Jammu, March 26
The biggest challenge before the Congress and the BJP candidates contesting from the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha segment is not to trounce their opponents in the campaign but to placate the annoyed MLAs of their own parties who have raised a banner of revolt against, what they alleged, “imposition” of candidates on them.

Both Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh and BJP candidate Dr Nirmal Singh are not getting cooperation from MLAs of their respective parties and most of the MLAs, with one way or other, adopting tactics to ignore their Lok Sabha candidates.

Much before declaration of party mandate to sitting Lok Sabha member Choudhary Lal Singh, majority of Congress MLAs from this Parliamentary seat had opposed this move. Party MLAs, in a letter, had made it clear to the Congress high command that they would not garner support of the party if the sitting MP was repeated on this segment.

After getting the party mandate the Congress candidate has started a campaign but MLAs are not accompanying him.

Similar is the situation with the BJP and dissidence in the party is rapidly coming out in the open. A prominent ticket aspirant Anil Gupta, son of a sitting MLA and leader of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, a youth organisation of the party, has resigned.

Already, the BJP’s ally, Shiv Sena, had last week revolted against the candidate announced for the Jammu-Poonch seat (Leela Karan), five sitting MLAs have also distanced them from him.

The electoral fortune of the BJP candidates in the two parliamentary seats in Jammu division is increasingly getting dependent on the way in which the party leaders would handle dissidence.

Anil Gupta was a ticket aspirant from the Udhampur-Doda seat. He and his supporters reportedly tried to impress upon the party leadership to rethink his candidature instead of Dr Nirmal Singh, who has been awarded the seat. However, when there was no positive response, he reportedly resigned.

The sitting MLAs reportedly did not attend a meeting presided by Shanta Kumar, BJP National General Secretary and in charge Jammu and Kashmir political affairs, on Monday here.

Despite strict warning by the senior leaders, BJP MLAs have yet not joined campaign with Dr Nirmal Singh who is novice in this belt.

Jammu, March 26
State Congress president Saif-ud-Din Soz today released a document detailing UPA achievements during the past six years of its regime at a state-level convention of NSUI at Jammu University.

The convention was largely attended by students from districts like, Rajouri, Poonch, Ramban, Udhampur and Kathua.

Describing the young party cadre as the spine of the party, Prof Soz asked them to propagate the party manifesto in every nook and corner of the state. “It is the prime duty of the youth to foil the evil designs of traders of hatred to make this country prosper,” he said.

State NSUI president Rashid Choudhary said that the organisation would shortly hold district conventions and constitute district bodies to campaign for the party candidates.

District unit presidents of the students’ organisation were also honoured for their contribution.

Meanwhile, Soz, said here today that his party would fight elections in the name of peace, hope and dignity for bright future of people of the state. The Congress was working in tandem with the NC for the elections, he added.

Speaking about poll efforts, he said, “Both NC and Congress have formed a Joint Election Coordination Committee that will consist of seven leaders each from the Congress and the NC. These leaders will make poll strategies and implement them.”

Udhampur, March 26
In a severe setback to the BJP, Anil Gupta, son of veteran BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta, resigned from the primary membership of the party last evening. Anil Gupta, an executive committee member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), was denied the mandate from the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat which was represented thrice by his father, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta.

Sources close to Anil Gupta disclosed that he had decided to contest from Udhampur-Doda as a rebel BJP candidate.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the visit of BJP president Rajnath Singh, rebel party leader Anil Gupta has stepped up the campaign to pressure the party high command into revoking its decision to field Dr Nirmal Singh from the Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat.

He convened meetings of party workers at Udhampur, Batote, Chenani and Sudhmahadev today to devise a strategy to force the high command to revoke its decision.

Speaking at Udhampur, Anil Gupta said the high command had ignored suggestions of the grassroots-level workers and imposed a candidate on them. A majority of the workers were of the view that Anil Gupta should contest the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate.

Although no senior party leader was present in the meetings convened by Anil Gupta, a large number of supporters of Prof Chaman Lal Gupta thronged these gatherings to show their strength. 

They pledged all support to Anil Gupta. During his three terms as MP from this seat, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta has developed a strong network in this belt. Without his support, victory of the BJP candidate is difficult from this seat. 

