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Samiti activists out to woo voters
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Morcha seeks delimitation before polls
Political parties for restoration of trade ties
Confusion reigns over cross-LoC trade items
CPM seeks MIS for fruit growers
Protests in Shopian over youth’s death
Arrest of 4 sparks protest
Varsity contract workers allege foul play
Land Dispute
LeT sympathiser escapes police net
Kashmiri Pandits take Soz to task
Contract staff to go
Gen Mohapatra visits Udhampur
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21 hurt in Srinagar grenade blast
Srinagar, September 17 The injured included three women.They were shifted to the local SMHS hospital.The police said the militants hurled the grenade at a CRPF picket guarding the Akhara Building that houses the holy mace of Lord Shiva.The grenade missed the target and hit a mini- bus before exploding on the road, causing injuries to a number of people,including two CRPF jawans. The area was cordoned off and searches launched to nab the militants. The scene of the blast is close to the Maisuma locality which recently witnessed a series of protest demonstrations. This is the first such attack after the PoK-based United Jehad Council (UJC) chief and supreme commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Syed Salahuddin, asked militants to participate in public rallies and not to attack public places. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Elsewhere, the police recovered a body while at least seven suspected militants, including a district commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, were arrested in the Kashmir valley since yesterday. The police and the 42 Rashtriya Rifles busted a module of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and apprehended five of their members in Pulwama district.Three of them were identified as Syed Amjad Indrabi,Rafiq Ahmad Chopan and Tariq Ahmad Najar and three hand grenades were recovered from them.The others were Jitender Singh and Ghulam Nabi. Some incriminating documents were also recovered from their possession,the police said. |
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Situation not ripe for poll: Mehbooba
New Delhi, September 17 Mehbooba Mufti also ruled out an alliance between the PDP and the Congress for the coming Assembly elections due by
October and warned against attempts to "demonise" her party in view of the widespread unrest sparked by the Amarnath shrine land row. Even as the Election Commission has started consulting other parties to ascertain their views on the timing of elections, the PDP leader said time was "not at all conducive" for elections. Mehbooba Mufti, whose party's withdrawal of support to the Congress led to Governor's rule, felt that if elections were "imposed" on the state, it would have an adverse impact on the situation. "Today, the mere announcement of elections will be like a red rag," Mehbooba Mufti said in an interview. "You need to give breathing space to people and also go in for confidence-building measures which give a healing touch to the situation," she said. "Forty to 50 persons have died in recent weeks. 'Maar peet aur goli chal rahi hai." (People are being beaten up and there are firings). How can you think of having elections?" And the recent upsurge in the Kashmir
valley in support of Jammu and Kashmir's independence has shrunk the political space for the mainstream parties, she
pointed out. "Maintstream parties ko zameen par aane ka mauka toh do (Please give the mainstream parties a chance to find their bearings and space again)." Would her party boycott the polls if these were announced now? Mehbooba Mufti was ambivalent: "We are
waiting and watching the situation.” — IANS |
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Samiti activists out to woo voters
Jammu, September 17 The Amaranth Yatra Sangharsh Samiti is debating on how to en cash the goodwill they have earned. The biggest option before them is to contest the state assembly polls, which are likely to be announced soon. The
samiti, which spearheaded the agitation in Jammu for 63 days, introduced many new faces. The samiti's success has sent jitters among the mainstream parties - the Congress, the BJP and the National Conference. Although many political parties have charged that the samiti was a front organisation of the BJP and the Sangh
Parivar, the office-bearers always denied it and said they had invited all political parties to join their agitation. However, none except the BJP accepted the proposal. “We did not join the
BJP. Rather it was the BJP which joined our agitation”, samiti spokesman Dr Jitender Singh said. Dr Singh said the samiti had given invited all parties in the state to join them, so associating it with the BJP or the Sangh Parivar was “illogical”. When asked whether the samiti was planning to field candidates in the Assembly elections, Dr Singh said: “We have not yet taken a decision on this issue”. Dr Singh said: “A large number of people have been asking us to contest these elections as we have won their hearts in safeguarding the honour of Jammu. The samiti office-bearers have been debating about it for quite sometime. But we have not yet reached a conclusion”. He said people supported the samiti as it represented the voice of the people of Jammu. “For now we haven't taken any decision on whether to contest elections or not. For the time being, all options are open”, Dr Singh said, adding, “We are overwhelmed with the support shown by the people of Jammu”. |
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Morcha seeks delimitation before polls
