Srinagar, November 7
Normal life in Srinagar was paralysed for the second consecutive day as thousands of security personnel used a mix of persuasion and force to foil the secessionist Coordination Committee's call for people to march to the Jamia mosque.

Commercial establishments, education facilities and even most government offices were closed and transport services were off the roads as an eerie silence, which has been recurring once too often in the past few months, blanketed the streets of the city.

The committee had renewed its call for today after their march was thwarted yesterday by the authorities.

On the lookout for issues to rally people around, who have shown increasing wariness of late, the committee gave the Jamia chalo call to commemorate the killing of Muslims in the Jammu region by the royal Dogra force in November, 1947. Separatists pay their tributes to killed Muslims each year but used the issue this year to collect crowds for protests.

Over 22 persons received injuries when protesters clashed with security personnel in Sopore, Baramulla and Naid Khai and Hajjan in Bandipora after the Friday namaz.

However, in Srinagar the security forces ensured that there was no collection of people. "They are not allowing us to even stroll on the road. They have asked us to stay indoors" Shakil Bhat, a resident of Nowhatt, where the Jamia mosque is located, told The Tribune. Roads leading to Lal Chowk were either barricaded or people were prevented from approaching the sensitive area.

A CRPF commandant said the message to them was clear--not to let people collect with the intention of creating trouble.

Hurriyat (M) leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who remained under house arrest for the third day, accused the government of taking an "immoral and inhuman" approach in not allowing people to assemble in the Jamia mosque.

Jammu, November 7
Even as different political outfits go full throttle canvassing for support, the PDP in the backdrop of post Amarnath land agitation faces an uphill task in the Jammu region, especially in Hindu-dominated areas. It may be recalled here that in the 2002 Assembly elections, the PDP had won 16 seats, all from the Kashmir valley.

Party sources said though we anticipated a good performance in Muslim-dominated border districts like Poonch, Rajouri and Doda and we were confident of opening our account in Jammu, certainly prospects look bleak in Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts.

During the agitation, these four districts in particular witnessed huge violent protests against Mehbooba Mufti and her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

People in Jammu felt that being a Kashmir-centric party, the PDP deliberately raked up the land controversy hurting their religious sentiments. Even political pundits predicted tough going for the PDP in Hindu-dominated districts of Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts. In Poonch and Rajouri districts too, the PDP faces a tough task because these border districts were considered to be a stronghold of the National Conference.

However, senior PDP leader and former finance minister Tariq Hameed Qarra, while exuding confidence of fairing well in Jammu region, prophesied Mufti Mohammed Sayeed as the next Chief Minister of the state.

I would not like to go into numbers, but we would definitely improve our tally even in Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu, he said. Qarra claimed that the PDP’s good governance in its three-year rule would be the dominant factor in the poll and the same would turn the tide in its favour.

If anyone had to be punished by the people, it was the NC that changed tones in Kashmir and Jammu regions, he said. On party maintaining a low profile and not focusing hard on the Hindu-dominated areas of Jammu, he said let the list of nominees come out and then party electioneering would pick up momentum in Jammu as well.

On party strategy to woo Hindu electors of Jammu region, Qarra said, there was no need to devise a strategy because the PDP would highlight its performance of three-year rule during the coalition government. It may be stated here that Hindu population dominates 24 Assembly constituencies out of a total of 37 in Jammu region.

Srinagar, November 7
The PDP has announced another list of candidates. The list includes the names of Ghulam Mohammad Mir for Handwara, Mohammad Sultan Pandithpuri for Langate, Fayaz Ahmad Mir for Kupwara, Syed Asgar Ali for Khishtawar, Sheikh Mujeeb for Bhaderwah, Sardar Shakil Singh for Ramban, Bahar Ahmad Runiyal for Banihal and Atta-ul-lah Khan for Doda.

Meanwhile, the PDP has urged the Election Commission to make public the number of migrant electoral forms issued through the print and electronic media. A PDP spokesman said the Election Commission should take all necessary measures to uphold the sanctity of the election process to avoid any sort of malpractices. He also urged the EC to monitor complaints on a daily basis for quick disposal.

Jammu, November 7
It seems allotment of the ticket has taken precedence over the party manifestoes in various political outfits in the state.

While some political parties have come out with lists of candidates even for the seventh phase of the elections, a majority of them, including the Congress, the BJP and the National Conference, are yet to release their manifestoes.

Nirmal Singh, former state BJP president and candidate from Gandhi Nagar, said the manifesto under print. "I agree it should have come earlier, but it took time as we wanted to come out with a comprehensive manifesto that addresses the aspirations of all sections of society," he said, adding that they had been raising issues that would figure in the manifesto, at the party rallies.

Former minister and senior Congress leader Abdul Gani Vakil attributed the delay in the release of the the manifesto to the Assembly elections in other states as well. "As ours is a national party we had to finalise the manifestoes as well as candidates for five other states too," he said, adding that unlike the regional parties the Congress had to take various factors into account in sync with its national character.