Not only party workers, four MLAs, who belong to this Lok Sabha seat, have also expressed their anguish over denial of ticket to Dr Nirmal Singh.

Jammu, March 26
A displaced Muslim family, which had been forcibly evicted from a piece of land on March 16 here, alleged that the Evacuees Property (EP) Department has hatched a conspiracy in connivance with the security wing of the state police against them.

A piece of land measuring 12 kanals and eight marlas near Indira Cineplex here had been allotted to our family by the then Prime Minister, Late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, in 1951, said Manzoor Hussain Salaria, son of Abdul Karim Salaria.

Being located at a prime location in the heart of the Jammu city, the price of the six kanals, which had been under possession of the aggrieved family, today has a market value of Rs 6 crore.

Police officers of the security wing along with a strong posse of armed personnel stormed our premises on March 16 and evicted us at gunpoint, Manzoor alleged. The department had served no notice whatsoever to us, he added.

Producing documents to stake claim over the land, he said, under rehabilitation of displaced Muslim families of 1947, who had land holdings on the borders, the said land under Khasra number 245 and 254 was allotted to our family by virtue of a Cabinet order number 1184-C on September 27, 1951.

Prior to it a memorandum number RA-786/51 dated July 19, 1951 was signed by Late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah to rehabilitate 36 such Muslim families including ours, he added.

However, the aggrieved family despite a hard toil had not been able to trace original order bearing number GB-763-D/51 dated September 29, 1951 that contained name of the Salaria family against whom allotment had been made.

After we moved an application to get copy of that order, we were told to approach the higher authorities, Manzoor said. Describing it as a clear case of land grabbing, he said, the day we were forcibly evicted from our premises none from the Revenue Department was present.

However, Custodian General of the EP Department KH Rizvi denied the charge maintaining that everything had been done after adopting due procedure laid down under relevant laws.

Notices were published in local dailies and even served to the family, he claimed.

Jammu, March 26
Governor NN Vohra today said: “The ex-servicemen are a rich repository of experience, skills and technical expertise in variant fields and that the inherent potential of this vast reservoir of talent needs to be gainfully exploited not only for providing them an opportunity to embark upon their second careers but to also optimally benefit society at large.”

Vohra was addressing the Rajya Sainik Board meeting in Jammu today. He emphasised the need for enabling the ex-servicemen to set up their self-employment ventures which, besides providing gainful employment to them, would also generate jobs for others.

He said some pilot projects could be taken up in sectors like transport, small businesses, animal and sheep husbandry, compatible with their skills and the potential of the area in which they live.

The Governor said the state had been making an outstanding contribution to the country’s Armed Forces by providing a ready catchments area for the recruitment to some of the best-known fighting forces in the country.

At present, the state has about 90,000 ex-servicemen, including widows. Further, about 5000 ex-servicemen are added to this number every year.

Udhampur, March 26
As a prolonged dry spell has badly affected mustard crop, rain yesterday brought smiles on the faces of farmers in the higher reaches of Udhampur district.

Mustard crop on more than 200 hectares in Dudu Basantgarh, Ramnagar and Chenani areas of Udhampur district had been badly affected due to “aphid” disease, which hit the belt during the last 15 days. The downpour that started on Tuesday night had provided relief to the farmers as rain is the only treatment for the “aphid” disease.

“The farmers were relieved, as the rain would wipe out the aphid disease from the area”, chief agriculture officer, Udhampur, Partap Singh Choudhary told the Tribune.

“Though we had taken some immediate remedies to stop the further spread of the disease, we were anxiously awaiting rain to save the mustard crop from further damage”, he said.

Rain is not only beneficial for mustard crop, but it also benefits wheat crop. “For the farmers of upper reaches of Udhampur district, rain is beneficial in many ways”, Choudhary said.

As reported earlier, the “aphid” disease has badly hit mustard crop in many parts of the district. Teams of experts were rushed to the affected areas, but pesticides did not work on the disease that had spread due to an abrupt rise in temperature.

Farmers as well as officers of the Agriculture Department were helpless in protecting mustard crop from the disease.