Jammu, September 17 Addressing a press conference here today, Morcha president Virender Gupta stressed on the need for review of constituencies. However, he doubted seriousness of parties like the Congress, the
JKNPP, the BJP and the NC “who are raising a hue and cry for the delimitation commission when the elections are around the corner.” “If these parties were sincere on the issue then why they did not come together under a banner for realising it,” he asked. Gupta said in order to realise the true democracy, delimitation should be carried out as per the procedure laid down in the Representation of People Act, which considers
population, area, nature of terrain, accessibility and other factors. He urged all political parties to boycott the forthcoming elections if delimitation was not carried out before the elections. Attacking the Congress, he said, it came to power after the last Assembly elections in the state after assuring the people of Jammu region that a fresh delimitation would be conducted and it also found mention in the previous regime’s Common Minimum Program. However, nothing was done in this regard. Regarding the NC, he pointed out that the party had once misused its majority in the state Assembly against the rights of Jammu by freezing the total number of seats and banning the delimitation of constituencies till 2026. |
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Political parties for restoration of trade ties
Jammu, September 17 State Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma termed the move as "unfortunate". He said both sides should sort out their differences through talks. "They should rebuild the atmosphere of peace and trust as the move doesn't augur well for the people of the state. The move doesn't go down well with the situation when there is a talk of opening cross-LoC trade. Politics should be kept away from the trade ties between the two regions. About the need for intervention of the government, Ravinder Sharma said it would be better if the matter was sorted out at the level of traders. NC vice-president Mehboob Baig said: "This is for the first time that the state has witnessed economic restlessness. People in the valley experienced a shortage of essential commodities and medicines in July-August. The economic blockade during the land agitation has given rise to apprehension that the Jammu-Srinagar highway could be blocked anytime." PDP general secretary Nizamuddin Bhat said :"whatever has happened in Kashmir is the reaction of the happenings in Jammu". However, at the same time, he said they were making efforts at the political level to "rid the state of the vitiated atmosphere created by some elements to further their communal agenda". He also stressed on strengthening traditional ties between the two regions. Meanwhile, state BJP vice-president and spokesperson Hari Om asserted that there was no economic blockade of the valley and, on the contrary, he alleged that truck drivers from Jammu were still being beaten up in the valley. He said the demands like cross-LoC trade were merely the "manifestation of Kashmiri leaders' separatist mindset". He also lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government for "bowing before the separatist forces" over the issue. |
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Confusion reigns over cross-LoC trade items
Srinagar, September 17 Official sources said the Pakistan government in its proposed list had chosen only two of the 16 items proposed by India and excluded Kashmiri fruits, saffron, wazwan, which are the noted products of the valley. A statement by minister of water resources and state Congress president Saifuddin Soz today that Kashmiri fruits have been included in the export list after he took up the matter with external affairs minister Pranab Mukharjee, has only added to the confusion as Pakistan’s assent has not come yet. “Initial exclusion of Kashmiri fruits was due to the fact that fruit happens to be in the ‘negative list of commodities’ in the SAARC charter,” Soz said. The trade on this route would be meaningless unless Kashmiri fruit was accepted as an essential item in the list, he said. The minister’s comments negate to some extent the state government’s statement on September 15 that “the list of items forwarded by India to Pakistan included fruits, both fresh and dry.” It had also said the list was still awaiting approval from Pakistan. An official said the exchange of list of items was a gradual and evolving process and a final decision had not been arrived yet. Sources said a proposed list of the approved items from Pakistan came recently and, much to everybody’s shock, it included only rugs (known as namda in Kashmir) and walnuts. Interestingly, the official sources said the 26 items that the Pakistan government proposed for export to India included many items for which Kashmir was much more famous for than the areas across the LoC. Some of these are walnut woods, fruits and saffron. To add to the irony, the Pakistan government has called its saffron ‘Kashmiri saffron’ while rejecting saffron from this side, which is regarded best in the world. The sources said Pakistan’s reluctance in importing fruits and many other items from Kashmir might have something to do with the trade economy of PoK. Meanwhile, a team of traders from PoK is visiting the valley on September 22 to hold talks with their counterparts here. The meet is being seen as a move forward to realisation of cross-LoC trade. But Kashmir is unlikely to rejoice over any trade, which does not include its fruits and local traders, have already made it clear that they would reject any such proposal.
