Srinagar/Jammu, December 2
An independent candidate from the Kupwara Assembly constituency, which went to the polls on November 30 in the third phase, escaped a militant attempt on his life while a blast took place near a house at Baramulla overnight, official sources said today.

They said militants attacked Gulzar Ahmad Lone at his residence in Awoora, Kupwara, with automatic weapons. However, the guards posted there also returned the fire and the exchange continued for some time. But the militants managed to escape under the cover of the darkness.

Lone and his family members escaped unhurt in the attack. The sources said a grenade blast took place near the house of one Abdul Ahad Tantray at Fatehpora in Baramulla without causing any damage.

In another incident a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from a militant hideout in Ahangar forest area of Kandi in Rajouri district, an official spokesman today said. During the searches conducted by 48 Rashtriya Rifles and the police, one mouser pistol, five Chinese hand grenades, five UGBL grenades, three RPG rounds and AK 47 rounds were recovered from the hideout, the spokesman said.

The security forces have recovered a huge quantity of arms and explosives, including over 2 kg of RDX and 18 grenades, in Chingus area of Rajouri district, a police spokesman said here today.

The security forces launched a search operation in Andhrooth forests of Chingus area following a tip-off and recovered the consignment yesterday, he said.

The recoveries included two AK rifles along with three magazines and 554 rounds, one pistol with one magazine and 10 rounds, 18 hand grenades, 2.1 kg of RDX, one wireless set, one security forces uniform and some medicines, the spokesman said. — Agencies

Kupwara, December 2
During an artificial limb camp organised by the Army in Uri for villagers crippled by enemy shelling and by stepping on hidden land mines, Bashir Malik, a resident, said he could reconcile to his wife’s amputated leg, caused by a land mine, but what he feared most was the return of days when his family members and neighbours were always one blast away from death or being crippled forever.

The heightened tension between India and Pakistan over Mumbai terror attack means the worst nightmare of Malik (58) has come back to haunt him and hundreds of poor families like him living near the LoC. “I know people are angry in India. But it is people like us who have to face hard consequences for the poor relation between two countries. They should think about us,” Malik, who works as a trader in Srinagar to supplement his family’s meager income.

For years, dozens of villages line across the LoC in forward Sectors of Baramulla and Kupwara districts went through living hell as shelling between the Indian and the Pakistani Armies were a daily affair. Same was the case with the areas in Poonch and Rajouri.

Abdul Aziz, who belongs to Keran Sector in Kupwara and serves in the state police, says villagers suffered losses as they relocated to relatively safe areas and the Indian Army also kept the pressure on their movement. As things improved after both countries signed a ceasefire in 2003, they were the happiest persons, he said. “I know at least three families who lost a member to these hostilities. Many more were made immobile for life,” he said.

The large crowd of victims at camps mostly organised by the Army for their medical benefits is only a pointer to the suffering of these villagers. Their poor economic conditions, many depend upon casual works offered by the Army for a living, mean that they could not leave their small land holdings for plains of Kashmir.

As relations between two countries go through uncertain times, these people are a worried lot. “I pray that things do not go back to pre-ceasefire situation. We have lived a very fearful life,” said Malik.

Udhampur, December 2
Former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has appealed to the public to compare his two and half years of regime with the 60 years of previous regimes and rely on the proved track record of the Congress and vote it to give it another chance to fulfil their dreams of having power, water, roads and dispensary in each village.

Azad was addressing series of public meetings at Bhaderwah, Chenani, Gulabgarh and Gool-Arnas Assembly segment to seek support for the party candidates.

He promised that if returned to power he would complete the work of recruiting 80,000 IVth class employees, 1 lakh jobs to unemployed youths, stipend to about 5 lakh unemployed graduates and post graduates, increase the retirement age from 58 to 60 years and implement the Sixth Pay Commission.

He said during his time 15,028 anganwadi centres were opened and about 30,000 anganwadi workers were appointed unlike only 3,755 centre in all previous years. He said 8,000 anganwadi centres were more sanctioned to appoint about 16,000 more anganwadi workers, the implementation of which remained incomplete because of the early fall of his government due to the PDPs support withdrawal.

