and opposition National Conference, is already against the government. The PDP has 19 members against the 24 members of the National Conference. |
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Srinagar, July 6 Azad was accompanied by state PCC president and Union minister Saif-ud-din Soz. Official sources said that the two-hour long meeting was a routine one and the Chief Minister assured the Governor about enjoying the confidence of the House. — PTI
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‘Debar Independents who joined Cong’
Jammu, July 6 Party leader Harsh Dev Singh yesterday said, “We have urged the Governor and the Speaker to debar these MLAs from voting during the trust vote of the Ghulam Nabi Azad government on July 7.” “These MLAs are Babu Singh, Aijaz Ahmed Khan, Majid Wani, Manohar Lal, Puran Singh, Abdul Rashid, Rigzin Zora and Haji Nisar Ali,” he said. |
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Azad may not get support of non-Cong MLAs
Jammu, July 6 However, a close confidant of Azad claimed that he had garnered adequate support to prove his majority before Governor
N.N. Vohra that he had the magic figure of 44 up his sleeves. After People's Democratic Party (PDP) parted ways with the Congress-led coalition government over the Amarnath land row, Vohra had set July 7 as the deadline for Azad to prove his majority in the 87-member House. BJP's lone legislator from the Nagrota constituency, Jugal Kishore said, “I would go to the House but the question of supporting Chief Minister does not arise at all.” Instead we want to see the government voted out of power, he added.
Panther's Party legislator and former education minister Harsh Dev Singh while echoing similar views said, “We will try our best to see the collapse of Azad government in the larger interest of the people.” However, Azad has already lured nine Independents and the Panthers Party has appealed to Governor
N.N. Vohra not only to debar them from voting, but initiate action against them under the Anti-Defection Law. “We have already submitted a list of these Independent legislators to the Governor,” he added. Apart from Harsh Dev Singh, the party has three other legislators - Yashpal
Kundal, Faqir Nath and Balwant Singh Mankotia. Jammu State Morcha legislator from the Bishnah constituency, Ashwani Sharma, might also vote against the motion of confidence. “As elections can happen anytime, he cannot afford to annoy the people of his constituency,” a sources close to Ashwani said. When contacted, National Conference provincial president and sitting legislator from
Marh, Ajay Sadhotra said, “Party president Omar Abdullah has already made clear that the NC would not support Azad.” Definitely NC legislators would go to the House and abide by Omar’s instructions, he said. Meanwhile, sources in Congress said former PDP member and Jammu Kashmir Democratic Front president Ghulam Hasan Mir would not only support Azad, but also convince his loyalists to help him muster the figure of 44. Political experts say at this juncture, non-Congress legislators from Jammu could no way afford to support Azad at the cost of their vote banks, due to the upcoming Assembly polls. |
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Curfew reimposed as protests
continue
Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service
Udhampur, July 6 After the curfew was relaxed for two hours in Bhaderwah, members of the minority community took to the streets at Udharana, Ghata and Bhalara areas, and shouted slogans against the authorities. Agitated protesters took out a procession at Udharana and pelted stones on the security personnel. Seeing the situation go out of control, the authorities withdrew the curfew relaxation and used force to disperse the agitating mob. The Sanatan Dharam Sabha and the BJP have identified four persons, including PSO of a senior politician, in this regard and have given a three-day ultimatum to the authorities to nab the accused. It may be mentioned that an indefinite curfew was imposed in Bhaderwah on Wednesday when some miscreants lobbed a grenade on a BJP procession in which 24 persons were injured. Earlier on Saturday, curfew was reimposed and people demanded arrest of those responsible for the incident. Meanwhile, in majority-dominated areas of Bhaderwah, the curfew relaxation passed off peacefully.
