Jammu, December 13
As many as 3,445 public meetings and rallies have so far been organised across Jammu and Kashmir, since the announcement of the Assembly elections on October 19.

Elections in the state are being held in seven phases spreading over a month. So far, four phases of the elections have concluded while 11 constituencies are going into polls today.

According to election officials, as many as 3,445 political rallies and public meetings have been organised in different parts of the state.

“Out of 3,445 rallies organised by the political parties and the candidates during electioneering, 1, 848 meeting were held in the Kashmir division and 1,597 in Jammu division,” they said.

While, the PDP has organised 716 rallies and meetings, its arch-rival the NC has held 783 rallies. The Congress is placed third with nearly 715 rallies. Among others 270 rallies were organised by the BJP, while 135 by the NPP, 108 by the BSP, the 82 by ANC, 69 by the PDF, 62 by the SP, 59 by the JK Democratic Party (N), 43 by the Lok Janshakti, 37 by the Peoples National Front, 21 by the CPM, 20 by the Bhartiya Bahujan Party J&K, 12 by the Jammu State Morcha and 10 by the NCP, they said.

These figures include 283 organised in the three districts of Pulwama, Shopian and Kathua where polling is being held today in the fifth phase of the Assembly elections. — PTI

Srinagar, December 13
Normal life was affected across Kashmir valley in view of the separatist Coordination Committee call for march towards the district headquarters of Pulwama and Shopian where polling in six constituencies was held in the fifth phase of elections today.

Restrictions under Section 144 were imposed here to prevent the separatist march towards the south Kashmir towns on the occasion of polls, preventing all movements on the city routes leading towards south Kashmir. Restrictions were also imposed in the apple rich town of Sopore in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, where protest demonstrations and clashes took place during the polling in the fourth phase on December 7 last. A general strike was also observed in the major towns of Anantnag and Baramulla, while the life was disrupted in other areas of the valley.

Though the authorities claimed that no curfew restrictions had been imposed here, a heavy deployment of the police and the CRPF on the roads and streets throughout the city restricted movements of the people. The preventive measures were taken to “maintain law and order for the safety of people and avoid any use of force” while tackling any untoward situation, a senior officer told the Tribune here.

Senior leaders of the coordination committee, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani continued to be under house arrest to prevent them from leading any anti-election demonstration.

The two leaders have condemned the police action to prevent them from offering Friday prayers over the past more than a month, during which the Mirwaiz had offered only Id prayers at Jamia Masjid on Tuesday last. The anti-election programme of the coordination committee, comprising both factions of the Hurriyats, other parties, and traders’ bodies, includes protest march after every Friday prayers and march to the district headquarters town where the elections are being held.

The police and the paramilitary troops created barricades on all major crossing points across the city and all roads leading towards south Kashmir were sealed off.

All entry and exit points from here to the polling areas along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway were dotted with barricades and razor-wire coils. Mediapersons on way to cover the elections in Pulwama and Shopian districts from here had to face a lot of trouble due to repeated checking of identity cards and authority letters from the Election Commission. 

Keerian Gandyal (Kathua), December 13
They are born in free India still they do not have any rights to vote just because their grandfathers or great grandfathers came here from “West Pakistan” or the Punjab province of Pakistan in 1947. While people queued up to cast their votes for the fifth phase of polling here today, “refugees” as these people are called had no choice but to stay at home despite having identity cards issued by the Election Commission of India with an endorsement that reads “only for Lok Sabha”.

Sad but true, they are “citizens of India”, but they are “gair bashindas” (non-residents) as far as the Jammu and Kashmir Government is concerned.

Most of the “West Pakistani refugees” are born and brought up in India. But due to Article 370 that accords special status to J&K, these people, 387 families in the Keerian Gandyal area and in total 25,190 living in 4 districts of the state are still “classified” as aliens.

President of the West Punjabi Refugee Action Committee 1947 (WPRAC) Laba Ram Gandhi is today a helpless man. He spent nearly the entire day in Kathua today persuading the “refugees” from holding protests outside polling stations in the hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (himself a “refugee” like them) would fulfil the promise he made to the community during his last visit to the state. Gandhi said some people who had managed to vote last time were denied the right today because they were given the tag of “refugees” when they went to vote.