He said in this election the Congress had given mandates to eight Gujjar leaders while as the NC to only three Gujjar leaders, which is two seats more than the proportion of their population. He asserted that during Mufti regime the reservation for the STs for jobs was reduced to 4 per cent from 8 per cent and for in-service promotions from 10 to 5 per cent, but after becoming Chief Minister he had again raised it to 8 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively.

He said the remuneration of nambardars and chowkidars was enhanced from Rs 81 to Rs 501 and from Rs 225 to Rs 500 per month, respectively. 

Basohli (Kathua), December 2
Disenchanted with the slogans of various political parties, residents of this remote constituency of Kathua district say they have remained ignored by the previous governments and this time would only vote for development.

The voters in this constituency feel let down by the previous governments as the area remains cut off from the developmental map of the state. The people also allege that the successive state governments have failed to fulfil the promise of developing the area to bring it on the country’s tourism map. The voters in this area have now decided to ask the contesting candidates to give them in writing that after winning the elections the development works of the area would be taken up on priority.

In absence of employment opportunities in the area, the people here mostly depend on agriculture. However, they say brining the area on the tourism map would have provided them with an alternative and permanent source of income.

“Our area has the potential to become a favourite tourist destination, but despite so many promises, the previous governments and our elected representatives failed to do anything for the region,” Chunni Lal Gandotra of Basohli said.

The area is one amongst the most underdeveloped regions of the state that lack basic amenities, including road connectivity, electricity and potable water.

The roads leading to various villages in the area are in shambles, the people here blame that many roads in the area have not been repaired for past many years.

“One fails to understand whether we live in free India as many of the villages in our area remain in dark and electricity has so far not reached them,” Bishan Das, a local resident, said.

Jammu, December 2
With a vote bank of over 32,000 out of the total of 1.82 lakh electors Sikhs hold the key in the Gandhi Nagar Assembly constituency, which, along with 21 other constituencies in the districts of Jammu, Srinagar Samba and Kathua go to the polls on December 24.

In the 2002 polls, Raman Bhalla of the Congress had trounced NC candidate Sardar Harbans Singh by a margin of over 10,000 votes. The Congress has repeated Raman Bhalla and the NC has given the party mandate to T.S Wazir, a known transporter. Being a Sikh he has started wooing the community voters. In fact the candidates belonging to the Congress, the NC and the BJP were trying to seek blessings from Mahant Manjit Singh, who wields considerable influence among the Sikhs in Jammu. However, Bhall today claimed that majority of the Sikh would vote for him as they did in 2002 election. He said the massive development works he was able to carry out in the constituency were his forte.

He admitted that though there were more candidates in the field it was going to be a four-cornered contest among the candidates belonging to the Congress, the BJP, the NC and the BSP. BJP chief Ashok Khajuria today said in the city’s three constituencies, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu-east and Jammu-west, the BJP candidates had to face the challenge only from the Congress.

In all three Assembly segments in the city it is going to be a tussle among heavy political weights. In Gandhi Nagar the contest is between Dr Nirmal Singh, a former BJP chief, and Raman Bhalla of the Congress, a former minister of state. In the Jammu-west the main contest is among Professor Chaman Lal Gupta, a former union minister of state for defence contesting on the BJP ticket, Congress candidate Mangat Ram Sharma, a former Deputy Chief Minister, and a senior NC Youth leader Chander Mohan Sharma. In the Jammu-east, BJP chief Ashok Khajuria is pitted against Congress candidate Yogesh Sawhney, a former minister of state who had won the seat in 2002.

Khajuria and Bhalla today admitted that in the city’s three constituencies it was going to be a neck and neck contest. Till 2002, the three seats in the city used to be a BJP stronghold. It was in the previous election that the Congress sprang a surprise when it won the three seats. This was one of the reasons that the Congress repeated the candidates it had fielded in the 2002 polls.

Srinagar, December 2
National Conference president Omar Abdullah has asked India and Pakistan to work together to remove the air of suspicion and mistrust, stressing the need for developing a joint mechanism to tackle the menace of terrorism.

Addressing public meetings in Budgam and Baramulla districts today, Omar cautioned against elements bent upon destabilising the two neighbouring countries by creating turmoil in the subcontinent. He urged both the countries to jointly identify and isolate such elements as either country being unstable was not good for the other.

Omar said people of Kashmir wanted peace in the subcontinent as they had suffered most as and when the relations between the two countries had been strained.