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Bandh extended for 48 hours
Jammu, July 6 Addressing a press conference at Gita Bhawan, Samiti convenor Leela Karan Sharma said their agitation would continue till it reached any positive conclusion. BJP state president Ashok Khajuria said that they would continue their support to the Samiti's decision of extending the Jammu bandh. Sharma added that their agitation was peaceful but the government turned it aggressive after imposition of curfew and Section 144 to harass the general public. If Azad government falls tomorrow then the samiti's demand of dismissal of state government on land-row would be automatically fulfilled, he said. |
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BJP blocks highway
Udhampur, July 6 The activists along with large number of locals earlier took out a procession in the town, which passed through different areas. Shop and business establishments remained closed. “The Banihal police has already registered a case against 14 persons but due to political pressure no arrest has been made so far,” alleged Bali Bhagat. They also demanded that the government should revoke its order of cancellation of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and security should be provided to |
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Transfer of land to Tourism dept illegal: SC lawyer
Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 6 They said the members of the Shri Amarnath Shrine board (SASB) should convene a meeting to take back the possession of the land “illegally transferred” to the department. “Under clause (d) section 16 of the Act only board has the powers to manage the shrine and its surroundings and the meeting of the board can be held in absence of the Governor under section 12 of the section,” Lehar said. He said, “The board members should exclude the governor from the incoming meeting of the SASB as he has violated the act as well as the division bench's order of the high court which has empowered the SASB alone to manage the yatra as well as affairs of the board.” He said the People’s Democratic Party should be debarred from contesting the forthcoming Assembly election and the PDP leadership including Mehbooba Mufti and Muzaffar Hussain Beig should be arrested for waging the war against India. “They have pleaded for dual currency and firstly Muzaffar Hussain Beig was instrumental for transferring the land and then for withdrawing the government order. They are the people who played with the sentiments of the people,” he said. Lehar and Sharma requested the President of India to give directions to the governor under Article 352 of the Constitution to act in accordance with the law and nullify the recent cabinet decision by virtue of which the land has been transferred to the Tourism Department on the letter of the Governor. “If constitutional authority acts in an unconstitutional manner it will lead to the anarchy in the state,” Lehar said. He urged the state government to issue a white paper on the land and the role of the PDP leadership in the entire episode. “It was strange that the present government in the state does not understand the difference between the pilgrimage and tourism,” he said.
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Cong in damage control mode
Perneet Singh Tribune News Service
Jammu, July 6 The Congress has 14 MLAs from Jammu region, out of its total strength of 22, in the state Assembly. Clearly the party has high stakes in the region in the Assembly elections and it cannot afford to earn people's ire, especially on the land row issue.
The party's ministers and MLAs are already at the receiving end of the mob fury, as protesters have targeted their houses and property over the past few days. Though the party took three days to wake up to the crisis, since July 2, almost all Cabinet ministers from Jammu region have been camping here. On July 2, health minister Mangat Ram Sharma, higher education minister Gulchain Singh Charak and revenue minister B.R. Kundal, held a press conference to convey the government's viewpoint on the issue. They had also called for an all-party meeting to defuse the situation, but the BJP, VHP and Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, boycotted it. The next day, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad addressed a press conference where he termed the government’s taking over the yatra arrangements as a “win-win situation” for pilgrims and went all out to justify his government's move. However, Azad went too far when he said, “The people of Jammu should have celebrated the decision by distributing sweets.” Later, Azad drew flak from various quarters for his statement. On July 4, Azad convened a meeting of Congress ministers, MLAs and corporators from Jammu region and asked them to “undo the propaganda unleashed by vested interests to divide people on communal lines.” Congress ministers Gulchain Singh Charak and Babu Singh at a press conference held here yesterday blamed the PDP for the present crisis. They reiterated that the government took the decision in the larger interest of the yatra and that the Governor had refused to take control of the land diverted to the shrine board at Baltal. Charak also visited people injured in the Bhaderwah blast at the Government Medical College and Hospital.
