Jammu, January 19
The Crime Branch of the police claimed to have arrested a government employee, who had been indulging in smuggling of world-famous sapphire from the Paddar area of Kishtwar district.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, IG, crime, SM Sahai said acting on a tip-off a Crime Branch team headed by SSP JP Singh and DSP Ashok Singh Chib raided a shopping complex in Kucha Kaka Ram in the Pucca Danga area of the old city.

“During the raid, one Surjit Singh of Kundal Paddar, who is an employee of the Sheep Husbandry Department, was arrested with four pieces of freshly extracted sapphire valuing Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh,” said the IG.

He said the accused had disclosed that he had been doing this illegal trade in connivance with some government officials entrusted with the task of extraction and protection of sapphire mines in Paddar.

The accused also revealed that he had already smuggled some sapphire extracted from Paddar and had delivered it to a jeweller, Ashwani Kumar, in the Pucca Danga area.

Sahai said following his disclosures a raid was also conducted at the residence of Ashwani Kumar and three more pieces of sapphire along with raw and unfurnished sapphire valuing more than Rs 20 lakh were recovered.

Jammu, January 19
Accusing the earlier regimes of handing a raw deal to Rajouri and Poonch districts in the past 60 years, NC leader Shah Muhammad Tantray today requested Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to announce a special package for development of various sectors, including tourism, agriculture and horticulture in these border districts.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Tantray exuded confidence that the Chief Minister would weed out political injustice and give due share to these two districts in developmental schemes.

The new government should also provide electricity, healthcare and roads, besides creating job avenues.

Tantray also demanded a fresh BPL survey in Poonch, enhancement in the reservation quota from 25 to 50 per cent for students of Poonch and Rajouri in Baba Ghulam Shah Budshah (BGSB) University, decentralistion of the transfer policy in the Education Department and backward status to Mandi block. 

Jammu, January 19
The memories of January 1990 still send shivers down the spine of Pawan Kumar when he shut his business and migrated to Jammu along with his family following threats by militants.

Pawan Kumar is among thousands of Kashmiri Pandits, who today recalled January 19, 1990, the day when the community’s exodus started from the valley, with over 500 families leaving Kashmir. There is a lump in his throat even today when he remembers one of his friends, who was shot dead by militants as the latter opened his shop ignoring their threat.

Though the government is offering a package for Kashmiri Pandits’ return and rehabilitation, Pawan Kumar feels that it won’t be easy for many to go back to the valley. “We have lost our loved ones in Kashmir and it would take a lot of courage to return to the valley though the government is offering housing facility as well as employment to our youth,” he averred.

The Kashmiri Pandits at the Muthi camp recalled how affluent people were targeted and forced to flee the valley, leaving behind their property. “Many of us later sold off our property in Kashmir, deciding never to return. Also, after living here for around two decades, our young generation is not keen to return,” said a group of elderly sitting outside a grocery shop at a displace community’s camp. According to them, over 1,000 families lost their family members in militant attacks in 1990s.

AK Dewani, working president of the J&K National United Front, an outfit promoted by the Kashmiri Pandits, said the day brought with it the horrible memories when the community was receiving threats to leave the valley from almost every quarter. He said the killings and subsequent exodus had given a setback to the psyche of the Kashmiri Pandits. “It has been an unprecedented blow to the democratic way of life practised world over. We have lost faith in state and national leadership,” he added.

According to him, though the situation has improved over the years, it can reignite any moment unless “fundamental remedies are taken”. He said the government instead of “giving hollow slogans of providing temporary shelters and employment in the valley should first ensure minority protection”.

Ashwani Chrungoo, president of the Panun Kashmir Movement, a frontal Kashmiri Pandit outfit, said though the government had been talking of rehabilitating the community back in Kashmir, “there is no scope for resettlement unless the reasons for exodus - genocide, terrorism and ethnic cleansing - are reversed”.

