Jammu, April 11
Kashmiri Pandits seem to have had enough of it now. Hounded out of their homeland (Kashmir valley) and waiting for years for the Indian government to find a solution to their miseries, the charged up Kashmiri Pandits are now in a mood of fierce action.

Led by Bollywood star Anupam Kher, speakers at the Third World Kashmiri Pandit Conference today called for action rather than speeches to realise their dream of returning home in the valley. The Indian government’s policies were under severe attack on the first day of the conference.

Another speaker, Raj Kumar Tyagi, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Brahmrishi Mahasangh, went a step further and called for the use of both “shastra and shastar” (education and arms) for achieving the purpose. “Pick weapons for your defence, not to indulge in terrorism”, he said.

“Be a warrior than a worrier,” Anupam Kher exhorted participants stressing time had come when the Pandits should stop begging for rights. “We should attain power in the state as well as have a say at the Centre. Do anything but stop talking about your grievances.”

“Start an andolan (agitation) or fight elections,” he said in a highly charged and emotive address to hundreds of Kashmiri migrants in the Jammu University auditorium today.

Being a victim of migration himself, Anupam Kher stirred every one sitting in the hall saying, “We have cried enough, requested people in the UN and held meetings in resorts. Now, we need to have an agitation. Let’s get into the system, fight the election, get the power and control the situation in our favour.”

He went on to urge the leaders to contest elections. “You can attain power through elections. I would campaign for you. And I assure, I will bring Bollywood stars to campaign for you.”

Chandan Mitra, well known journalist and Rajya Sabha member, said ill-treatment to a community was not forgotten. “The recent shoe throwing incident at the Home Minister is an example. I condemn the method used by a journalist. But it surely indicated that a community (Sikhs) does not forget the wrongs done to them. So is the case with the Kashmiri Pandits.”

Dr Vivek Kumar, president, Himachal Prabhari, delivered an emotive speech. He said the Kashmir valley had reduced to be an Islamic republic of Kashmir founded and nurtured by India.

Agnishekhar, convener of Panun Kashmir, and Dr Ashok Bhan, who are spearheading the movement for Pandits’ return to their homeland, said the Kashmiri Pandits had only one goal “to return to their homeland and if they fail, the younger generations would continue fighting for their right.”

Former DGP of the BSF Prakash Singh also expressed anger at the Indian government’s policies.

Jammu, April 11
The Omar Abdullah government has finally constituted a commission to look into allegations of discrimination leveled by residents of Jammu and other regions, that had led to a long and violent popular agitation in the Jammu region of the state last year.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was under fire for his pro-valley stance during the Amarnath Land agitation, told The Tribune in an interview he has appointed Finance Commissioner Mehmood Rehman as the head of the commission.

Here are excerpts from the interview.

You are about to complete 100 days as Chief Minister. How do you look back at the period?

Omar Abdullah : Quite eventful and largely positive. But there have been certain regrettable and avoidable incidents like the Bomai killings related to human rights violations. A large part of the work season was unfortunately lost first to the Amarnath Land agitation , then due to general elections and now because of the assembly elections. But still we managed to create an atmosphere of peace, introduced bills in the Assembly in this short time

How do you assess the present situation in the state ? Can you term it peaceful ?

I am generally satisfied with the present situation. But there is a serious cause of concern. The seizure of grenades and IEDs, even though there were no blasts, is a worrying factor and so is the increase in infiltration bids. So far we have repulsed all such attempts with the help of people.

There are reports that Taliban have entered the state ? There have been intercepts of their conversation…….

There is no truth behind these reports. I specifically looked into the facts and held meetings in Srinagar to find out. Intelligence agencies did intercept some calls but the conclusion is those were aimed to create terror and boost morale of the existing militants in the state.

Many tourists have cancelled their bookings. Our efforts to project the state as peaceful and fit for tourism have been hit hard. An impression has been created that the state is a war zone with the presence of the Taliban. There is no way they can come here. We will never allow it.