Because they are not considered “state subjects”, the “refugees” cannot buy or own property in J&K. What more, they cannot even apply for government jobs. “Even illegal immigrants are naturalised after some years, but despite being born here, we are shunned because our forefathers came from across the border. None of us own any land or a house. And since we cannot apply for a state government job, the moment a child is born, we don’t think about his education, but look forward to train them as plumbers, masons or carpenters so that they can earn a living for themselves”, Om Parkash, a mason, whose grandfather came here from Samkal in Pakistan said.

Talking to The Tribune at the Gandyal “B” polling station, a distraught 32-year-old tractor driver, Roop Lal, said he had come to the polling station to see his childhood friend vote. “Though, I have a ID card but I cannot vote in the state assembly polls because my ancestors were “refugees”, but I don’t know when or where they came from”. Having accepted his fate he said, “Here democracy is only for a few privileged ones”.

Most people have lost hope after Laba Ram Gandhi’s 9-month-long dharna in Delhi failed to get any positive response. “We don’t seek voting rights and state citizenship for the ones that came from Pakistan (because there are hardly any left), but at least treat the people who were born here as “state subjects”. It’s a game politicians play, they know over 25,000 families as voters will change the political demography in the Jammu region, something that the “Muslims appeasing” the centre would never want”, says a local tea-stall owner Hira Lal, echoing the voice of the “refugee community”.

Srinagar, December 13
Wali Mohammad Dar, a 110-year-old, and a woman in her 90s were among 12 elderly persons, who cast their vote today in the fifth phase of polling in the 11 Assembly segments, spread over three Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.

Braving icy cold winds, Dar was the first person to cast his vote along with 90-year-old Haji Ghulam Mohammad Mir at a polling station at Dargund in the Rajpora constituency.

Dar said he had participated in all elections held since 1957 in the state. “Even during the peak of militancy in 1996, we exercised our right”, Dar and Mir said

However, they said the people should get a chance to recall the members who had failed to perform.

Ninetyfive-year-old Zoona Ded was among 10 first voters to exercise her franchise at a polling station set up at Wuyan in the Pampore Assembly segment.

Her family members said, immediately after the morning prayers were over, she was insisting them to take her to the polling booth. She too said she had participated in all the elections held so far.

Gulzar Ahmad and Abdul Salam in their 80s were also among the first voters to cast their ballots in the Pampore and Pulwama constituencies. — UNI

Udhampur, December 13
With electioneering gaining momentum, the PDP has stepped up attack on former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. After party general secretary Daman Bhasin charged Azad with intentionally weakening the Congress in the state, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has accused former Chief Minister of fomenting religious, regional and ethnic dissensions in the state for political purposes.

Addressing public meetings at Bhaderwah and Bhalessa today, which are home turf of Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mehbooba said it was, perhaps, for the first time in the history of the state that a Chief Minister allied himself with a particular region and ethnic group, thereby, brewing strong undercurrents of polarisation.

“A Chief Minister is like a father and he has to treat all his family members fairly,” she said. Unfortunately, Azad couldn't do justice with the chair and his myopic policies fueled regional, religious and ethnic tensions across the state, she added.

“It was shocking to hear Azad saying at a public meeting yesterday that he gave mandate to eight candidates from a particular ethnic community in the state while other parties neglected them,” Mehbooba said. She said such prejudiced utterances, in a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir, only demonstrate Azad’s lack of political comprehension.

Mehbooba said the inexcusable mishandling of the coalition government by Azad not only fettered away the gains made on the security, political and development fronts between 2002 and 2005, but caused terrible damage to the traditions of communal harmony and brotherhood in the state.

The PDP president said “The people of the state has now realised that only Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has the capacity and political maturity to pull the state out of the morass and bring peace, stability and prosperity to the people in every region and sub-region of the state.”

Jammu, December 13
A complete security blanket has been enveloped over Jammu ahead of the proposed visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address rounds of election rallies in the state in view of the ongoing assembly elections in the state.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, who is expected to reach the state tomorrow to addresses rounds of election rallies, the entire city has been converted into a fortress. A large number of police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed to provide foolproof security for the VVIP. Meanwhile to assist the security forces in the state to conduct free and fair polls, teams of the Punjab police have also reached the state.