The manifesto of the National Conference too is awaited. The party though has released The NC 'Vision Document', according to president Omar Abdullah, is a complete guide for good governance. The document highlights the party's political and economic agenda for governance in the state for the next 15 years. NC MLC Devender Singh Rana said the manifesto would be out early next week.

Interestingly, the Panthers Party has released its manifesto, but only for the first phase of elections, which focuses on local problems of Poonch district. Senior party leader Harsh Dev Singh said they would have a main manifesto for the entire state, which would be released soon.

Meanwhile, the electorate here doesn't seem much bothered about these parties' manifestoes either. "Even if they release their manifestoes how many of them fulfil their promises once voted to power. It has turned into a mere formality," is the common refrain.

"Had the political parties been delivering since Independence the number of pages in their manifestoes should have declined but instead it is increasing," said a disillusioned voter.

Jammu, November 7
There is a strong resentment within the National Conference (NC) for giving party mandate to the ‘blue-eyed’ individuals at the expense of ‘deserving’ candidates in the Jammu region.

Provincial president Ajay Sadhotra, though in a press conference today, categorically denied any sort of dissension in the party, reliable sources confided in The Tribune that deserving people in the youth wing, Gujjar leaders and certain senior leaders have been left high and dry.

Former minister and senior vice-president of the party Harbans Singh, who contested from Gandhi Nagar constituency in 1983, 1996 and 2002 has been sidelined, they said, adding the party has nominated sitting MLC TS Wazir.

They said before taking such a decision, the party parliamentary board should have gone into Singh’s track record. He had been constantly improving his base in the Gandhi Nagar constituency, which was evident from his rich haul of 11,500 votes in 1983, 18000 in 1996 and 27,000 in 2002 elections.

Similarly, former MP Choudhary Talib Hussain, a senior Gujjar leader from Rajouri, parted ways with the NC and decided to contest as an independent candidate. The NC has given the mandate to Mohammad Aslam Khan. Hussain, who has a strong Gujjar vote bank, was interested in contesting from any of the Rajouri Assembly constituencies.

From Poonch-Haveli, the party has fielded Aijaz Ahmed Jan, son of former MLA GM Jan that annoyed sitting MLC Bashir Ahmed Naaz, who now has been given the Congress mandate.

Sources said this time around the NC has ignored its Gujjar leaders that may deliver a setback to the party prospects.

The Congress has fielded seven Gujjar candidates while the NC has fielded only two, viz, Choudhary Liaqat Ali from Darhal and Javed Ahmed Rana from Mendhar.

“Ignoring Gujjar candidates would cost dear to the party as this community plays a significant role in brightening fortunes of any political party,” they added.

Another loyalist and former president of the YNC Jammu wing, Taranjeet Singh Tony, has also decided to contest as an independent from Suchetgarh constituency after the party awarded the ticket to Naresh Chowdhary.

They said the party candidate in 2002 elections, Dr Kamal Arora, has also jumped into the fray as an independent from the Bishnah constituency after expelled state BSP president Yashpal Bhagat had been chosen by the NC.

Citing what they claimed a glaring instance of favoritism, sources said from Jammu East, the party has given its mandate to Pardeep Bali, son of late Bodh Raj Bali, who had been a minister in 1996.

Jammu East block president Mohammed Ayub Malik, who being a secular man and a dedicated youth leader having bright prospects, was simply ignored, they added.

Likewise, Master Noor Hussain and Arshad Choudhary (Gujjar leaders from Nagrota), Dharampal Kundal from Hiranagar, Udhampur youth wing president Ram Parshottam Sharma and Advocate Bharat Bhushan (Udhampur) have been ignored.

They said the party has given its mandate to DS Bindu from Basohli constituency, adding he joined the NC a few days back but being close to a senior party leader ‘luck’ smiled upon him.

Surankote (Poonch), November 7
One of the worst militancy hit areas, Surankote, which goes to poll in the first phase on November 17, would finally hope its leaders to deliver and to develop a progress path for its residents.

Poll Date: Nov 17

Voters: 84,969

Candidates: 11

Main issue: Unemployment

This constituency has 84,969 voters — 43,442 male and 41,527 female — who would decide the fate of 11 candidates in fray.

The EC has set up as many as 110 polling stations in the constituency, as compared to 107 established in 2002 poll.

The main contest seems to be between two-time NC MLA Syed Mushtaq Bukhari and senior Congress leader Choudhary Muhammad Aslam, who represented this constituency from 1967 to 1996.

Other candidates are Mumtaz Hussain Bukhari (PDP), who is cousin of Mushtaq Bukhari, Abdul Aziz Bhat (BJP), Jameel Hussain Shah (Panthers Party), Javed Ahmed (All India Forward Block), Ishfaq Ahmed (J&K Democratic Party-National), Kalu Khan (Kissan Mazdoor Party) and Muhammad Sharief Shaad (BSP). Syed Mushtaq Bukhari, who comes from a family of Muslim clerics, has good base in the Panj Saran area and is quite popular among the Pahari community who roughly forms 55 per cent of the voters.