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CPM seeks MIS for fruit growers
Srinagar, September 17 Poor implementation of the scheme has not provided the desired incentives to the fruit growers. This, Tarigami said, had also adversely affected the marketing and better returns for Kashmiri fruits in outside markets owing to growing competition from horticulture produce of other states, especially Himachal Pradesh. Tarigami said the growers were not paid for their "grade C" fruit as per the market prices, resulting in their reluctance to offer horticulture produce not suited for export. He said hail-hit and scabbed fruits should be procured from the growers and the procurement rates should be enhanced. The delay in the implementation of the market intervention scheme which otherwise would have started in August could result in losses worth crores to the fruit growers. Due to the prevailing situation , the fruit growers have suffered massive losses as they could not export their produce to outside markets. |
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Protests in Shopian over youth’s death
Srinagar, September 17 Police sources said all shops, business establishments, government and semi-government organisations functioned normally and traffic plied on the roads as usual. However, a general strike was today observed in Shopian town in protest against the death of one, Sajjad Ahmad, who was killed in police firing on Friday last after clashes broke out between the police and the protesters. About 18 others were also injured in the incident. The protest was being held on the call given by the separatist Hurriyat coordination committee after the Friday prayers. Demonstrations were also held today in support of the demand of an inquiry into Sajjad’s killing by a judge of the High Court and shifting of top civil and police officers of Shopian district. Though the curfew was relaxed for four hours on Monday evening, it was completely lifted yesterday. However, the general strike continued to be observed in the town in protest against Sajjad’s killing. Meanwhile, the government has ordered an inquiry into Sajjad’s death, which will be headed by the additional deputy commissioner,
Shopian. |
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Arrest of 4 sparks protest
Baramulla, September 17 They alleged that the security forces arrested four youths, who took part in the recent pro-freedom processions in Baramulla. They said the security forces and the police were targeting youths, who participated in the processions. “We are being arrested for taking part in peaceful processions, while in Jammu, the authorities withdrew cases under the Public Safety Act against those, who attacked and injured Kashmiri drivers, looted their goods and forced economic blockade,” agitators alleged. However, after senior police and civil officials assured them that the arrested youths would be released, the agitators lifted the road blockade.