“Elaborate security arrangements have been kept in place to provide a foolproof security to the visiting VVIP. Various teams of the Punjab police have also reached the state to assist in the conduct of free and fair elections” a senior police officer said.

Special protection group (SPG) teams have also arrived in the city to look after the security arrangements ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the state.

The areas where the Prime Minister will be addressing the public have also been sanitised and traffic movement have also been restricted. In view of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai in which more than 180 persons lost their lives, the security agencies in the state have left no stone unturned in providing security to the Prime Minister.

“No doubt providing the security during the visit of any VVIP is always a challenging task for the security agencies, but we have taken elaborate steps to counter any anti-national element, who tries to do something adventitious.”, said a police officer. Jammu and Kashmir director-general of police Kuldeep Khoda has been monitoring the security arrangements in the state for the proposed Prime Minister’s visit.

Billawar/Hiranagar, December 13
While the impact of the Amarnath land agitation has virtually fizzled out, people in a hope of “better tomorrow” turned out in big numbers to cast their votes in five constituencies of Kathua district today.

Yet again local issues like employment, water, electricity, roads, education and health etc. saw voters forming serpentine queues outside the polling stations in five constituencies of Kathua, Bani, Basohli, Billawar and Hiranagar.

The vast district, with 4,06,000 voters, has its boundaries with Doda and Udhampur in the northeast and Pakistan on the west. It also touches Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

“Even though the Amarnath land agitation still has a slight impact, I have come here to cast my vote with a hope to see a corruption-free society where people get job opportunities, education, water and electricity,” H.L. Khajuria, a retired finance department official, at polling station No. 66 in Billawar said.

“I feel that political affiliations don’t matter anymore because people by and large want development and they prefer a candidate, who can deliver to them, he added.

Septuagenarian B.R. Upadhaya, a retired forest department official, at 16-D polling booth said, “Though casting vote is the essence of democracy, dynastic rule in political parties thrusting candidates upon the people has been killing it.”

Upadhaya, however, strongly advocated the need of framing a law to punish those, who stay away from casting their franchise.

Though ex-chairman of the Billawar Municipal Committee Kishori Lal Sharma echoed similar views, he felt that the Amarnath land agitation has left an indelible imprint on the people in this picturesque town.

Udhampur, December 13
Death of a woman allegedly killed in a cross-firing between security forces and militants triggered protest in the Marmat area of Doda district. Halima Begum (55) allegedly got trapped in the cross-firing between the security forces and militants in Kolaras area and lost her life. Her son Mohammad Aslam Wani and his wife Rahida Begum also received injuries in the firing.

A large number of people came out on streets and lodged protest against the incident. They demanded action against the security personnel who were responsible for, what they alleged, “cold blooded” murder.

The agitating people were pacified only after senior police officers rushed to the spot and assured to investigate the case. An FIR has been registered in this case. Defence officials have stated that the woman was killed in a gun-battle between the security forces and militants during an ongoing encounter in Doda district. However, family members of the deceased alleged that a group of troops forcibly entered their house and resorted to indiscriminate firing without any provocation.

Jammu, December 13
Two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) militants, including the widow of slain commander of the outfit, were apprehended by the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) troops Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir, a Defence ministry spokesman said today.

“A self-styled district commander of HM in Doda, Latif Gujjar, alias Fighter, alias Zuber, 28, and Rahida Begum, 32, were nabbed by the troops of 10 RR in the Assar area of the district yesterday,”

Defence Ministry spokesman S N Acharya said. Gujjar, a local militant from Lalur, was active in the district since 2000 while Rahida, widow of HM’s slain deputy commander Irshad Moulvi Khanji, resident of the Batwas area of Doda, was a sleeper terrorist since 2006, the spokesman said.

Khanji was killed by security forces in 2006, he informed. An AK-56 rifle, one magazine and 20 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the apprehended militants, the spokesman added .— UNI

Anantnag, December 13
This longtime NC bastion is agog with hectic election activities ahead of polling on December 17. All eyes are set on Anantnag where PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is pitted in a three-cornered contest against NC candidate Mehboob Beigh, elected in 2002, and Manzoor Ahmad Ganai of the Congress.