Jammu, March 26
Despite the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) being dubbed as a “canine-less tiger”, its chairperson Justice Syed Bashir-ul-Din has said human rights was a vast concept that encompasses respect for rights of the people as well ensuring safety of lives and property of the public at large.

Expressing his views in a debate competition organised by the police here today, the SHRC chairperson said every government was committed to honour human rights for a just society for which in 1997, the state government introduced the Human Rights Protection Act.

He said JKP and other security agencies are working in the troubled state for the last two decades and many steps have been taken to respect the human rights and ensure safety of lives and property of the people.

Director General (CID) Ashok Bhan, while addressing the gathering, lauded the role of the police and other security agencies in protecting the human rights in difficult situations.

Praising the police and paramilitary forces and the Army on the issue on human rights across the country, Dr Bhan said we should not malign the forces and the system as a whole, if some individuals commit mistakes.

Srinagar, March 26
Expressing dismay over damage caused to various forms of biodiversity in Kashmir, Prof Reyaz Punjabi, vice-chancellor, Kashmir University, said today that developed countries like France and Britain had preserved their bio-diverse resources. “Some years back, the taste of vegetables and the fragrance of pulses were great, but that is missing today.

Same is true about rice, fruits and flowers, thus suggesting that something has gone wrong. This is a big challenge for our scientists and I hope they will come out with some plan of action so that taste, fragrance and quality is restored,” said Prof Punjabi while speaking at the inaugural function of the national conference on biodiversity -- its present status and future challenges.

The three-day conference is being organised by the Department of Botany, Kashmir University. Experts from various varsities of the country are taking part in it. The vice-chancellor said Kashmir was rich in biodiversity and the same needed to be preserved.

“Migratory birds used to remain here for more time, but they return early now. This is due to changes in the bio-diverse scenario in the Kashmir valley. The changes in biodiversity are concerning and need to be looked into,” says Peerzada.

Prof GH Dar, Head of Department, Botany, Kashmir University, spoke about shift in the flowering pattern from March end to January end in Kashmir. He said it was due to changes taking place on account of biodiversity.

Srinagar, March 26
State CPM secretary and legislator MY Tarigami has urged the political forces in the state to work for building peace and ensuring development.

Addressing a public meeting in his home constituency of Kulgam today, Tarigami appealed to all political parties not to make hollow promises as these were seldom fulfilled. All successive governments had a poor record in this connection, he added.

He expressed concern over poor governance and asked the Omar Abdullah government to revamp the whole administrative machinery to solve people’s problems.

He asserted that mere slogans and trading people’s aspirations was the essence of dual standards adopted to derive political mileage, adding that these tactics were also expected to be applied in the coming parliamentary elections.

Tarigami urged the government to be sensitive to the concerns of masses, adding that the people of the state were still devoid of basic amenities like power, water, quality education, health care and road connectivity. 

Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Ajeet Kumar Sahu will be the returning officer for the Ladakh constituency and he will be available at phone Nos. 01982-252010 (o), 09419151450 (m). Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Mandeep Kour will be the returning officer for the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency and he can be reached on phone Nos. 01922-23407 (o) and 09419100406 (m), while Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, MK Bhandari will be the returning officer for the Jammu constituency and he can be contacted at phone Nos. 0191-2544366 (o), 09419155001 (m).

Jammu, March 26
Legislative party leader of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) Harsh Dev Singh has alleged a deep-rooted conspiracy by the government in the recent revision of electoral rolls of the Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

He alleged voters of the Jammu region had been reduced drastically as compared to the figures of previous elections by effecting arbitrary deletion of names from voter lists and by refusing to entertain fresh applications, in a large number of cases, for registration in the electoral rolls.

He alleged that lakhs of names were deleted from the voter’s lists of the Jammu region unilaterally by the government functionaries and Election Department officials at the behest of their political masters without giving opportunity of being heard to affected persons in contravention of the mandate of laws and principles of natural justice.

He said the move was a deliberate attempt on the part of the government to weaken and defeat the claims of the Jammu region for delimitation.

He said: “The Right to Vote was not only a constitutional guarantee but had also been expressly provided for and acknowledged in the Section 72 of the Representation of People Act.”

