Udhampur, July 14
A special police officer (SPO) of the Jammu and Kashmir police was killed and two others were critically injured when a militant threw a grenade on a road opening party (ROP) near Doda this afternoon.

In another incident, militants killed Prem Nath, a member of the Dhok Defence Committee (DDC), in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar district.

Deputy inspector general, Doda, Hemant Kumar Lohia, said a manhunt had been launched to nab the militants involved in the incident.

According to the police, the militants hurled a grenade near the district police line (DPL), Doda. It exploded near the cops who were part of the ROP, in which Manzoor Ahmed Bandey (SPO), son of Abdul Wahid of Bharath, died on the spot, while two others were critically injured.

As the incident took place near the DPL, forces rushed to the spot to nab the militants but they managed to escape from the site. The injured, identified as Naseeb Singh and Babu Ram, were immediately taken to a Doda hospital.

Meanwhile, tension flared up in the town after the incident.The area was cordoned off and a search operation launched to nab the militants. The police rounded up some suspects for questioning. 

New Delhi, July 14
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra today dismissed reports of delayed polls in the state as mere speculation and said they would be held on time.

“There is absolutely no basis for such thinking. It is all speculative. I denounce that very clearly,” Vohra, who is heading the state administration after the Assembly was dissolved last week, said.

The state elections are due by middle of November. The Assembly was dissolved when the Ghulam Nabi Azad government was reduced to minority following withdrawal of support by the PDP. Azad did not press for a confidence vote and resigned on July 7.

The Governor said a consultative group of all faiths would soon be set up to advise the government.

“I am planning to set up an advisory and consultative group of all faiths, particularly the people of Jammu who are responsible and respectable people, to advice us on what should be done in the years to come,” Vohra told a private television channel.

He dismissed apprehension about the future of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and the pilgrimage saying, “It is a little distressing that doubts have been created of the role of the board and the future of the (Amarnath) yatra.”

In a bid to douse raging emotions among a community after the government revoked its decision to transfer land to the board, he said, “No land was in possession on the given day. We were using certain pieces of land for creating certain temporary facilities which will continue to be done,” the governor said. — PTI/TNS

Jammu, July 14
The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has dropped its plan to install a marble Shivalingam at the mouth of the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir following a high court notice.

“We are not installing the lingam at this time as the case is subjudice,” B.B. Viyas, principal secretary to the J&K Governor and an official of the SASB, said.

The high court gave the notice after a group of 10 Kashmiris filed a petition stating that installation of the marble lingam at the cave would be a sacrilegious act. Hearing the petition, the court gave notice to the SASB to explain reasons for the installation.

However, the SASB's move to drop the installation could trigger another controversy as several devotees have already expressed hurt and dissatisfaction over the delay.

The board had asked the Bolay Nath Seva Samiti (BNSS) to provide the lingam for installation at the entrance of the cave shrine. The BNSS is the biggest samiti involved in providing makeshift kitchens and lodging facilities free of cost for pilgrims en route to the Amarnath shrine.

Thousands of devotees under the banner of the BNSS who brought the 800-kg and 6-feet-high transparent marble lingam from Udaipur (Rajasthan) after a fortnight-long sculpting by master craftsmen, said the board's decision to drop the lingam installation has hurt them.

“We want installation of this lingam near the shrine and not in place of the ice lingam. What is the problem if the lingam is installed outside the cave,” a BNSS spokesman said.

“If the SASB failed to install it, we will also move the court with signatures of one lakh devotees of Shiva saying that we want a temple to be built outside the shrine and to install the lingam there,” he said adding that “we have faith in court.” —PTI

Udhampur, July 14
The Youth Congress today kicked off a campaign in the district to educate masses about the stand taken by the party on the Amarnath land transfer issue and to counter the “propaganda” of the BJP and the Panthers Party.

Starting the campaign from the Majalata area of Ramnagar tehsil, Pradesh Youth Congress general secretary R.S. Panthania exhorted the party workers to expose communal forces.

He said the Ghulam Nabi Azad government was very much aware of the emotions and sentiments of Hindus involved in Amarnath pilgrimage.

“Respecting these feelings, the government had directed the Tourism Department to construct shelters for the Amarnath pilgrims,” he said.

He attacked the BJP, the PDP and the NC for communalising the religious issue.