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Land row may fuel separate statehood demands
Jammu, July 6 The Amarnath forest land transfer issue has provided enough ammunition to the people of Jammu to give vent to their suppressed voice. Almost after 10 days, since protest demonstrations engulfed Jammu, The Tribune talked to people from a cross section of society so as to know their pulse. If a majority of them said Jammu had been constantly given a step-motherly treatment by the successive Kashmir-centric regimes in the state then others felt the ongoing protests had been the result of continuous repression. Lawyer Ashutosh Sharma said, “Though paradoxical yet the split is wide open now. For how long one could bear humiliation for being nationalist.” The Centre, especially the Congress, has to stop appeasing Kashmiris at the expense of people of Jammu, he added. One could not afford to keep his head under sand Ostrich-like, he said adding that New Delhi must read the writing on the wall before it proves too little, too late. There was no denying the fact that the Jammu region had always been ignored in employment, funds allocation, said Shweta Sharma, a Jammu University student. She also cited another instance of gross discrimination in the form of less number of Assembly and parliament seats for the region. “Despite being larger in area and population, our Assembly and parliament seats are less than that of Kashmir,” she said. |
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Protests leave Jammu as dumping ground
Jammu, July 6 As officials of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) have restricted movement in the city, following the imposition of an indefinite curfew, various garbage dumps across the city have not been cleared till now. The drains across the city are chocked due to garbage dumps, which emit foul stench, making movement across such areas difficult. At various places, heaps of burnt tyres are found scattered, adding to the misery of the common man. “The garbage dump in the area has not been cleared for the past five days and emits a foul smell. It has become difficult for us to pass through the area,” Sheela Devi, a resident of
Digiana, said. Doctors say with the ongoing rainy season, if the garbage dumps are not cleared, it could become a breeding ground for various diseases which could lead to the outbreak of an epidemic. “These garbage dumps are a breeding ground for various diseases and, if left unattended, it could lead to an epidemic,” Dr Amit Sharma, a physician, said. Dr Amit added, “These garbage dumps provide suitable environment to various harmful bacteria and virus to grow. Due to the ongoing rainy season, rain washes away the bacteria and virus, and adds them to the source of potable water.” The garbage dump across the city has also become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. An official of the JMC said, “We are helpless as we cannot send our vehicles to clear the garbage as angry protesters attack us. So we have been waiting for the situation to turn normal.” |
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Strike causes shortage of essential commodities
Jammu, July 6 With curfew on in the city, the residents are facing acute shortage of items of daily use. Supply of milk, vegetables, cooking gas and other items have been badly affected. “We are not able to get even milk and stock of the items of daily use in the house is also almost finished. If the shops don’t open in a day or two, we will be left with nothing to eat,” said Veena, a housewife. With the closure of banks, people are running out of money and ATMs are also closed. “Banks are closed and ATM also doesn’t have money. The common man is suffering due to the ongoing crisis in the region,” said Parveen Kumar, a resident, while searching for a functioning ATM. Adding to the miseries of the people, there are power cuts after Gladni Grid Station went defunct following a fire incident. Supply of potable water has also been badly hit in the city as many localities have been without water for days together due to the breakdown of the grid station. Also, erratic services provided by major mobile service providers are also taking its toll as breakdown in the power supply to mobile towers have added to the congestion in the network. The residents are worried as they don’t know when their ordeal would come to an end.
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Azad inaugurates Assembly complex
Srinagar, July 6 Azad said lack of development in the previous regimes was “95 per cent” due to their inefficiency, lack of will and corruption, and not due to militancy. Putting rest to speculations that he may quit before facing the Assembly tomorrow, Azad said he would speak in detail about the lack of work culture and bad governance during the debate on confidence vote. Azad took keen interest in the completion of the Assembly complex, which will host both houses of legislatures, whose foundation stone was laid on September 21, 1981, by the then chief minister, Sheikh Abdullah. Only 22 per cent of the work and was done and it was on Azad’s orders that construction was again started last year. “I have finished it in only nine months, while the original complex was to house the Assembly. This building will have both the houses,” he said. The completion of the complex fulfils a dream of Sheikh Abdullah, remembered as “Sher-e-Kashmir” who wanted all three wings of the legislature, judiciary and executive, be situated close to each other. The High Court building, the secretariat and the new Assembly complex now stand in proximity to each other. Azad said the new museum coming up at Lal Mandi was also near completion and would be inaugurated in a fortnight.