Harsh Dev Singh said: “Rights are being violated by certain government functionaries and Election Department officials by unscrupulous and reckless deletion of voters’ names from the lists and by disallowing fresh applications for registrations.”

Jammu, March 26
The Jammu Kashmir Nationalist Movement (JKNM), a conglomerate of 18 organisations of internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits, has threatened to launch a stir if the Election Commission failed to address issues troubling the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community.

In a meeting held here today, JKNM leader Gokul Razdan hailed chief electoral officer BR Sharma for ensuring total enrolment of displaced voters, removing hindrances to ensure hassle-free voting and issuance of electors’ photo identity cards (EPICs).

The JKNM also expressed happiness over the extension of the facility of postal ballots to displaced voters, temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of their respective Lok Sabha constituencies.

However, the JKNM members expressed serious concern over delay in declaring independent booth level officials for upgrading voter lists, on-line enrolment, setting up polling stations in areas where migrants had been residing, doing away with the cumbersome process of filling forms, issuance of EPICs and declaration of a holiday for all migrant employees concerned on the date of polling.

They warned that if the EC failed to take appropriate measures to ensure the constitutional right of franchise to the migrants on a par with other voters the JKNM would launch an agitation.

Jammu, March 26
Minister for Tourism and Culture Nawang Rigizn Jora has said the government contemplates to issue a Vision Document for exploring the tourism potential on various levels in the state.

He said under the document, suggestions and recommendations of internationally-reputed companies would be given due consideration. The minister said this at a meeting held with chairman, Golf Plan Association, US, Ronald W. Fream and chairman, Kashif Associates and Company, New Delhi, Kashif Ahmad here today.

While apprising the minister, Fream said the state had a vast potential in tourism sector and offered his services for the development of golf and other-related infrastructure in the state.

Fream said: “The state government need to lay more such courses at various places, besides upgrading existing ones to attract near about 60 million golfers across the globe.

Extending support to the development of golf tourism in the state, Fream told the minister that his association would use its network spread over 65 countries to project the state as a topnotch golf state.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said India was an emerging state in golf and international players like Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal had set a trend in the sport in light of their recent performances across various PGA tours. He said the government was committed to promoting golf in a big way in the state, adding that it is open to all sorts of public private partnerships.

Jammu, March 26
The J&K State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jammu, headed by Justice (retd) GD Sharma and BL Saraf, a member, in a significant judgment directed New Life General Finance & Investment Company Limited, Chandigarh, to return the deposits amounting to Rs 1, 48 crore along with 9 per cent interest per annum from date of their respective deposits till the final payment is made.

The Commission held the complainants not entitled to any amount of compensation for mental and physical harassment but quantified the litigation expenses at Rs 10, 000.

New Life General Finance & Investment Company Ltd, Chandigarh, opened its sub-office at Jammu to garner business. It would invite money deposits on allurement to depositors for re-payment of same along with handsome interest. 

The depositors made cash deposits and constituted a Welfare Association when realised a practical difficulty to initiate individual claims. In order to avoid re-payment of deposit as well as payment of interest accrued thereon, the Co. closed its business and fled away for good. The depositors having common cause and interest filed a consumer complaint in a representative capacity.

The company appeared and filed their written version denying averments of the complaint on merits and objected maintainability of the complaint. The company admitted opening of sub-office in Jammu and pleaded shutting down the office after issuance of instructions of the Reserve Bank of India. The company in a feeble manner stated having returned the amount of deposit to all genuine depositors.

The Commission while allowing the complaint observed that “According to the Section 2 (b)(i)d(m)(iv) of the J&K Consumer Protection Act, a complainant means a consumer which in turn covers a person who, according to the Section 2 (m)(iv) of the Act includes every other association of persons whether registered under the J&K Societies Registration Act or not.”

The Commission while negating the plea of limitation raised by the company held that “The complainants had been depositing money on different dates, which had to mature in 1990-1992. 

After maturity of their deposits, the complainants were unable to locate them as they had fled away from Jammu and filed a consumer complaint when their location was traced. Under these circumstances, it cannot be said that the complaint suffers from vice of limitation.”