He said they stood firm on their demand for homeland, which they would take across the nation in the coming days. 

Srinagar, January 19
With an improvement in weather conditions, traffic was restored today on the Kashmir valley’s lifeline, the 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu national highway, after 24 hours.

The highway was blocked due to a downpour and snow during the past three days. A heavy snowfall around Jawahar tunnel and rain along the highway triggered landslides at Panthal between Banihal and Ramban, disrupting the movement of traffic.

More than 3,500 vehicles had been stranded on the highway, which were allowed to move around 11 a.m. after clearance of the road by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The road condition was, however, slippery due to snow and rain and the motor drivers had been asked to move low to avoid accidents.

Snow and rain also affected life in the plains across the Kashmir valley leading to waterlogging at different places on roads.

Meanwhile, the state continued to shiver under intense cold as snow coupled with rain lashed most parts of the state for the fourth successive day today.

Hill resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a low of -2.9°C, while Kupwara in north Kashmir and Banihal on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway recorded -0.5°C and -1.2°C, respectively, the MET office said.

The minimum temperature in Jammu last night was 12.1°C while it stood at 12.4°C on January 17.

Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi temple, also registered a decrease in the night temperature as mercury dipped to 8.6°C following 34.4 mm of rainfall.

Srinagar, which received 15.8 mm of rainfall and snow till 8.30 am today, recorded a low of 0.2°C, while Kokernag recorded a low of 0.6°C with 32.4 mm of rainfall and snow.

Official sources said higher reaches of Shopian and Anantnag district received heavy snow for the past four days. 

Srinagar, January 19
The state government has launched a drive to identify more scenic spots in the three regions of Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu this season so as to attract more tourists and upgrading the existing sites for improving the socio-economic condition of the state.

In this direction, already new spots like Bungus and Neelam valleys in remote areas of north Kashmir, the rugged mountains of Zanskar and Nobra valleys in Ladakh, and Bhaderwah in Doda district of Jammu province have emerged on the tourist map of the state. This was disclosed by Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora, who was of the view that not only did tourism provides much-needed foreign exchange, but also employment opportunities for the youth, since the sector was intertwined with the state’s rich art, culture and heritage. The sector was at a low ebb due to the Amarnath land agitation last year, but the authorities expected a bumper tourist season this year.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has already indicated that a fortnight-long Gurez Adventure Tourism Festival would be organised this summer to give boost to tourism in the area. “We will ensure that the infrastructure requirements of the new spots are taken up on priority”, Jora has said, according to an official spokesman. “The current allocation of funds is a bare minimum and more funds are required to be sourced to develop and upgrade the tourism infrastructure in the state”, he added.

The minister also referred to a new scheme to promote tourism in rural areas, where the unemployed youth in several tourist villages are provided up to Rs 2 lakh for upgrading a portion of their house to be rented out to tourists as paying guests. “In other states, this scheme has been extremely effective as it sows the seeds of development at a micro-level. I will ask the authorities concerned to provide publicity to these schemes here as well”, the minister said.

The minister dwelt at length on pilgrim tourism, which has a great scope in all three regions of the state. “All three regions have distinct identities, which is their strength. We have devotees coming to Vaishno Devi and Shahdara Sharief in Jammu province, Amarnath in Kashmir province and also Sindhu Darshan in the Ladakh region. We have to reach out to them and see that they discover Jammu and Kashmir beyond their religious beliefs. The tourist confidence has to be restored”, Jora said.

“We have to focus on both foreign as well as domestic tourists. Several countries have travel advisories on Kashmir, which have to be withdrawn and the recent voter turnout is a positive indicator in that direction”, he said. 

Jammu, January 19
While extending support to the one-day token strike by the Employees Joint Action Committee, the Jammu and Kashmir Central Non-Gazetted Electrical Employees Union said today that the Power Development Department had been facing problems due to shortage of staff.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mohammad Aslam Choudhary and Parshotam Sharma, provincial president and state general secretary of the union, respectively, said a power station was having around four persons to run the system whereas it required at least 10 to 12 persons.