Aslam, who is a prominent Gujjar leader and a former Rajya Sabha MP, comes from the Lassana area and is popular in the Hari, Madote and his native place. Aslam is likely to get good share of his community voters who form about 45 per cent of voters.

In 1996, Bukhari defeated Aslam by securing 18 per cent more votes but in 2002, the victory margin went down to just 6 per cent. So far as the voters are concerned, people of different areas have different priorities.

The common priorities are employment for educated youth, setting up of a degree college, better healthcare, increased connectivity in villages under Prime Minister Grameen Sadak Yojana, proper implementation of NREGA, speedy completion of Mughal road project and restart of work on the Parnai power project, which was stopped in early 1990s due to lack of funds and militancy. In Bufliaz area, voters have raised voice for a degree college at Surankote.

Srinagar, November 7
Eminent Kashmiri poet Rahman Rahi, who was conferred the Jnanpith Award by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi yesterday, has become the first Kashmiri to get India’s highest literary honour. The intellectual community of Jammu and Kashmir has hailed the honouring of Kashmiri languages and culture at the national level.

Giving away the award the Prime Minister said literature and poetry gave “freedom to our imagination” and also liberated us “from stereotypes and narrow thinking”, helping people come “face to face with the human condition”.

Describing Rahi as having made a profound contribution to the Kashmiri language and Indian literature, the Prime Minister said :“This is the first time that this recognition has come to literature in the Kashmiri language, which finds its earliest expression in the mystical work of Lalleshwari or Lal Ded almost 700 years ago”.

Rehman Rahi is a Kashmiri poet, translator and critic. He was awarded the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961 for his poetry collection Nawroz-i-Saba, the Padma Shri in 2000, and India’s highest literary award, Jnanpith Award (for the year 2004) in 2007. He is the first Kashmiri writer to be awarded Jnanpith, India's highest literary award.

Jammu, November 7
Resentment is brewing amongst Sanskrit scholars as they rue that the state government as well as education institutions are not giving fair deal to the language that dominated the ancient Indian literature.

They allege that those who are believed to be the guardians of the ancient language have been inflicting harm to it. Substantiating their claims, they said hardly any activity was being held for the promotion and development of language in the state.

“For the past 50 years, Jammu University (JU) has not changed the curriculum of language being taught in education institutions, while there is no separate section for Sanskrit in the J&K Academy for Art, Culture and Languages. Collectively, this all has led to extinction of language,” they complained.

“Sanskrit literature is fast perishing in the Department of Archives, but there is no one to read it as students are not encouraged towards language,” president of J&K Vidyarthi Sanskrit Parishad Paras Shastri said.

“Students in the Department of Sanskrit, JU, want to learn and speak in Sanskrit itself, but teachers are not ready to deliver. This is the tragedy, what to expect from rest of the quarters,” he rued and added that their organisation has been struggling for the past 10 years for the revival of one of the world’s oldest language.

Another scholar, Baldev Shastri said all medium of postgraduation and research work conducted by the Sanskrit Department of the university should be in Sanskrit itself instead of Hindi.

He further demanded Internet facilities for students on the pattern of other departments of the university and said syllabus of Sanskrit set by JU should be based on curriculum for competitive professional examinations like IAS, KAS, NET etc.

“We stress upon the department to come clean on ‘Snatkotra Sanskrit Prishad’ - a fund which is collected from students in the university during admission,” Shastri said.

Jammu, November 7
A teenager who was trapped in river Chenab was rescued while three people were killed in different incidents in the Jammu region for the last 24 hours, police reports here said today.

“A 13-yr-old student was rescued by the police, who got trapped while crossing the river Chenab near Chanderkote in Banihal tehsil of Ramban district yesterday,” sources said.

Police said the gate of Baglihar Dam suddenly got open and the teenager was caught in the heavy flow of water.

“The police parties and the locals rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation and saved the boy identified as Rakesh Singh, resident of Duksan Dandrath in Ramban,” the police added.

Three people were meanwhile, killed in separate road mishaps at different places in Jammu division.

“A motorcyclist was killed when his vehicle skidded off the road last night at Magar Khad in Kathua district,” the police said. The injured motorcyclist identified as Rohit Kumar, resident of Shahpur Kandi, Punjab, was immediately rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him as brought dead.

In another road accident, a youth was crushed to death when he was hit by a speedily driver load carrier at Ramgarh area of Samba district.

The deceased had been identified as Gurmeet Singh resident of Karyalian. However, one Raj Kumar, resident of village Chowala in bordering R S Pura was injured when hit by a vehicle near Indra Naga.

“The injured was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu where he succumbed later,” the police added. — UNI