Jammu witnessed one of the strongest agitation on allegations of discrimination. You had promised to set up a judicial commission to look into it …

There is no discrimination against Jammu. People everywhere believe they are discriminated compared to other regions. People in valley think they are discriminated. Residents of Kargil and Ladakh think they get step-motherly treatment.

Yes, we promised a Judicial commission. But at that time I did not know that there had to be a Financial Commissioner for the purpose. Now. I have now appointed Mehmood Rehman as Finance Commissioner to study and look into all aspects of the alleged discrimination. He would file his report by August 31 this year.

BJP has announced it would abrogate Article 370 if it comes to power…

Article 370 can never be repealed. It is just an election slogan of the BJP.

You were part of the BJP led NDA government. You were even minister of state for external affairs . Did BJP leaders ever talk to you about this ?

I told you it is just an election slogan. There was no such talk earlier. Leaders who make this promise agree in private conversations with me that Article 370 can never be repealed unless the whole constitution of the state is revamped and that brings us back to the 1947 situation.

You want the special powers of the Army withdrawn. Do you think the situation is conducive for it ?

I am against draconian powers given to armed forces. I want more police in cites and towns. Unless the presence of the Army on the street is reduced, the feeling of alienation among the masses will not end.

Home Minister P, Chidambaram has also said that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) would be amended if Congress comes to power?

Ultimately, AFSPA has to go. It was imposed to deal with a particular situation. And once that situation is no longer there, the Act is not required. I want the Army to go back to its peace time location. We had more public participation in the Republic Day celebrations this year because instead of the Army, more police was present in Srinagar.

Let us talk about development…

We need to consolidate rather than expand the infrastructure at this juncture. We have to equip the existing schools, health institutions with best quality infrastructure. We have plans to improve the condition of roads. After elections, my priority would be to four laning the highway between Jammu and Srinagar and also early completion of the Jalandhar-Jammu highway.

The power supply situation is bad…

We are going to start new electricity generation plants with help of private companies on BOT (Built Operate and Transfer) basis. Multi national companies like L & T, Reliance etc are in consultation with us.

Completion of the Mughal road also seems a far cry

That is due to mistakes of the previous government. The Mughal road project was made on the basis of aerial survey and photo reports. The cost of completion of the road was estimated to be Rs 300 crores with the centre govt and JK govt sharing the expenses equally. However, when the actual field survey was done, it was realised the cost would be Rs. 630 cr. The JK government does not have money to pay 50 per cent of the cost. Hence we are requesting the centre govt to invest 100 per cent in the project.

Actually, it is my dream to drive my car on the Mughal road. I want its completion as soon as possible.

Nowshera (Rajouri), April 11
Ahead of the polling for the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary seat slated for April 16, despite Taliban threat looming large, military combat uniform is selling openly in the area. This area lies just 15 km from infiltration points in the sector, which militants have been using for sneaking into India for some time now.

For around Rs 500 any one can buy an Army fatigue from local cloth shops here. Following reports of infiltration by Taliban cadres, the security agencies have stepped up vigil in many areas of the Jammu division, especially in the dense forests of Rajouri and Poonch districts. Senior officials disclosed that intelligence inputs indicated that the militant activity may be confined to the Lolab valley in Kashmir, but they could not leave anything to chance in the area.

The biggest advantage here is that locals are throughly nationalists, who in the past had apprehended an armed militant who had infiltrated into the area from the PoK. Some vigilant locals could spot him because of his looks despite the Army uniform he was wearing.

This parliamentary area in the vicinity of Nowshera has a number of known infiltration points like Laam, Ladoka, Kalal and Keeri sector that have seen several failed as well as successful infiltration attempts in the past. With reports of Taliban and Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants waiting to infiltrate into India from the PoK, the open sale of the Army uniform and material increases the risk of militant threat.

It is pertinent to mention here that leaders of various political parties are campaigning in Rajouri and Poonch sectors of the Jammu division. There are in all 21 candidates for the first phase of the poll on April 16, many of them from lesser known parties could become soft targets. Intelligence sources say foiling the elections in the state is on the top of the agenda of Pakistan militants.