They said the field staff were working under pressure as they had been allotted vast areas. “Around 5,400 daily wager earners are working in the department and around 460 employees are required to be appointed immediately,” they said.

The union demanded the regularisation of all daily wager earners as per SRO 381, framing of staff norms on the HP Electricity Board basis, reorganisation of the department according to project requirements, grant of minimum pay scale to all ITI diploma holders and the implementation of SRO 59 and SRO 393 in the Jammu region.

Leh, January 19
Many agricultural implements and seeds being distributed among farmers under various schemes are of poor quality.

Congress councillor Shafi Lasu alleged this before the LUFT-led Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, on the first day of the council’s three-day meeting today. The meeting would review the annual plan of the district for 2008-09. The Congress is the opposition party in the 30-member general council.

Lasu further alleged that threshers being distributed among the farmers to mechanise farming were not only of poor quality, but also lacked standardisation mark like ISI.

The Congress councillor also alleged that sub standard seeds were being distributed as high yield seeds. He urged the executive body of the LAHDC to maintain transparency in distributing high breed cows brought from Himachal Pradesh.

Chairman of the council Tsering Dorjey said additional funds of Rs 15 crore had been sought to complete development works in the district.

Elaborating on the total outlay for the district, Dorjey said a record expenditure of 58 per cent had been registered by December-end last year. The general council is also expected to discuss the draft plan of 2009-10 of the district.

Meanwhile, in an important decision the general council approved the procurement of barley to feed Pushmina goats of Changthang after the councillors from the region proposed it due to more nutritional value reported by nomads than imported feeds.

Issues relating to agriculture and allied activities and animal husbandry dominated the meeting. The meeting also decided to consider procuring seeds from local farmers and promote schemes in different parts of the district depending upon the potential of the region. 

Srinagar, January 19
Several protesters were injured when the police resorted to cane charge and teargas shelling near Eidgah to quell the demonstrators against an alleged desecration of a mosque by the CRPF men in the area today.

The trouble started when the residents of Safakadal, Eidgah and Firdous Bagh continued their protest demonstrations against the alleged desecration for the second consecutive day today.

They alleged that the CRPF men had entered the mosque and indulged in acts of desecration, the charge denied by the CRPF. The residents had claimed that a number of CRPF men had entered the Aali Masjid close to Eidgah, indulging in acts of desecration, which led to resentment among the locals. Protest demonstrations by the residents demanding action against those responsible were also taken out in the area yesterday. The residents alleged that after the protest demonstrations, the CRPF men had beaten up several residents and ransacked their houses in retaliation.

The officials claimed that no acts of desecration had taken place and instead some gambling youth had been held by the police in the area. Two of them held by Safakadal Police Station on the charges of gambling were identified as Sajjad Ahmad Bhat and Suhail Ahmad. At least four CRPF men were injured in the stone pelting incidents in the area yesterday.

Meanwhile, the separatist Hurriyat Conference chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has expressed concern over the incident and added these were intolerable.

Srinagar, January 19
CPM state secretary MY Tarigami met UPA chairperson Sonia

Gandhi in Delhi and discussed the post poll political situation in the state with her, besides deliberating on the sagging peace process between India and Pakistan.

Tarigami here today said he conveyed Gandhi that the challenge for India and Pakistan was to demonstrate that regional issues could best be resolved through peace and dialogue not through hostility and war.

He said all those who matter in policy making should rise above their respective considerations and contribute towards peace and reconciliation between the two neighbouring countries.

Tarigami said Kashmiris had been the worst victims of the bellicosity between India and Pakistan and “the cycle of terror and counter terror had made the life of our people miserable.”

“It is time for all of us irrespective of political considerations to united raise our voice against violence especially at a time when the ties between the two neighbouring countries have got strained to a large extent,” Tarigami asserted.