He said the NC was the only party that could be a bridge between Indian and Pakistani political leadership and assist both in creating a congenial atmosphere for better bilateral relationship. He reminded the people about his visit to Pakistan and his one-on-one meeting with president Musharaff and his subsequent meetings with Manmohan Singh that helped the two countries come closer.

The NC president also criticised the PDP and the Congress for playing divisive politics during the six years of coalition rule trying to “create fissures among the people of the state for petty political gains”.

He said voted to power the NC would work to restore the bonds of communal harmony and brotherhood among the people of the state.

Srinagar, December 2
Former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has sought a clear mandate to enable the party push its agenda of ushering peace, dignity, stability and prosperity in the state.

Addressing public meetings in the Kokernag and Pahalgam constituencies of Anantnag district, where polling is schedule to be held on December 17, the Mufti claimed that “trends emerging from the first three phases indicate that the people have reposed faith in our party and I hope those going to vote now would transform this renewed trust in PDP

He said that the measures taken by his government between 2002 and 2005 not only transformed the political and economic discourse within the state but also facilitated some notable initiatives towards the peaceful and amicable settlement of the Kashmir issue. “But the challenging task of securing peace for our state, dignity for my people and prosperity for our future generations is still unaccomplished”, he said.

The former Chief Minister assured that in case his party returned to power, it would embark on the agenda of ensuring dignified peace and sustainable prosperity for the people in all regions and sub-regions of the state. “Whether it is the issue of cross-LoC reconciliation, basic economic development, security of our citizens, troop reduction, revocation of the special powers, rehabilitation of the victims of violence or safe passage to the youth who want to come back from across the border and live peaceful lives, the PDP has never compromised on its stand on these vital issues”, Mufti Sayeed said.

Sangaldan (Reasi), December 2
Sitting MLA and former minister of the coalition regime Aijaz Ahmed Khan has been locked in a triangular contest in Gool-Arnas Assembly segment from where he had emerged victorious in a virtually one sided fight in the 2002 Assembly elections.

Young voters, between the age group of 18 to 29 years, hold key in this communal and ethnically divided Assembly segment. Out of total 55,615 electorates, 22,621 are between the age group of 18 to 29 years. And most important of all there are 5,000 voters, who will first time exercise their right to franchise.

Although politicians have been blatantly trying to rake up the ethnic divide to garner support of their own communities, development is emerged as issue in the electioneering. Aijaj, who was minister in the Congress-PDP regime, trying to convince the inhabitants of this most backward segment that he has accelerated developmental activities in this area and managed to get some big projects for the uplift of the masses.

Taking advantage of the prevailing backward and poor economic conditions of the nomadic Gujjars, BJP leader Kabla Singh has highlighting miseries of nomadic people to take on Aijaz, who himself is Gujjar. Although Kabla Singh is concentrating more on Hindu votes comprised 36 per cent of the total electorates, he is also trying to woo some Gujjars by shifting all blames on Aijaz for the miserable conditions of nomadic people. Being a Kashmiri speaking Muslim, NC candidate Ghulam Qadir Mugal has been banking of this community, which constitutes more than 40 per cent of the total votes. The PDP candidate, who is also Kashmiri speaking Muslim, is creating problem for the NC nominee.

Aijaz, who had won 2002 Assembly election as independent candidate and later switched over to the Congress, is facing tough contest from his NC rival Ghulam Qadir Mugal and from BJP candidate Kabla Singh.

The PDP has also fielded a young candidate Shamashad Shan from this seat but real fight would be between the Congress, the NC and the BJP candidates.

Supremacy of the NC was ruined in 2002 when Haji Buland Khan’s son Aijaz Ahmed Khan won this seat as independent candidate and defeated NC nominee Abdul Wahid Shan.

Jammu, December 2
The BJP, which has been targeting the Congress for its soft approach on terrorism, has sharpened its attacks in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks.

BJP national leader and in charge of Jammu & Kashmir affairs R.P. Singh, while addressing a press conference here today, blamed the Congress for not heeding to the continuous warnings being given by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to the government about the impending attacks.

“The recent Mumbai terror attacks have exposed the central government’s utter failure. When RAW was giving warnings about the possible attacks on Mumbai, the government was sleeping,” he said.