“Fundamentalist forces like the PDP and the BJP were ganged up to dislodge the Ghulam Nabi Azad regime as the Congress was becoming popular in Kashmir as well as in Jammu,” he said.

He alleged that on this issue, the PDP has been exploiting sentiments of the Kashmiri people while the BJP has been furthering its petty political interests by exploiting emotions of Hindus.

Another leader Kuldeep Singh, vowed to expose the game plan of the PDP and the BJP.

Jammu, July 14
Seeking early redress of “regional discrimination”, Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh today appealed to the leadership of Jammu to lead the masses of the region in “right direction.”

He said the Amarnath land transfer issue should be resolved according to the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and some leaders who have been misleading the people in the name of hollow slogans for their political gains need to be cautioned so that the real issues are brought on the agenda of the political leadership.He said the Governor was never an issue of people and such issues help Congress and other anti-Jammu parties to dilute the main issue. He appealed to the youth to provide leadership to the political parties sans agenda.

Jammu, July 14
The BJP has served an ultimatum of 48 hours to the Bhaderwah district administration to nab the culprits responsible for the July 2 firing incident in which a BJP activist, Manjeet Singh, was killed and 19 others were injured.

Addressing mediapersons here today, state BJP general secretary Bali Bhagat said, “The BJP has given 48 hours to the Bhaderwah district administration to book the people responsible for the firing incident of July 2.”

Bhagat said an FIR had been registered against 11 persons. Expressing concern over the alleged biased attitude of the administration, Bhagat said, “The district administration remained a mute spectator when the PSOs of Javeed Azad, cousin of former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, fired on the protesters who were peacefully demonstrating on the issue of the Amarnath land row.”

Bhagat said, “Hindus did not oppose when 2,000 kanals of government land was allotted to the Pampore Islamic University. Why did the PDP and the NC raise hue and cry when 39 hectares of land was being temporarily diverted for Amarnath pilgrims. Why did the Congress play second fiddle to the Kashmir-based parties.”

Bhagat said when Muslims and Christians were considered to be minorities in Maharashtra, UP and Bihar, how could Hindus be given a similar status in J&K, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

However, Bhagat thanked the Gujjar community and the Muslim Federation of Jammu and Kashmir for extending support to the Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti. 

Lakhanpur, July 14
Traffic on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway remained disrupted for nearly two hours today, after nearly 150 activists of the Shiv Sena (Thackeray) and the Hindu Suraksha Samiti went on a rampage, and damaged about 15 vehicles.

Official sources said trouble started around 1 pm after the police refused the activists to enter the state. The activists, which included a “Balidani Dasta,” had come to submit a memorandum to Governor N.N. Vohra in the backdrop of the Amarnath land row.

On their way to Jammu, a 21-member Balidani Dasta of the two Hindu organisations along with over 100 other activists reached Lakhanpur, where they were prevented from proceeding further.

Acting upon prior information, a strong posse of police and CRPF personnel, was deployed at the gateway. Sources said the activists had come in their private vehicles.

“The activists tried hard to convince Benam Tosh, ASP, Kathua, and other police officers that they had come to submit a memorandum to Governor N.N. Vohra in the wake of the land row,” sources added.

However, the police reminded the protesters that Section 144 had been imposed and denied them permission to enter the state. This reportedly led to frayed tempers and subsequently the activists went on a rampage.

Police sources said the activists let loose a reign of terror and forced people to run for safety. To prevent the situation from taking an ugly turn, the police resorted to mild lathicharge.

“They not only ignored our repeated requests, but also created law and order problems. Hence we had to resort to mild lathicharge,” a police officer said.

The officer added that four activists were detained, while the remaining were herded in a truck and dropped at Madhopur. “They had come here to create trouble and hence were deported,” he added.

Meanwhile, national general secretary of the Hindu Suraksha Samiti, Ravinder Bajaj, has served an ultimatum of 72 hours stating, “If the land was not restored to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board within the proposed deadline, then the samiti would be forced to intensify its agitation.”

Bajaj also extended full support to the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, the umbrella organisation spearheading the agitation, from the last over 15 days.

Jammu, July 14
Notwithstanding the claims of the governments of India and Pakistan that people to people contact between the two nations would be bolstered, as many as 122 persons belonging to the Sikh community, who migrated to this part of the state after partition, have been denied permission to visit Gurdwara Dehri Sahib of Sant Rocha Singh in Rawalkote.