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Rain brings relief in valley
Srinagar, July 6 People in the valley experienced another hottest day after the maximum went to up 31.7 degrees Celsius while the minimum was recorded at 21.4 degree C yesterday. However, it was second hottest day of the July, as maximum touched 33.4 degrees Celsius on July 5. Srinagar and its adjoining areas, besides other parts of the valley experienced rainfall since early morning, much to the delight of the people as the maximum was recorded 24.2 at degree, 6 degree below normal. However, people in different localities in the city, particularly in the uptown, including Badshah Nagar, Natipora, Azad Basti, Bemina, Banapora and Lal Nagar had a tough time as roads and bylanes were water logged. Traffic on Rambagh to Natipora road was disrupted because of big holes filled with rainwater making the traffic movement almost impossible and dangerous. Reports of showers were also received from other parts of the valley, much to the delight of farmers who were praying for rain because of continued dry weather for the past
month. — UNI |
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Residents allege police excesses
Jammu, July 6 People in various localities have blamed RAF personnel for entering their houses forcefully and charging people for participating in protest demonstrations in Jammu. “The RAF men aided by the police forced their entry into our house and dragged us out. They alleged that we had taken part in the protest demonstrations,” Kamla, a resident of Kunjwani, said. Residents alleged that RAF officers, including female officers, used abusive language while dealing with them. “We were standing on the terrace as there was no electricity. A female RAF officer shouted at us to go inside, which we refused. She then threatened us and used foul language,” Sunita, another resident, said. She added, “We all were embarrassed as the male members of the family were also standing besides us.” Residents rued that RAF personnel along with the police had been provoking them to come out. “When they resort to create troubles for us, then we would be left with no other option but to come out and protest against them,” said Vikram, a resident. The protesters stated that the aim of calling in the RAF was to to threaten the people from protesting against the “communal” move of the state government. |
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Hideout busted in Pattan
Srinagar, July 6 In another operation, a top militant of Hizbul Mujahideen had been trapped in a house in Pulwama. Reports say security forces have encircled his hideout.
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BSF officer among 4 killed
Srinagar, July 6 Official sources said a BSF vehicle in which assistant commandant Sukhdesh Kumar and his family besides, guards were travelling, skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge at
Zojilla. Sources said Kumar and three others, including two children, were killed and four others were wounded.
— UNI
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Illegal structures in Dal to be razed
Srinagar, July 6 An official spokesman said the vice-chairman, LAWDA, along with a team of officers visited the Dal-Nigeen lake yesterday, and found that five tin shanties had been erected and one construction at “Anchari Mohalla” was going on. He said on-the-spot directions were given to the enforcement officer (DSP) to demolish all illegal structures which had come up during the strike period. People in the valley observed spontaneous strike for about 10 days in protest against the diversion of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). However, the land diversion order was later cancelled. The spokesman said the enforcement officer, LAWDA, started the demolition drive in the peripheral areas as a result of which all structures were pulled down. — UNI
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Geelani released from house arrest
Srinagar, July 6 They said Geelani was put under house as a precautionary measure. A spokesman of the Hurriyat, Aiyaz Akbar, said a large number of police personnel deployed outside the Hyderpora residence of Geelani had been withdrawn. Geelani was informed that he could now leave his residence, Akbar said. He said Geelani was put under house arrest on Wednesday to prevent him from attending the “Hazratbal
chalo,” a call given by him for Friday. — UNI |
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Srinagar, July 6