He also pulled the Congress for making Shivraj Patil, home minister, and Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, and R.R. Patil, state home minister as mere scapegoats. “By making these leaders resign, the government has merely washed its hands off from its responsibility. Since RAW comes under Prime Minister, so Manmohan Singh should tender his resignation instead for failing to pass on the intelligence reports,” he added.

Already stung with the central government’s handling of the Malegaon case, the BJP has got an opportunity to backfire on the Congress. He said: “The government, ATS and the police remained busy in implicating sadhvi Pragya in the Malegaon case. That is the reason, they could not get a sniff about such a big conspiracy unfolding in the country.”

Srinagar, December 2
After visiting religious, historic and tourist places for the first time in their lives, 40 senior citizens from remote and far-flung areas of north Kashmir are back to dark nights, muddy roads and winter chill.

''We had never thought of going beyond Srinagar that too free of cost,'' said one of the senior citizens, who were taken on a motivational tour by the Army under “Operation Sadbhavana” to different parts of the country. Several of them had not earlier travelled even beyond Kupwara town.

''We visited the historic Jama Masjid, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Dargah of Hazarat Nizamuddin, Rajghat, India Gate, Mughal Gardens and Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi,'' they said, adding that ''we also had an opportunity to seek blessings at the holy Dargah Sharif in Ajmer.'' ''We visited one of the seven wonders of the world, Taj Mahal, and Fathepur-Sikri in Agra,'' a senior citizen said.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said as a part of the Army's constant endeavour to assist integration of the local population into the mainstream, a motivational tour for senior citizens of the remote Machhal area in Kupwara district was organised under “Operation Sadbhavana”. — UNI

Srinagar, December 2
The PDP has for the first time in the history of the state used an FM radio station to put out advertisements seeking support for its candidates in the ongoing seven-phased elections in the state.

“Yaad rakhiye qalam dawaat, PDP hai apni jamaat (Remember ‘pen and inkpot’, PDP is your own party),” says the ad run on the only private-run FM station in the valley.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti believes that the reach of FM Radio is far greater than the newspapers, considering that many remote areas in the state do not get the publications.

“The radio has a wider reach. It has become a major source of entertainment in the state. Not everyone reads the newspapers and not everyone can read newspapers ... so we thought an audio medium like radio could deliver our message better,” Mehbooba said.

She said since her party was one of the youngest in the state, many people may not be aware of its election symbol.

“Other parties like the National Conference, the Congress and the BJP are old and there might be confusion among some section of the electorate of our state about the PDP symbol. So, we decided to put out the advertisement,” she said.Other political parties have stuck to time-tested medium of advertising - the newspapers.

The Congress has put out a half-page advertisement in a local daily highlighting its policy and manifesto with regard to the Kashmir issue.

The People’s Democratic Front led by former minister Hakim Mohammad Yasin has also put up advertisements in several local dailies seeking support for its candidates.

The SP and the LJP, which do not have significant following in the state, and several independents have also used advertisements to boost their chances.

Candidates of some established political parties have also on their own put up ads in dailies as their parties are yet to bring out any officially.

The advertisement displays the statement of NC president Omar Abdullah in Parliament over the Amarnath-land row in which he said not an inch of land in the state would be given to outsiders. It also had remarks of NC patron Farooq Abdullah, made a few days later in Uttar Pradesh, in which Abdullah said he would give as much land as required by the shrine board. — PTI

Jammu, December 2
Following heated arguments over a trivial issue, a fruit stall owner, part of the marriage caterers, murdered a barati in a marriage ceremony at RS Pura near here late last night.

Deceased has been identified as Naresh Kumar Saini (28) of Kheri village in Bishnah tehsil.

Jammu SSP Manohar Singh said fruit stall owner Sunil alias Kaka (25) of RS Pura was dragged into heated arguments by a barati Naresh Kumar Saini, an MES employee, during the marriage ceremony.

Following the arguments, Sunil, in a fit of rage, attacked Naresh with a knife resulting in his death.

He said Naresh had reprimanded the fruit stall owner for serving him excess fruit.

The SSP further said during the scuffle, Sunil inflicted deep wounds with a knife on Naresh’s stomach and the latter succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to the Government Medical College here.

The accused was arrested this morning and a case registered against him.