Srinagar, April 11
After several days of deliberations, Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Gani Lone here today announced his decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla as part of his “realistic approach” to represent Kashmir in Parliament. This, he said, was not a change in his ideology, but in strategy and method to represent the voice of Kashmiris and take strength and its merits to the central stage of India.

Announcing his decision at his Rawalpora residence along with senior party leaders, Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, a former minister in the Mufti-led coalition government, and Peer Hafeezullah Makhdoomi, general secretary, Sajjad Lone admitted that he had not been accepted by the separatists. Neither should he be considered to have joined the national mainstream by joining the election process, he asserted.

He said his decision to participate in the elections was not to seek power, otherwise he would have joined these in the last Assembly elections. “I want a bigger platform in order to be able to plead the cause of my nation. I seek support from all Kashmiris, irrespective of party affiliation”, he stated. He added he wanted to speak in “Kashmiri terms and conditions”.

His brother, Bilal Ghani Lone, chairman of his faction of the Peoples Conference, an executive member of the APHC (Mirwiaz), had been against the decision, said Sajjad, younger son of assassinated APHC leader Abdul Ghani Lone. He said separatism continued to be there in Kashmir for the past six decades and it would continue until the issue was resolved. “Separatism is much bigger than separatists”, he added.

Sajjad Lone said his decision was not to claim that it was a solution to the Kashmir problem, but was an attempt. He said he was fed up with the “continued humiliation of Kashmir political actors” at the hands of India and Pakistan.

Srinagar, April 11
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the ruling NC was bereft of any political or economic agenda saying that the Chief Minister was working with a “specific made-in-Delhi assignment”. Addressing a series of public meetings in the Anantnag-Pulwama parliamentary constituency today, Mehbooba said instead of piloting the crucial political, security and economic issues concerning the state and its people, the government was acting as a mute extension of New Delhi establishment.

“From 2002 to 2005, the PDP-led coalition government had set a new trend in governance, by making New Delhi to realise and respond to the just concerns and genuine aspirations of the people instead of toeing the Central government’s line,” she said.

Expressing dismay over the concerns being expressed by various quarters over the deteriorating security situation in the state, Mehbooba said the creation of fear-psychosis would not only detrimental for the state’s economic enterprises like tourism, but had also left the people in a quandary.

“When Omar Abdullah took over as the Chief Minister on January 5, he had stated that his government had not to confront the security challenges his predecessors had to face as the security situation in the state was now quite normal,” she said and wondered that what had happened in just three months that everybody from Delhi to Srinagar was crying hoarse about the deteriorating security scenario.

Mehbooba said it was high time instead of indulging in political brinkmanship, the government must put its act together to prevent the state from sliding into another atrocious dark era of mayhem and violence.

Jammu, April 11
The Jammu Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to impose a penalty on various political parties, which are continuing to deface public property during campaigning.

Talking to The Tribune, Municipal Commissioner Mubarak Singh said the MC was acting as per the guidelines of the Election Commission.

He said property defacement by different political parties was not acceptable and in order to restrain them, the MC could impose fine on them. The commissioner said mobile teams constituted earlier by the MC had already been assigned the duty of removing all kind of defacement done by political parties in view of the Lok Sabha elections.

These mobile teams are headed by three chief enforcement officers and one assistant enforcement officer each of the MC. “The mobile teams of the corporation are removing posters pasted on the city walls in different areas”, said Satish Khajuira, chief enforcement officer.

Udhampur, April 11
As the ongoing election campaign failed to generate much heat in the political scenario of the Udhampur-Doda Parliament segment, BJP candidate Dr Nirmal Singh has started raking up the discrimination issue to garner support for the party.

In every public meeting during the past three days, Dr Nirmal Singh has raised the issue of discrimination with the Jammu region. The BJP candidate has been narrating historical incidents to the people to authenticate his point that successive state governments have meted out stepmotherly treatment with the region.