— UNI |
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Varsity contract workers allege foul play
Jammu, September 17 These employees serving different departments of JU alleged that in spite of the fact that posts were advertised in the newspapers, the administration has not come out with any formal selection list of candidates. “We are overage now and cannot get employment anywhere else,” said some of the employees. “We don’t know the criterion on which selection of candidates have been made, but priority should have been given to the employees who have been working for several years,” they asserted. They alleged that the authorities concerned have been endorsing back-door appointments for vested interests. “Most of our leaders and their relatives have got selected while non-influential have been left high and dry,” they charged. The JU officials concerned were cagey to disclose anything over the issue. However, according to sources, as many as 2,000 applicants had applied against the 80 posts, which were advertised in January this year. As many as 60 candidates have been selected so far and they have joined their services, they added. Registrar G.S. Samyal said, “We have made fair and transparent selection.” |
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Land Dispute
Udhampur, September 17 The police said initial reports suggested that a property dispute was the reason for the murder. This is the second incident in which cops are involved in a murder case. Udhampur SSP Surinder Gupta said the accused had been arrested. According to the police, Mohammad Ashraf, a police constable currently deployed at Doda, shot his elder brother, Mohammad Aslam, with his .12-bore licensed gun, firing two bullets from point blank range. As Sheekla Begum, wife of Mohammad Aslam, tried to save her husband she was also fired upon by the accused. After killing his brother and sister-in-law, the accused also attempted to kill his niece but she managed to escape. Mohammad Ashraf later surrendered to the Udhampur police. Locals said Mohammad Shafi, father of the deceased, died some months back. Both brothers were fighting for the property of their father. Deceased Mohammad Aslam had attacked Mohammad Ashraf one month back. The crime rate has of late increased in Udhampur town. In April two police constables were shot dead at busy Dhar Road here by two colleagues over a piece of land. The cops involved in the killing of their colleagues were reportedly operating as agents of the land mafia active in Udhampur and adjoining localities. |
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LeT sympathiser escapes police net
Rajouri, September 17 The ex-SPO, who was dismissed from service after his alleged involvement in some cases of blackmailing and crime against women, reportedly joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and was working as an OGW for the past about three years. Sources in the police department claimed that Imran Khan, a resident of Dehri Lalyote in the Manjakote area, evaded arrest minutes before the police was to get him near the Manjakote police station. The OGW jumped from the vehicle he was travelling in after he saw heavy deployment of police personnel at a naka. Imran managed to disappear in the neighbouring area taking advantage of the tall maize crop. Police sources further said they recovered vegetables and some hand grenades from a bag in the vehicle. Meanwhile, SSP, Rajouri, Rajesh Kumar Yadav, refuted the claims and said: “Though the OGW was wanted in many cases, the police never arrested him. Since we didn’t arrest him, so there is no question of him giving a slip to us. And since he was not arrested, we didn’t recover anything from his possession.” |
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Kashmiri Pandits take Soz to task
Jammu, September 17 Panun Kashmir held an executive party meeting in this connection chaired by its president
Agnishekhar. "The views expressed by Professor Soz are misleading and misrepresent the facts about Panun Kashmir." Agnishekhar said. "The statement that Kashmiri Pandits were an integral part of Kashmiri society and that every Muslim was keen on their return is aimed to misleading and far from truth," Agnishekhar said If such would have been the case, the exodus of the entire Kashmiri Pandit community would not have taken place. Justifying the demand for creation of a separate homeland with UT status he said that Kashmiri Pandits had always tried to coexist and contribute to the overall development and evolution of Kashmiri culture and society. Spokesman of Panun Kashmir Virender Raina blamed Soz for misleading the central government on the damages suffered by the migrant community during the past 19 years. |
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Contract staff to go
Jammu, September 17 According to a circular issued by the office of the registrar, all contractual employees other than junior assistants or Class IV and equivalent against the non-teaching positions, shall be dispensed off in the end of this month. The circular further asked the controlling officers concerned to send a proposal for fresh engagement if required for dire need of manpower. The proposal is required to be sent before September 25 to the assistant registrar. Accordingly, after due consideration by the competent authority, the cleared posts would be advertised and appointments would be made, it added. |
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Gen Mohapatra visits Udhampur
Udhampur, September 17 On his first visit to the Northern Command, the General reaffirmed his conviction about the capability and potential of the Corps in providing a fail-safe communication and electronic warfare support as well as the determination of all ranks. While addressing a Sainik Sammelan, he lauded the professional competence and unstinted dedication displayed by Northern Command signallers and urged them to perform with full devotion. |
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