This constituency has the highest number of 23 candidates in all six constituencies of the district, followed by 20 each in Kokernag and Dooru, 17 in Shangus and 12 each in Pahalgam and Beijbehara.

“There are fewer election rallies yesterday due to the Friday prayers”, said a political party worker at Khannabal, where the offices of all contesting candidates have been set up under security cover. The colourful party flags, banners, posters, buntings, mainly red, green and white, meet the eye as one enters the secured area. Vehicles fitted with loudspeakers and party banners are a common feature 
on the main roads and market places.

A number of rallies have been held in and outside the town, and across the far-flung rural areas in the district, said Mohammad Jamaal, a farmer from the distant Kokernag area. Life was normal in the district, while the separatist coordination committee reiterated its anti-election protest call after the Friday prayers. The call prompted the authorities to impose restrictions in Srinagar to prevent any attempts to stage protests.

“Things have changed to a great extent”, commented an official here, saying that the Amarnath land row, which engulfed the entire state for over two months between June and August, is a forgotten issue. There are issues like good governance, better basic amenities and, above all, the issue of unemployment among the educated youth. “These things apart, the people understand that the Kashmir issue needs to be resolved”, commented a resident. While the PDP claims to have handled both dimensions suitably during its three-year coalition rule, the National Conference has drawn a straight line between good governance and resolution of the Kashmir issue, with its main plank of grant of internal autonomy.

This is for the first time that former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is contesting from Anantnag, though he belongs to neighbouring Beijbehara. “His decision to contest from this constituency is a well-calculated move in view of the public mood”, said Abdul Rashid, a local resident.

Anantnag has been represented by the NC since 1977 except for 1987 when Mohammad Sayed Shah of the then Muslim United Front (MUF) was elected.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who took over as the Chief Minister on November 2, 2002, got elected to the Assembly from Pahalgam in Anantnag district after his daughter, Mehbooba, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Anantnag in 2004. 

Banihal, December 13
Unfazed by the dismal performance in the recent Assembly elections in five states, LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan today tried to woo voters in the state by promising a slew of populist measures if voted to power as the party eyed the national status.

“The main problem of Jammu and Kashmir is unemployment and if my party comes to power in the state, we guarantee job to at least one person in each family. Ending unemployment will be our first target,” Paswan, who is the Union minister for steel, chemicals and fertilisers, said after addressing a political meeting here.

Party sources say the LJP’s strategy of contesting in maximum states aims at securing national status for the party, which has little hold outside Bihar, by acquiring the required vote percentage in at least four states.

The main opposition party in Bihar, the RJD led by Lalu Prasad, got the national party status a few months ago.

That’s the reason the LJP contested a whopping 119 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 87 seats in Rajasthan, 41 seats in Delhi, 38 seats in Mizoram and 28 seats in Chhattisgarh despite the fact that it did not have the “winning capacity” in any of these states.

The LJP could win just one seat in Delhi, while it could not open its account in four states - Mizoram, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

To get a national status, a party must get two per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha - 11 seats from three states - or six per cent of votes in four states plus four MPs.

More than the number of seats that it wins, the LJP is concerned with the percentage of votes, party sources said. — PTI

Jammu, December 13
While party activists from Himachal and Punjab have started arriving in Jammu for aiding the BJP campaign for wooing voters, the state unit of the Congress has decided to bank on top leaders from the neighbouring states for garnering electorates’ support.

Congress spokesman Ravinder Sharma today said: “We have not sought any help from the party activists from the neighbouring states. Instead, senior party leaders, including Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will be visiting Jammu within next two to four days.”

Sharma said the polling under phase seven in the districts of Jammu and Samba, having 13 constituencies, was very important for the Congress. The party got top leaders not only from the neighbouring states but from Delhi also to give a fillip to our campaign.

He said Prime Minister Mammohan Singh was scheduled to visit Jammu tomorrow and his visit would be followed by Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Makhan Lal Fotedar, a former Union minister and an important functionary in the AICC setup. Sharma said in the 2002 elections, the Congress had bagged eight out of 13 seats in Jammu and Samba belts, and if we were able to repeat the performance, the party would emerge successful.”