Though the Panthers Party has also made discrimination as its election issue, the BJP has taken up this issue more aggressively. Dr Nirmal is very much aware that his fight would be with Congress candidate Choudhary Lal Singh so he has launched a direct campaign against the Congress for woes of the people of the region. The Congress in the Assembly elections held last year has promised to constitute a delimitation commission to remove discrimination with the region. But after forming alliance with the NC, the party has abandoned its demand.

Decision of the Congress leadership to shelve the demand of delimitation commission has provided an opportunity to the BJP candidate to corner his opponent.

Jammu, April 11
Though the BJP has always advocated the abrogation of Article 370 in the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called it a mere political tactic that can never come true.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said: “It is the real tragedy of the state. Even Late PM Jawahar Lal Nehru had thought that this Article would fade away with time. There should be a debate in the backdrop of Article 370 involving social and political spectrum whether we have moved toward betterment in past six decades. It has been just reduced to a psychological barrier. Because of this Article, the state cannot have investment from outside. In the odyssey of Article 370, the state has moved from separate status to the separatists.”

The BJP is upset with the Prime Minister’s aggressive salvos’ at the party, especially LK Advani, these days. The way PM rejected Advani’s demand for a TV debate and, then attacked in hindsight has rubbed salt to the BJP’s wounds.

“The BJP want a healthy TV debate with the Prime Minister on lines of the US and other countries but he has tried to save him saying that he is not a good speaker. On one hand he avoids speaking in debate and on the other hand uses the other tactic of hit-and-run. With this new tactic, he is neither answerable nor debatable and, the accountability too lessens which suits him. It does not suit a person of this stature.”

Taking snipe at the PM’s ignorance about the row over Tytler, he said: “The Congress does wrongs and, the PM improve upon them by feigning ignorance. The PM said he got to know about the ticket distribution to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from media reports, and also that he was unaware of the issue of clean chit to them by the CBI. He said he got to know only when a journalist hurled a shoe at the Home Minister. It is shocking, how can PM be unknown to an issue which is simmering for the past 25 years.”

He said “The Prime Minister yesterday made a statement that he would have resigned if the Indo-US nuclear deal had not gone through. But he forgot that on Oct 12, 2007 in HT Summit, his statement which he gave before the withdrawal of the support of the Left to the UPA was that if the deal did not go through, it would not be disappointing as we had lot of unfinished business, ours was not a single-issue government. The statement has been canned by news channels as well.”

Kathua, April 11
In all 8,561 postal ballots were dispatched to the services voters belonging to all 17 Assembly segments of the Udhampur-Doda parliamentary constituency.

The services voters exercise their right to franchise via postal ballots.

Returning officer for the Udhampur parliamentary constituency Mandeep Kaur yesterday supervised the whole process, while assistant returning officers of the Assembly segments concerned were also present.

Out of the total 8,561 services voters, 3,855 are in Kathua, 1,774 in Udhampur, 564 in Reasi, 371 in Ramban, 1,260 in Doda and 737 in Kishtwar district. The Udhampur parliamentary constituency is spread over six districts consisting of 17 Assembly segments having a total of 1,36,3060 voters, out of which 7,16,625 are male voters.

Jammu, April 11
In view of the upcoming parliamentary elections and intelligence inputs that some 300 trained terrorists in more than 52 training camps in the PoK were planning to infiltrate into India, security apparatus across the state and along the border has been beefed up. The BSF manning the border has taken various measures to foil infiltration attempts.

“The level of alertness has been increased. BSF jawans and officers have been told to be extra vigilant to foil any infiltration attempt,” a senior BSF officer told The Tribune.

Though there has been an increase in infiltration attempts from across the LoC after snow at the upper reaches started melting, the security agencies apprehend that due to an increased vigil on the LoC by the Army, militants might try to infiltrate through the international border.

“There is always no infiltration attempts during winter due to heavy snow along the LoC, but as snow melts militants try to sneak into India,” said a senior Army officer of the Jammu-based Tiger Division that is part of the Chandimandir-based Western Command and provides backup to the BSF.

He said, “Normally, the responsibility to look after the LoC is that of the BSF. We only provide them support. However, when they ask for our help, we are always ready.”