This is despite the fact that at present a fortnightly cross-LoC bus service is operating at two points — Poonch-Rawalkote in Jammu division and Uri-Muzaffarabad in Kashmir province.

A prominent preacher of the Sikh faith in Jammu and Kashmir, Rocha Singh (1688-1803), was born in Hazara district (now in Pakistan). According to historians, the tenth Guru, Govind Singh, instructed him. Later, he came to Chhatar Kalas village in Muzaffarabad district and constructed a gurdwara there. He spent his last days in the gurdwara at Rawalkot, raised for him by a Muslim devotee Salabat Khan.

Meanwhile, several Sikh devotees living in areas like Miran Sahib and Nari Khibar, on the outskirts of Jammu city, said they had applied for permits around two years back. “The Srinagar passport authorities even provided us permit numbers but due to dilly-dallying of Pak authorities, we are being denied the permission,” they added.

“I personally called on the minister for external affairs Pranab Mukherjee, ahead of his recent visit to Pakistan, to take up issue with authorities there. Since he is back now we are waiting in anticipation,” said president of Sant Rocha Singh Trust, Sohan Singh, who is one among the ones who want to visit the area.

Citing the case of the recent visit by a group of 52 Pakistani Hindu pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, Sohan stressed as to why they were being denied permission for the pilgrimage. He claimed that all the legalities stand completed but still they were not being allowed to visit the shrine in Rawalkot.

On conditions of anonymity, officials in the passport office said they had completed the entire paperwork regarding issuance of permits to all the 122 devotees, but the delay is on part of the Pak authorities. “Recently, around 9,000 fresh applications were received by the passport office out of which 5,000 were cleared,” they said.

Dhandal (Ramnagar), July 14
For the past four years, Badrinath, a landless farmer of Nalai village, has been moving for pillar to post to get his name included in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list, but to no avail.

With nine members of his family on the verge of starvation, he approached the authorities concerned to issue him a BPL card, but the officials expressed their helplessness in doing so.

“The whole system has been politicised in this remote area of Udhampur district,” rued Dharinder Singh, who alleged that influential people had been taking benefits of the policies meant for the poor and marginalised lot.

“Only the names of political workers have been included in the BPL list,” said a local official on the condition of anonymity. He disclosed that due to political affiliation, families of government employees and sarpanches had managed to get BPL cards.

Echoing a similar tale, Jeet Singh of Nalai village, said he had no hope of getting his name included in the BPL list. “Except repeated assurances, the authorities have done nothing to include deserving people in the BPL list,” he said.

Dhandal panchayat, falling under the Chenani constituency of Udhampur district, comprises eight small hamlets. Being one of the backward panchayats of the district, more than 40 per cent of the population is BPL, but most of the deserving families have been excluded from the list.

“The existing BPL lists were prepared way back in 1975 after a comprehensive door-to-door survey,” Desraj, a local resident told The Tribune. Although the lists were revised a number of time, the names of only influential families were included in the list.

Ironically, the left out deserving BPL families have been advised by the authorities to file an objection before the project director, DRDA, Udhampur, but most of the people are unaware about the DRDA department. Also some families who had filed objections, had yet not received any response.

Srinagar, July 14
CPM state secretary Yousuf Tarigami has asked the Central Haj Committee to make efforts for enhancing the Haj quota for the state so that all left-out pilgrims are accommodated.

In a statement issued today, Tarigami said as a Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir deserves additional Haj quota as the present allocation is not in proportion to the population.

His statement has come following the allocation of the available Haj quota for the state, which has left out thousands of people. He asked the State Haj Committee to take up the case before the Central Haj Committee, Union government and the Saudi Arab authorities so that maximum number of pilgrims get selected from the state.

He also suggested that there should be 10 per cent increase in the annual Haj quota for the state. Though Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state of India, officials say the quota of different states is decided by the population of Muslims, among other factors. 

Srinagar, July 14
The Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation working for tribes and nomadic communities, has launched a fourfold programme to spread awareness among these groups regarding deadly diseases and sexually transmitted infections.

Though the tribal Gujjars constitute 20 to 25 per cent population of the state, they have negligible access to modern health-care facilities, said Dr Javaid Rahi, national secretary of the Tribal Foundation.

He also launched an awareness campaign at Yusmarg, 85 km from here, among nomad Gujjars residing in forest areas. He said they have initiated the process of the fourfold awareness programme through folk medium and in Gojri, the mother tongue of Gujjars.