However, the BJP is banking on scores of party activists from Punjab and Himachal. BJP chief Ashok Khajuria said: “Some party workers from these states had reached Jammu and others were coming within next two to three days.”

Khajuria said top BJP leaders, including Rajnath Singh, Shanta Kumar, Arun Jaitley had already campaigned for the BJP in Jammu and Kathua belts and more prominent party leaders were coming to boost the morale of BJP workers and supporters.

Three major political parties, the PDP, the NC and the Panthers Party continue to bank on Mufti Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti, Faroor Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Bhim Singh and Harsh Dev Singh, respectively.

Since these three parties are regional in character, they do not have any base outside the state. Hence the question of inviting some leaders and workers from outside the state does not arise.

Jammu, December 13
The way Union government, political parties and general public have united against terrorism in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks, Kashmiri Pandit migrants have become hopeful of their return and rehabilitation to the safe and peaceful environs back in Kashmir valley.

Chairman of the Panun Kashmir Ajay Chrungoo said: “As now Pakistan is tightening its noose around the chiefs of dreadful terrorist outfits, the terrorism not only in India but in Kashmir as well will receive a setback. This will facilitate the ground for our community to return to our homes and live a dignified life.”

He also condemned the Union government to sleep through the entire devastation, only to wake up when it finally transpired. “The terrorist attack in Mumbai is a grim reminder of the ruthless face of Islamic fundamentalism. It has also exposed the hollowness of peace process launched by the NDA regime and pursued by the UPA government which only served as an exercise of suicidal self-delusion,” he added.

He also applauded the first positive step of ideating to form a federal agency to respond to the threat of terror, but sounded that the checks and balances must be taken care of in it.

Vice chairman of the Panun Kashmir Shailendra said: “It needs no two opinion to endorse that terrorism is emanating from the soil of Pakistan. To accept that the state of Pakistan is equally a victim of terror will be a gross blunder. A state like Pakistan which publicly accepts the existence of non-state actors in its territory and, then expresses its helplessness to control them is either a failed state or an accomplice to the terror.”

Desperate to get back to their homeland, the community has demanded to do away with the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir. General secretary, Panun Kashmir, Kuldeep Rana said: “Jammu and Kashmir should be treated like any other state. The special status which has given to it for the majority of Muslim population inhabiting here should be scrapped. We need not to get into hassle of any bilateral talk, as Kashmir issue is an internal matter which should be dealt with stringent action.”

Poonch, December 13
The state Education Department doesn’t seem interested to mitigate the sufferings of students in snow-hit areas of this frontier district. The department continues to put certain schools in areas experiencing snowfall in the “summer zone”. The department by placing these schools in “summer zone” is making these to function in cold weather conditions without the necessary heating infrastructure and is paining the students.

As the customary is, schools in areas which experience high temperatures during summers and moderate temperature in winters with no snowfall are put in the “summer zone” and the schools which experience moderate temperature in summers and moderate to high snowfall during winters are placed in winter zone.

Sources in the Education Department here divulged that the department continues to make certain schools located in moderate to high snow-hit areas function during winters that too with little provision of heating arrangements in the schools.

They added that Middle School, Darati, in Mendhar zone, all schools in Batta Durain area of Balakote zone, including Government Middle School Batta Durain and Kalai Hillaan in Surankote zone (all in Poonch district) had been placed in the summer zone even as these areas experienced snowfall in winters. In the absence of proper heating arrangement, it had become difficult for students to study in intense cold, sources said.

“Our area experiences heavy snowfall during winters and the school continues to function even during winters. There is no provision of heating system. It is not possible for us to sit and study since we have to sit in intense cold conditions,” a student of Government Middle School at Batta Durian on the condition of anonymity said.

A local official of the Education Department said the fact that these schools had been placed in the summer zone speaks of the faulty planning of the government. “The department shall place these schools in the winter zone. This will be in the best interest of students and teachers of these schools,” he added.

Director, school education, Jammu region, Zahida Khan told The Tribune that if the people of these areas wished to have these schools in winter zone, they could apply for the same.