In the past, there have been instances when during summer militants had attempted and succeeded in infiltrating. In May last year, a group of heavily armed terrorists had managed to sneak into India from Samba sector. They had taken some locals hostage. More than seven people were killed in the encounter.

Udhampur, April 11
Former minister and Congress candidate from the Bhaderwah Assembly constituency Mohammad Sharief Niaz yesterday addressed a series of public meetings at Manwa, Diggi, Ghati, Domail and demanded a hike in the salary of SPOs and VDC members.

He said the SPOs and VDC members should be absorb in the police force as they were fighting against militancy since long and added that some of them had lost their lives while fighting against the militants.

He also demanded sanctioning of financial assistance to the kith and kin of those SPOs and VDC members who had lost their lives while fighting against the militancy.

He refuted the BJP’s allegations that the Congress had been adopting an appeasement policy towards the militants. He reminded the people that during the NDA rule in the Centre, Azhar Masood, a hardcore terrorist, along with his other associates were handed over to the hijackers of IA flight at Kendhar, for which BJP will be answerable to the countrymen.

Jammu, April 11
State Minister for Law, Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Rahim Rather has said the performance of Excise and Commercial Taxes Departments is vital for ensuring financial stability of the state. He said achieving better revenue realisation would be the benchmark for judging the performance of its officers.

Rather said this during a review meeting of the officers of the Excise Department in Jammu.

Commissioner secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Excise Commissioner Pradeep Gupta, special secretary, Finance, M L Koul and all Deputy Excise Commissioners were present in the meeting.

Emphasising that there would be no interference from any quarter in dissemination of professional duties, the minister said he would personally monitor the functioning of every officer and, in case of any laxity in revenue realisation, stringent action would be taken.

He said: “If officers work with honesty and dedication, the target of Rs 560 crore set for the year 2009-10 can be achieved.”

Asking the officers to set high standards in public relations while discharging their duties, Rather emphasised that there was a need to plug gaps that lead to allegations of red-tape in the government departments that generally result in uncalled for delays and inconvenience to the general public. “Such perception needs to be changed in present times when the government has opted for customer-friendly set up”, he added.

Gupta, while giving a presentation on the achievements of the department, informed Rather that the department had realised a revenue of Rs 517 crore during the last financial year that includes Rs 245.49 crore under Excise and Rs 271.73 crore under Toll head.

He further said a Toll Plaza with modern facilities was being constructed by the JKPCC at Lakhanpur at an estimated cost of Rs 32.20 crore, adding that another Toll Post at Nagri, Kathua was also under construction by the Roads and Building Department at an estimated cost of Rs 8.85 crore. The government had already allotted Rs 3.38 crore for the purpose, he added.

Jammu, April 11
Smelling a foul play behind the death of a young woman in the house of her in-laws in the posh Gandhi Nagar locality here last night, the police today detained her husband and brother-in-law for questioning.

Nikita Bali, 31, wife of Ravi Kant Bali of Gandhi Nagar, was brought to Government Medical College here last night where doctors declared her brought dead.

Official sources told The Tribune that smelling a foul play behind her death, the Gandhi Nagar police picked up Nikita’s husband Ravi Kant Bali and his brother Harish Bali for questioning.

They said the couple had married three years back and had a one-and-a-half-year-old son. They added Ravi Kant runs a computer institute in Gandhi Nagar, while Harish was an employee in an insurance company.

A senior police officer said, “We have sealed the room where Nikita had died while the post-mortem of the body was conducted today.” “We are awaiting the autopsy report,” he added.

Soon after the incident, Nikita’s in-laws had shifted her to Government Medical College, where they claimed that she died of a heart attack and then brought back the body to their house, he said.

However, we smelt a foul play and rushed to their house and shifted the body back to the GMC for an autopsy, besides we locked the room, the officer added.

Today, when we handed over the body to her parents living in the Sarwal area, we noticed some marks around her neck and that aroused our suspicion, said the officer.

Though, as of now, Nikita’s parents had not levelled any allegations, but we had initiated investigations under Section 174, Cr PC, he added. Meanwhile, the deceased was cremated today.