“We hope the awareness through this medium will prove powerful to counter the threat of deadly diseases among the tribal population of the state,” he added.

He said Gujjars have a very low literacy rate and various schemes launched by the government do not reach the tribal people.

In order to create awareness among the nomadic people and protect them from the deadly diseases, they have launched it with the help of some community volunteers who would carry forward the movement in the far-flung areas of the state, he said.

Srinagar, July 14
Call it a strange coincidence or a quirk of fate, veteran Jammu and Kashmir politician and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has been linked either directly or indirectly to the imposition of the Governor's rule in the state on all the four occasions so far.

It was Sayeed, who as then chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee, withdrew support to the government led by National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in March 1977, leading to the first instance of imposition of Governor's rule in the country after Independence.

The then governor, L.K. Jha, dissolved the state Assembly and proclaimed Governor's rule in the state after the Congress withdrew support.

Abdullah had come to power on February 24, 1975, with outside support from Congress, following an agreement between him and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a couple of months earlier.

Sayeed was also believed to be the brain behind the split in the National Conference in 1984 when Ghulam Mohammad Shah led a rebellion against his brother-in-law and then chief minister Farooq Abdullah.

The then Governor Jagmohan had dismissed the Abdullah government on July 2 and Shah became the chief minister with the support of the Congress, which was led by Sayeed in the state.

However, Sayeed turned the tables on Shah in less than two years by withdrawing support to his government on March 6, 1986. Jagmohan kept the Assembly in suspended animation while proclaiming Governor's rule in the state for second time in nine years.

Political analysts in Kashmir believe that Sayeed was playing kingmaker in the state in the hope of sitting on the throne one day.

When he was inducted as a Union minister in the Cabinet of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 8, 1986, Sayeed had reportedly said: "It just takes one hour from Delhi to Srinagar (by flight) and if the Prime Minister wants, I can still become the chief minister." Farooq Abdullah, who was a political rival of the Mufti, chided him for "dreaming to fly into the state as the chief minister".

Abdullah ensured that his bete noire was kept at bay from the chief minister's post during his understanding with Rajiv Gandhi to form a coalition government in the state in November 1986.

It was then Sayeed parted ways with the Congress after nearly three decades of association and joined hands with V P Singh, who became the Prime Minister in 1989. He became the first Muslim Union home minister in Singh's government.

A shrewd politician from south Kashmir, a reputation Sayeed built over the years, got one better over Abdullah in 1990 when as Union home minister he got Jagmohan appointed as the Governor.

The Abdullah-led government resigned in protest against the appointment of Jagmohan as the National Conference believed that he had played a "dubious role" during the political developments in the state during his first term in 1984.

The state was then brought under Governor's rule for the third time and later under President's rule for nearly six years as militancy engulfed the state and mainstream politicians fled the valley for security reasons. — PTI

Jammu, July 14
Notwithstanding the claims of the state government that the present literacy rate had gone up to 65 per cent, the Jammu and Kashmir Human Development Report (JKHDR) has, however, portrayed a grim picture in terms of educational facilities being provided to students in the government-run institutions here.

The report, drafted by a five-member team of the Universities of Jammu and Kashmir, included Prof R.L. Bhat, Prof A.S. Bhat, Prof J.R. Panda, Prof Jasbir Singh and Dr Bashir Ahmad Bhat. The report was put to discussion at a function held in Srinagar on July 12.

The report has stated that despite unflinching political support, education remained a neglected sector. It further stated that the malady lied more on the demand side rather than the supply side with the thrust area being more on the higher education rather than at the primary level.

The report added that government schools in the state, particularly at the primary-level, had poor infrastructure in comparison to privately-run schools. “The performance of students in private schools and the level of satisfaction of their parents is higher than in government schools,” the Report stated.

Talking to the Tribune, Prof Amitabh Matoo, vice-chancellor, Jammu University, said efforts were required to have a synergy of primary and the higher education.

Prof Matoo said due to lack of proper infrastructure, parents were hesitant to send their children to government schools.

Prof Riyaz Punjabi, vice-chancellor, Kashmir University, said the report was “open and transparent.” He added that the report had developed the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender Development Index (GDI) of all districts in the state and also the HDI for the state from 1960-61 to 2005-06.